John Wayne Was My HERO Growing Up! WHO Was YOURS?

In our household, John Wayne was DE MAN! Another was our local sheriff, by the name of Bill Baker. He was a tall, lanky man, and when James Arness (another childhood hero) came to the Salmon River Valley to run the river, I met him and was in awe. The two of them could've been brothers. Of course, he was Matt Dillon to me, not an actor. He was very gentle to us kids, and he took time out of his trip to speak to us, and always had a positive moral to his words.

Lastly, I grew up with the larger-than-life Elmer Keith. en.wikipedia.org...weberbooks.com...

We were guests of he and his kindly wife Lorraine many times. He was a big-game hunter, in a time where it was not politically incorrect to do so. He was small of stature, and huge in spirit and several times I saw him perform fast-draw precision that was absolutely amazing. He loved the .44 magnum round, and was instrumental in the development of the .357 round, as well as the truncated .44 magnum semi-wadcutter. Out of the house, he always sported his 10-gallon Stetson. This may be unsavory to some, but one of the things that sticks in my head about their house was that he had a trashcan made out of an elephant foot. Yah, I know. It was a different world. He reminded me of Yosemite Sam. His book, "Hell, I Was There!" is a mostly factual account of his life and times. Elmer, you were one of a kind, and Miss Lorraine was the better part of the both of you. She was the wise, kind, but firm-handed matriarch of the family. She always had cookies for me, but didn't cotton to a lad not using his napkin to capture errant crumbs.

Good memories, thanks for the kickstart Dave

My father was my hero, a career Marine who retired as an E-9. He was the epitome of what a hero should be, well to me at least. He taught me so many things that stand out to this very day and he really made me into the man I am to this very minute.He taught me how to ride a bike, He taught me how to shave for the first time, How to field ground balls and how to shoot like a champ, even how to blouse my boots like a Marine! . I learned about human values and what It means to be a stand up guy. I learned integrity from him and he also taught me never to take crap from anyone. I learned never to quit ever so when I turned 18, I joined the military..The Army..lol..He almost had a coronary but after he recovered and before my first deployment he gave the most sage advice ever and it still sticks with me and it got me through three tours in Afghanistan and made me the leader I was supposed to be. He was the hardest working man ive ever met and never showed emotion. I learned what it really means to put on that uniform and what it truly means to defend the flag and our country, A country that owes us nothing.

My father was an american hero and he is my hero forever. I only hope that if I ever manage to keep a girlfriend for more than a month and if I ever have a son that I teach him half as well as my father taught me.



[edit on 11-11-2008 by cmd18B]

Its funny Dave..This is an awesome thread but nobody seems to want to admit they have a hero or they are too wrapped up in talking about our new president or bashing our country. I think its a nice change of pace and I hope to see more people posting here

reply to post by Dave Rabbit


Had to be Bruce Lee. One of the most phenomenal martial artists ever... with as much or more screen presence as anyone I've ever seen. Be like water my friend...

Also loved the Duke... The Quiet Man and Rio Bravo were great flicks.

Originally posted by Earthscum
Every time I hear this question, I actually have to stop and think about it... I had a slightly unstable childhood, and can't remember really having any 'heroes'... WILLY NELSON

[edit on 4-6-2008 by Earthscum]

Strange to note that I never really had a hero growing up either. Same issue - screwy childhood. Bad deal.
As an adult I read "The Killer Angels" and found my first hero.
Lawrence Chamberlain was the commander of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top. Out of ammo and about to be overrun, he and his unit charged a superior force with bayonets and empty muskets and routed them. He was a professor of rhetoric.
He accepted the weapons of the Southern Army at Appomattox when the war ended and had his command present arms (salute) to the conquered southern force. It was the most decent thing he could have done for fellow soldiers.
He gets my vote.


[edit on 15-11-2008 by badgerprints]

Mine isnt the smartest but my hero growing up was ted theodor logan aka ted from bill and teds excellent adventure

I guess growing up my hero would have been Willie Mays baseball player for the San Francisco Giants,I learned how to make his famous basket catch,I was a sprinter and also a power hitter

I had just the one hero growing up and he is responsible for me ending up in the casualty ward of my local hospital more times than I care to remember. . . My hero was the first, best and the original daredevil- Evel Knievel. . . god bless him.

Number 6.












Be seeing you !

Im 25 now, when I was a wee lad, it was a toss up between Nolan Ryan and Jim Carrey, and now it's a toss up between Terrence McKenna and Hermes Trismegistus.

Off the top of my head...
Mashe. The boy who coo-ed me on his belly for years, during hunts for nuremaids and low food polish semi-soviet days. But thats... sshhhh.

So, here is my answer:

PBS. and ABC.

Of my personal hero's who affected positive change in my life at a local level my first grade P.e. teacher and my fouth grade teacher who taught my math against all odds; and my fouth/fifth grade accelerated science teacher who pulled me into that program.

On the extended side:

Robin Williams. He came in an egg. He hung upside down in a closet when he slept. He was hyperactive. Genuinely happy. Sought to alleviate world pain (or his own?) by making people laugh. All of which served to allieviate differences and embrace individuality.

And... (the names escaping me-I know, for shame!) The pudding pop guy.
He was black. He was family oriented. He sought to alleviate world pain by teaching morals-and making people laugh. He made commercials fun.
(I lived with a black male figure who was a prick ) they looked alot alike. My take on the comedian served to combat home imprinting of violence. He was every bodies angel.

Richard Prior. That guy was just amazing. Funny and frank...and Frank?
Eddie Murphy-circuit comedian version...late 70s west coast.

Tina Turner. Great calves.. athleticism hero. Just looking at this ladies legs made me want to run faster and conveyed that I could jump higher. For awhile, I think mine were actually stronger... :-)

Whoopi Goldberg-circuit comedian version. When she came on scene she was just busting out of the box. I thought she was going to be the female popularity rival in magnificance to Prior and Murphy. But her career turned to movies. Still, for when she first came on scene as standup -hero!

A few more comedians, names escaping me-generally short italians.

During the Green River years, Sheriff Dave Reichart was a bit of a personal hero for his dilligence and interest in capturing the monster and ending the body count.

My Hero?
The profoundly talented Mr. Tom Lehrer!

Somehow when I was really young I got a Tom Lehrer vinyl mixed in with my Disney albums - but Mr. Lehrer's was by far my favorite.
I didn’t understand it all - but I did get the fact that adults went whacko when I played it!
Thank goodness most of them went screaming in search of my Mother and I had time to hide the album!
It finally got taken from me but they couldn’t take the song from my head and many to this day I still remember word for word.
I have to include one of my favorites though.
Please don’t take offence any of you Catholics out there.

If you haven't heard some of Mr. Lehrer’s music I’d really encourage you to take a walk through the internet and hear some.

Thank you Tom Lehrer!

First you get down on your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Do whatever steps you want if
You have cleared them with the Pontiff.
Everybody say his own
Kyrie eleison,
Doin' the Vatican Rag.

Get in line in that processional,
Step into that small confessional.
There the guy who's got religion'll
Tell you if your sin's original.
If it is, try playin' it safer,
Drink the wine and chew the wafer,
Two, four, six, eight,
Time to transubstantiate!

So get down upon your knees,
Fiddle with your rosaries,
Bow your head with great respect,
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Make a cross on your abdomen,
When in Rome do like a Roman;
Ave Maria,
Gee, it's good to see ya.
Gettin' ecstatic an' sorta dramatic an'
Doin' the Vatican Rag!



*P*E*A*C*E*