REAL Heroes

[Ramplate]

Three Heroes

1. Captain Kangaroo

2. Lee Marvin

3. Mr. Rogers (NS)


Now here is something to think about as we go about our everyday lives.

Quite a few of us grew up with Captain Kangaroo, as you or your children
probably did. I knew nothing of his background, only that his show was both
entertaining and educational. As kids, we looked forward to it with great
anticipation. Captain Kangaroo turned 76 recently, which is odd, because
he's never looked a day under 76. (DOB:6/27/27) It reminded me of the
following story. I Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Some people have been a bit offended that the actor, Lee Marvin, is buried
in a grave alongside 3 and 4 star generals at Arlington National Cemetery.
His marker gives his name, rank (PVT) and service (USMC). Nothing else.
Here's a guy who was only a famous movie star who served his time, why the
heck does he rate burial with these guys?

Well, following is the amazing answer:

I always liked Lee Marvin, but did not know the extent of his Corps
experiences. In a time when many Hollywood stars served their country in the
armed forces, often in rear-echelon posts where they were carefully
protected, only to be trotted out to perform for the cameras in war bond
promotions, Lee Marvin was a genuine hero. He won the Navy Cross at Iwo
Jima. There is only one higher naval award... the Medal Of Honor.

If that is a surprising comment on the true character of the man, he
credits his sergeant with an even greater show of bravery. Dialog from The
Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: His guest was Lee Marvin Johnny said, "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 ### 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 gettin'
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. The dumb bastard actually stood up
on Red beach and directed his troops to move forward and get the hell off
the beach. 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...Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man I
ever knew..... Bob Keeshan... You and the world know him as Captain
Kangaroo."

On another note, there was this wimpy little man (who just passed away) 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 U.S. Navy Seal, combat proven in Vietnam with over twenty-five
confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long sleeve sweater to cover the many
tattoo's on his forearm and biceps. A master in small arms and hand-to-hand
combat, able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat. He hid that away and won our
hearts with his quiet wit and charm.

America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did, they quietly go about
their day to day lives, doing what they do best. They earned our! respect
and the freedoms that we all enjoy. Look around and see if you can find one
of those heroes in your midst. Often, they are the ones you'd least suspect,
but would most like to have on your side if anything ever happened. Just a
side note, Mr. Rogers was also an ordained Presbyterian minister.

[JacinB]

Thanks for the great post, Ramplate. In our little world here of fictitional, comic book heroes, we sometimes forget that we've got the real thing walking among us every day.

Whenever I hear the word hero now, I associate it with the men and women of our armed services. Or the people on that plane that went down in Pennsylvania on 9-11. Or the firefighters and police officer and 'regular joes' who were last seen 'going back up the stairs' in the World Trade Center.

Superman and Captain America and Batman and Hulk are all great. But they're nothing compared to the real thing.

Thanks again for the post, Ramplate.

[TheLion]

Originally posted by Ramplate
On another note, there was this wimpy little man (who just passed away) 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 U.S. Navy Seal, combat proven in Vietnam with over twenty-five
confirmed kills to his name. He wore a long sleeve sweater to cover the many
tattoo's on his forearm and biceps. A master in small arms and hand-to-hand
combat, able to disarm or kill in a heartbeat. He hid that away and won our
hearts with his quiet wit and charm.


I thought this urban legend was debunked a while ago but it seems to keep cropping up. A friend of my nephew (who is in the Marines) was talking about this a few weeks ago.

Rogers graduated from Rollins College in 1951 with a degree in music and never served in the military. Also, he got a bachelors of divinity degree in 1962 and I believe he was an ordained minister. However, he started in broadcasting in 1951 and made it his career for 50 years. Fred Rogers was still a great man and he dedicated his life to educating and bettering the lives of children. I guess that's enough to qualify him as a hero.

[GoldenAge]

That would explain why Captain Kangaroo always looked a bit shell-shocked every time all those Ping-Pong balls fell on him.

[Ramplate]

Originally posted by TheLion
I thought this urban legend was debunked a while ago but it seems to keep cropping up. A friend of my nephew (who is in the Marines) was talking about this a few weeks ago.

Rogers graduated from Rollins College in 1951 with a degree in music and never served in the military. Also, he got a bachelors of divinity degree in 1962 and I believe he was an ordained minister. However, he started in broadcasting in 1951 and made it his career for 50 years. Fred Rogers was still a great man and he dedicated his life to educating and bettering the lives of children. I guess that's enough to qualify him as a hero.

You are quite probably correct. I received that in an e-mail and to me it did seem rather tacked on to the end of it. I just did some searching and the biography I saw made no mention of a military carreer.
Sorry for not doing the checking before I posted - but yes, still a real hero for the way he conducted his life.

Thanks for your information. :classic:

[Masada]

Every hour on the hour, create an inner mental cheer for being alive. Hear an inner enthusiastic voice shouting, "It's great to be alive!" Imagine a stadium crowd cheering for your being alive.


When you control your anger or other character trait you're working on, see and hear the same immense crowd cheering for you!

[Mar-vell]

Originally posted by Ramplate
You are quite probably correct. I received that in an e-mail and to me it did seem rather tacked on to the end of it. I just did some searching and the biography I saw made no mention of a military carreer.
Sorry for not doing the checking before I posted - but yes, still a real hero for the way he conducted his life.

Actually the rest isn't really true either.

