Arkansas Blog

Anyone recall the name of a John Wayne war movie...he played the role of a submarine officer and his character actually dies ???

I know I'm way behind on this, but I just read a copy of the Mustain e-mail. It's disgraceful. I'm a university employee, and I can tell you with utter certainty that if I sent an e-mail like that to a student, I wouldn't have had time to get my belongings out of my office before security would have been escorting me off-campus.

"I just read a copy of the
Mustain e-mail. It's disgraceful.
Posted by: Archaeopteryx"

I'm afraid the e-mail is not untypical of the kind of thing people say these days all over the Internet, particularly among younger people. The anonymity lends itself to people forgetting the civility otherwise compelled by life in a society.

Not that people haven't been sending anonymous hate letters since the development of written language, but "flaming" must be a lot more common now.

It's sad. I've often dreamed of somehow coming back in two hundred years to see what's been invented and what humanity has come to. But when I see how things are changing as I age, how values change, how language changes, rules of society change, the tattoos and piercings and all that, I think I'm better off remembering things as they were, rather than seeing what they will become.

Lwood,
I believe you're referring to "Sands of Iwo Jiwa," in which Duke plays a Marine who gets killed at the end by a Japanese sniper.

Spirit, You probably know this, but people really need to realize that the internet is not as anonymous as people think it is. These days. it's rare that an ISP is unwilling to turn over their records and as Rep Foley found out, email is forever....
Granted, you may or may not know my real name, but if I started making threats (not that I would--I'm quite the pacifist) , Max would find out who I am and pretty quickly.

"It's sad. I've often dreamed of somehow coming back in two hundred years to see what's been invented and what humanity has come to. But when I see how things are changing as I age, how values change, how language changes, rules of society change, the tattoos and piercings and all that, I think I'm better off remembering things as they were, rather than seeing what they will become."

Oh please.

"Just when you thought there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two parties, the Republicans go and prove you're wrong."

--Molly Ivins

"I believe you're referring to "Sands of Iwo Jiwa," in which Duke plays a Marine who gets killed at the end by a Japanese sniper."

Well, actually Wayne was killed by being shot in the back by a dirty Jap who came up out of his hole to kill the hero. Wayne could never be killed if he were facing the enemy. Remember how he died in THE SHOOTIST?

You oughta read what Marine combat veteran William Manchester had to say about John Wayne.

Lwood,

I am an old trivia buff. Click on the handle and you can even play the trailer of Operation Pacific. Click on the stage name of Marion Morrison and you'll see the entire list of his movies.

The movie you describe is

Operation Pacific (1951) .... Lt Cmdr. Duke E. Gifford-John Wayne

The Duke doesn't die but Ward Bond does and Duke feels guilty along with Ward's brother.

Submarine commander Duke Gifford feels guilty in the death of his former commanding officer, as well as about his failed marriage. These issues pull at him during a hazardous mission against the Japanese in World War II.

Usually everyone thinks that the Sands of Iwo Jima was the only BW John Wayne movie where he dies, but:

The Fighting Seabees (1944) .... Lt. Cmdr. Wedge Donovan - John Wayne

Construction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them. After a series of attacks by the Japanese, something new is tried, Construction Batalions (CBs=Seabees). The new CBs have to both build and be ready to fight.

The Duke dies driving a bulldozer with explosives into an oil storage tank killing the Japanese attackers.

It's almost get wounded and commit explosive hari kiri foreshadowing his final scene as David Crockett in his Alamo.

Just in case some missed it on one of Friday's threads, Vic Snyder has taped an appearance on the Colbert Report. I checked the TCR website and didn't find a date for broadcast.

Spirit,
I totally agree with you. The "adult" who penned that despicable waste of time and effort, is no adult. Mustain is still a boy. I wonder how we older folk would have handled this situation just out of high school? Consulted our coach? Our family? Our friends? Depended upon the input from folks we trust? Believe the starry promises? Had the maturity to make the decision on our own? Didn't we do that when we were deciding upon a college or a job? The letter is hateful, shameful, and abusive. Shame, shame on the U of A recruiting tactics and those in authority who lied to Malzhan and the recruits. Trust is one of the most difficult things to restore. Unfortunately, the U of A program must practice honesty for a long tome to recoup what has been lost.

Now we know whom to ask if we have a question about John Wayne. Well done, doc.

Oh, and spaghetti, Max? Properly made and served and consumed, it's just cheese dip with the chips conveniently included in the dip. Less crunchy, but just as nourishing and tasty.

Good week.

mizzrizz mann, a yankee from New York, did a marvelous number in the crock pot this week. It was meatballs and sweet Italian sausage in a tomato sauce, served over angel hair pasta. That'll stick to your ribs on a cold night.

Does "sweet" sausage mean there was lots of fennel? Very good for a wintry night.

My supper was fettucini with cheese and mushrooms and garlic and beef and scallions and plenty of black pepper. Oh, and a bit of tomato and a glass of Merlot. Also very good winter fare.

(Yes, I drink Merlot.)

Mmm, widj, that sounds delicious...and it's 8 am (though I often eat so-called night foods for breakfast). But even I'd have to pass on breakfast Merlot. Of course there's not much ya could do to pasta/cheese that would make it unappetizing to me.

I'm not a sports person, but adults who pen such crap to a college student, should, well, enter therapy. That the nasty, personal rant was over Razorback football just confirms my worst stereotypical opinion about rabid Razorback nut fans. (And, one of my closest female friends is one.)

Dang Spirit...what's got you so melancholy and pessimistic? There's not much new about human nature or young people. Same basic problems/pluses, same youngens trying to find something new to irritate the older generations with (and ain't NOTHING new about piercings/tattoos). Anyway, hope the clouds part. Since November my cloudy skies have cleared considerably...and I'd just about given up hope that monkeyboy/Darth could be stopped. They haven't been stopped; but at least I seem some light.

I consider EVERYTHING I write online (and in emails) to be PUBLIC and completely/easily traceable to my front door. Luckily, one of the benefits of having such an opinionated/ big mouth is that I learned early on (mostly the hard way) to never say anything I won't put my name to and to readily admit I'm wrong...a lot.