Yes, I know he wasn't in the military. He wasn't actually Sgt Stryker on Iwo Jima. But he was John By-God Wayne.

I also like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. While we're at it, include Gene Autry, Hoppy, The Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, Red Ryder, Superman, and all the others of their breed. They taught us to shoot straight. Roy and Dale taught us The Cowboy's Prayer. They taught us the difference between right and wrong. They taught us that " truth, justice, and the American way " are ideals to emulate. They taught us that, in order for a good deed to count, we should be on our way out of town before anyone thinks to ask, " Who was that masked man?".

John Wayne lived large. He was proud to be an American. He hated Communism and said so. And yet, even with all those deviancies ( sins? ) he was, and remains, one of the most popular figures in Americana. He was manly, he was conservative, he was white, he was heterosexual, and he was appreciative of the warriors who protected his beloved country. What's not to hate?

During World War II he gave to a generation of Americans fighting the war on the home front hope, pride, and a genuine respect for the men who were doing a job that needed to be done. Early in the war "our boys" overseas were getting their asses kicked on a fairly regular basis. In the Phillipine Islands, thousands of our soldiers had been forced to surrender to the Japanese. The Japanese forced them to walk to a prison camp many miles away. During this march, known as The Bataan Death March, anyone who couldn't walk was shot. Anyone caught talking was shot... ( Does any of this sound familiar?) Once at the prison camp, our soldiers were starved, tortured, and allowed to die for lack of rudimentary medical care. We were also taking losses in the European Theater. Irwin Rommel consistently out-generaled the Allies. The war in general was going badly for us. And yet, John Wayne proudly stood up and did what he could to keep up the morale at home, and support the troops who were in harm's way.

Of course at that time, Jane Fonda, while already farrowed, had not yet been weaned. She wasn't yet old enough to support the Japanese and Germans. She wasn't yet at market size. She couldn't go to Bataan to sit on an anti-aircraft gun and clap gleefully, and sing Japanese songs. She couldn't go to Auschwitz and call the prisoners hypocrites and liars. She had yet to develop the voice to oink along with Tokyo Rose to encourage our troops to murder their officers. It would be many years before she would be able to name her shoat "Adolph".

But when she eventually did reach market weight, there stood John Wayne, tall and proud, separating the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the sows from the dogs of war. He didn't take a poll to find out what his position should be. He did what he knew to be right, and he did it at a cost to himself. Liberals despised John Wayne and everything he stood for. They didn't like his message, so in true Liberal form, they attacked him personally. When "The Cowboys" was released, theaters were crowded with hippies who stood and cheered when John Wayne's character was shot in the back and killed. The peace and love crowd, the flower children, showed their true belief. The personification of America, the one man known around the world as the spirit of our magnificent country, was shot in the back, and they cheered. And to this day they continue to throw money at the oinkings of Jane Fonda.

In the early 1960s, a bright light shone on the Ku Klux Klan and showed it to be what it truly is - an association of racist murdering terrorists. The KKK used the same tactics as did the Japanese, the North Koreans, the North Vietnamese, and the current crop of evil thugs. They all somehow convince themselves that murdering babies in the name of a particular jihad is acceptable. In the 1960s a few brave individuals took it on themselves to stand up to evil, and some of them died while doing so. They are recognized as heroes, as they should be.

In recent years another group of terrorists have been brought to the light of day - gangs.These creeps don't even try to justify their evilness by claiming a perceived enemy. They just sell their drugs and guns and hate and anarchy on the basis of selfishness. They murder innocent children without hesitation or thought or remorse. From time to time, brave individuals will take it on themselves to stand up to the evil of gang bangers, and are also called heroes, and rightfully.

The actions of the heroes who stand up to the KKK and the gang bangers must be compared to the lessons taught to us by Gary Cooper and John Wayne. They refuse to accept evil as normal life in America. They reach the point where they are willing to stand proudly and say, "Enough!". They are willing to fight to protect their families, their neighbors, and their property, and some of them die in the process.

One hero in particular was willing to stand up to evil, to go in harm's way to protect his family and his neighbors from murdering terrorists. This hero died in the process. His mother was, of course, deep in grief over the death of her son. As she worked through the grieving process, a group of her neighbors, none of whom, I don't believe, had ever met her before, convinced her that her son's death at the hands of murdering terrorists was actually the fault of the man in charge of the fight against the terrorists. The neighbors, Leftists and Liberals all, convinced a grieving mother that, even though her son had the guts to stand on his own and voluntarily join the war of Good vs Evil, he was wrong. They convinced the mother of this hero to join with them in their fight against those who would protect her and her way of life.

The hero, Casey Sheehan, took the lessons of John Wayne to heart. He stood up for what he knew to be right. His mother, Cindy Sheehan, was conscripted into the fight by the Leftists of UC Berkley's Hate America First cabal. The rest of Mrs Sheehan's family, even in their grief, were able to recognize the utterly dispicable tactics of the enemy within; the people who cheered when John Wayne was shot in the back, even if only in a movie.

Cindy Sheehan's actions are not of her own volition. She is deep in grief over the death of her heroic son, and easily manipulated by the terrorists in our ranks who believe that John Wayne is their enemy.

In Vietnam, it was a common occurence for the Communists to conscript a teenaged boy from one of our villages. In one memorable instance, the son of my buddy's Mama-san was conscripted. The Mama-san conducted spying operations and thefts for the Viet Cong because the VC threatened to kill her children if she didn't. Her son participated in attacks against us, because if he didn't, the VC would kill his mother. What a horrible position for everyone involved. Mama-san was bound by love for her son to commit acts of war against the Marines that she loved. Her son was in exactly the same position. My buddy, Rick, was forced to kill the son in an ambush. Just imagine the anguish of that day. The boy lays dead in the dusty path in front of Mama-san's hootch. Mama-san falls to the ground wailing in grief over the death of her son. My buddy Rick spends the next 35 years in anguish, knowing that he killed the boy, but that if he hadn't, the boy would have killed him. Or me.

In a way, Cindy Sheehan is in the same position as Rick's Mama-san. Her son is dead, and she needs to blame someone for her pain. She has been conscripted into the war against her son's memory. They have capitalized on her weakness, her love of her son, to convince her to work against their enemy.

Cindy Sheehan is what Stalin described as a "useful idiot". She was led to the trough, and willingly drank the Socialist Kool Aid. She not only dishonors the voluntary service of each member of our military, she has dishonored the voluntary service of her son, my brother warrior.

John Wayne, the man, was buried years ago. But, thank God, John Wayne, American, is alive and well and walks among us daily. There is a little of John Wayne in every man and woman who proudly, and voluntarily, wears the uniform of our warriors. There is a little of John Wayne in every American, and every Iraqi, who recognizes the pain of Cindy Sheehan and every other Gold Star Mother. There is no small piece of John Wayne in the memory of Casey Sheehan. Casey stood up for what he knew to be right, and was denigrated by his enemies.

Casey, don't worry. Those of us in fly-over country realize that the words your Mom says are not hers. We know that she has been conscripted by the people who will use your death to further their own cause. Those of us who lived, and continue to live, through the Vietnam years recognize the tactics of the hippies. They have no honor, no sense of duty, no reason for self sacrifice. They will disparage your committment just as they did John Wayne. They will spit on you just as they did us. They will stand and cheer when John Wayne is shot in the back. But, in spite of all their efforts, John Wayne, and Casey Sheehan, still walks among us.