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[Gwenyfur]

You Would Never Have Guessed

Captain Kangaroo passed away on January 23, 2004, age 76 , which is odd, because he always looked to be 76. (DOB: 6/27/27 ) His death reminded me of the following story.
Some people have been a bit offended that the actor, Lee Marvin, who 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 didn't 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 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, with 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, Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man I ever Knew."
'The Sergeant's name is Bob Keeshan. You and the world know him as Captain Kangaroo.'

Take the time to thank anyone that has fought for our freedom. With encouragement they could be the next Captain Kangaroo.

 

[BAFRIEND]

Thanks for posting that. It is always easy to belittle the scope of other's service and sacrafice on the basis of stereotype.

The governor of the state where I live was an AF pilot in a few wars but he is a man of low character. He actually stated that the people who served as a human shield before the invasion of Iraq should be used as body armor for our soldiers (like our soldiers want to use civilians for cover). It even turns out this governor in fact plagerized that speach.

Well, one of the men who was a human shield on the border between Iraq and Kuwait was Charles Liteky, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was credited as saving the lives of more than a dozen men by crawling through heavy fire to retrieve the wounded even though he was a Catholic Priest and technically a non-combatant. That is an example of one of the people the gov. of Nevada thinks should be used for target practice.

 

[JoyforJESUS]

Thank you for this posting, it is often the quiet are the hero's of yesterday, today and tomorrow. May all of them be held safely in the arms of the Savior.

Again thanks for reminding me of those people who made a difference in my life. The quiet hero's!

 

[Worddancer]

Oh wow . . I have never heard that before, and am just sitting here in a grateful daze! It just makes me wonder how many others that we see, both onscreen and off, have stories of their service we wish we'd known. It's unfortunate that we often don't find out until it's listed in their obituaries. Thanks for sharing!