Dialog from The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson; his guest was Lee Marvin:Alas, it's all internet bullshit. While Lee Marvin was wounded in the butt on Saipan (not Iwo Jima), he didn't get the Navy Cross; Bob Keeshan never saw active duty; and Fred Rogers was never in the military. You can see reality here and here on Snopes.
'Lee, I'll bet a lot of people are unaware that you were a Marine in the initial landing at Iwo Jima ...and that during the course of that action you earned the Navy cross and were severely wounded .'
'Yeah, yeah... I got shot square in the bottom and they gave me the Cross for securing a hot spot about halfway up Suribachi. Bad thing about getting shot up on a mountain is guys getting' shot hauling you down. But, Johnny, at Iwo I served under the bravest man I ever knew. We both got the Cross the same day, but what he did for his Cross made mine look cheap in comparison. That dumb guy actually stood up on Red Beach and directed his troops to move forward and get the hell off the beach. Bullets flying by, mortar rounds landing everywhere, and he stood there as the main target of gunfire so that he could get his men to safety. He did this on more than one occasion because his men's safety was more important than his own life.
That sergeant and I have been lifelong friends. When they brought me off Suribachi we passed the sergeant and he lit a smoke and passed it to me, lying on my belly on the litter and said, 'Where'd they get you Lee?' 'Well Bob, if you make it home before me, tell Mom to sell the outhouse!' Johnny, I'm not lying, that sergeant was the bravest man I ever knew. The Sergeant's name was Bob Keeshan. You and the world know him as Captain Kangaroo.'
On another note, there was this wimpy little man on PBS, gentle and quiet. Mr. Rogers is another of those you would least suspect of being anything but what he now portrays to our youth. But Mr. Rogers was a Navy Seal, combat-proven in Vietnam with over twenty-five confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long-sleeved sweater on TV to cover the many tattoos on his forearm and biceps. He was a master in small arms and hand-to-hand combat, able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat. After the war, Mr. Rogers became an ordained Presbyterian minister and therefore a pacifist. Vowing to never harm another human, and also dedicating the rest of his life to trying to help lead children on the right path in life, he hid away the tattoos and his past life and won our hearts with his quiet wit and charm.
As one of Rico's friends pointed out, though, he "liked the thought of Mr. Rogers having a former life as an assassin"...
No comments:
Post a Comment