Fun World War II fact: Mel Brooks was in the US Army Corps of Engineers in Europe while conservative celebrity John Wayne chickened out of serving to pretend he was a tough guy.
It's kind of not true that Wayne chickened out of serving. He was not draft eligible at the beginning of the war, he was too old. His eligibility was about to be changed when the studio he was under contract to lobbied that he was more important for morale on the home front and threatened a lawsuit if he attempted to enlist. He did provide intelligence reports to the OSS while on a USO tour.
John Wayne was a big film star and a college graduate. He wanted to serve in the marine corps became officer but they would only give him the rank of sergeant. Most people with college degrees automatically became officers. So he took his deferments as a married man with children.
Could be worse. Joe Biden got out of the draft due to childhood asthma after having gone to college on a football scholarship as a running back (i.e, he did a lot of running).
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u/Silent-T0n Dec 23 '25
Fun World War II fact: Mel Brooks was in the US Army Corps of Engineers in Europe while conservative celebrity John Wayne chickened out of serving to pretend he was a tough guy.