"We can't say for sure whether actor Lee Marvin ever related something like the story described above to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show (Marvin was a guest on the show seven times during Carson's tenure as host), but the details of the anecdote are undeniably false.
Lee Marvin did enlist in the U.S. Marines, saw action as Private First Class in the Pacific during World War II, and was wounded (in the buttocks) by fire which severed his sciatic nerve. However, this injury occurred during the battle for Saipan in June 1944, not the battle for Iwo Jima, which took place several months later, in February 1945. (Marvin also did receive a Purple Heart, and he is indeed buried at Arlington National Cemetery.)
Bob Keeshan, later famous as television's "Captain Kangaroo," also enlisted in the U.S. Marines, but too late to see any action during World War II. Keeshan was born on 27 June 1927 and enlisted two weeks before his 18th birthday, months too late to have taken part in the fighting at Iwo Jima. A 1997 interview with Keeshan noted that he "later enlisted in the U.S. Marines but saw no combat" because, as Keeshan said, he signed up "just before we dropped the atom bomb." " (www.snopes.com)
You can check all sorts of stuff like this at snopes.

So the truth is, both men were heroes (as well as Mr. Rogers for different reasons); people just like to exaggerate. Your point about these men is absolutely true IMHO. In times past, when our country went to war, everyone went with it. Men like the ones you've mentioned, as well as others like Ronald Reagan and Elvis Presley, served their country even though they didn't have to, even though they were huge stars. (what do you think the chances are we'd see that today?) Whether or not they actually saw combat, for that they are heroes in my book. Just like the men and women who serve today.

[Ramplate]

Ahh the plot thickens hmmmm Thanks for the info and research

[Ramplate]

Alright, in the face of exaggerated and false military Careers, here is one case of irrefutable service to one's country in war time :classic:

James Stewart
At age 33, he enlisted as private and rose to colonel as a bomber pilot in the Air Force, leading one thousand plane strikes in World War II; Stewart won the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross and later rose to the rank of brigadeer general in the Air Force Reserve. The highest rank held by any WWII celeberty (Actor).

(also to redeem myself heh heh!)

And as noted in his recent obituary, Art Carney was wounded in the leg by schrapnel as part off the D-Day landing in Normandy.

[Grappler]

This I saw on the history channel, and if anyone can add the exact details I would be grateful. Eddie Albert, the star of the 60's comedy "Green Acres" (Mr. Douglas) Won a medal as a captain of a small landing craft. I can't remember which battle, I believe it was in the Phillipines. But he had returned under fire to rescue injured soldiers with his craft.

[Grappler]

By the way Masada, great to see you posting!

[Ramplate]

I saw that too Grappler, I'll look into it.

Meanwhile, theres always the up front hero turned actor Audie Murphy (http://www.audiemurphy.com/welcome.htm) Very impressive indeed.

[King Peacock]

Don't try to make Reagan a hero.

Charles Schultz wouldn't talk about the war b/c he was deeply religious man who regretted the circumstances that forced him to take lives as a machine gunner. He's your real hero.

And make sure you research before you look foolish. A quick hint is that email you got and want to pass on...it's fake. Except that one about Bill Gates beta testing the email. He really wants to send you money. Really.

http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/military/actors_in_wwii.html

[Ramplate]

King Peacock.... :P

Grappler, here's what I found:

The outbreak of World War II sent Albert into the United States Navy as a junior officer, and during 1943 he distinguished himself in the fighting on Tarawa. Assigned as the salvage officer in the shore party of the second landing wave, which engaged in heavy fighting with the Japanese, his job was to examine military equipment abandoned on the battlefield to see if it should be retrieved, but what he found were wounded men who had been left behind under heavy fire, whom he took off the beach in a small launch not designed for that mission, involving multiple trips; he earned commendations for his bravery, became a bona fide hero, and was sent home to support a War Bond drive (though he never traded on his war experiences, only discussing them in detail on camera in the 1990's).

[Grappler]

And since you brought up Mr. Murphy, I was married last weekend by a Pastor, who was close friends with Audie Murphy. He told me the story of Mr. Murphy saving his men by sneaking up to get coordinates of a machine gun nest which had his men pinned down and radioing artillery fire to come down on the Machine guns coordinates in which he also was hiding. The Pastor told me at first he wasn't sure about the story, but in later work he met another man who knew Mr. Murphy, and he verified the story was true because as the man said "I was the one he was relaying coordinates to, and he literally called for the artillery fire to come down on himself."
Yes, I love comic book heroes, but it was because real heroes gave us this opportunity to do so!

[ASpaceBoyDream]

Also worth noting is that James Stewart refused to allow his impressive combat record to be mentioned in promotional materials for his films.

[space_cowboy]

I vote for the guy who invented Pringles. But I also want to give him the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and Physics.

[Ramplate]

PRINGLES!
I hate clone chips --- oh sorry wrong thread.:p

[Masada]

Of all the potatoes that are smashed to a pasty solution and then pressed into identical shapes, Pringles (Light) are the best.

Audie Murphy? Most decorated soldier of WWII and a very cool dude in real life. His story is a classic movie too, check it out.

[Masada]

Originally posted by Masada
Audie Murphy? Most decorated soldier of WWII and a very cool dude in real life. His story is a classic movie too, check it out.

The name of the movie? I forgot to mention that, didn't I.

To Hell and Back. Murphy played himself in his own autobiography. That takes cajones! :)

Click this: http://www.grunts.net/legends/audiemurphy.html

[Ramplate]

Yes he did. and he had a couple of other movie roles as well. Unfortunately, he had some problems in the rest of his life, as all too many people who have been in combat do. :(

Another hero Alvin C. York from WWI.

http://www.grunts.net/legends/alvinyork.html

But, as one of the other posts has said, there are everyday heroes, those who teach especially, those that do the right thing in the face of temptation, and those brave souls who run toward danger when most of us must run the other way.