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Sons and Jacksonville wife of John Wayne character from ‘Green Berets’ share past – My Blog

Jacklyn Healy’s husband of 69 years was the late Maj. Gen. Michael Healy, an Army Special Forces legend nicknamed “Iron Mike,” an inspiration for the tough, intrepid John Wayne character in the 1968 movie “The Green Berets.”She worried about his safety when he went to Korea, where his exploits earned him the “Iron Mike” name. She worried about him when he went on his five tours to Vietnam, where he spent more than eight years leading men into battle. She made regular, multiple moves, overseas and across America, as his career path rose. She performed all the social functions required of an Army officer’s wife.And she, often on her own, corralled a growing family of six boys: feeding them, disciplining them, getting them from one practice to another, moving with them to yet another new home in yet another new place.

This week, Jacklyn Healy, 92, who is in hospice care at her home in Jacksonville, had a ready answer when asked the secret to raising six boys under such conditions.“You know, I really loved my boys,” she said. “I enjoyed them.”What she accomplished was remarkable, said Sean Healy, 68, son number four who lives in Jacksonville. But he wants the world to know that his mother knew she was in good company. “She used to always say, ‘The wives deserve a medal.’”In the late 1980s or early 1990s, Maj. Gen. Michael Healy, in center with wife Jacklyn, bought matching sweaters at Christmas for his sons, from left, Pat, Kirk, Sean, Tim, Mike and Dan.


But oh, she was particularly tough, her sons say.In his parents’ living room, just off the bedroom where Jacklyn Healy rested, Sean lifted up his shirt to show a visitor a large swath of scars across his torso. It’s the result of him playing with matches at age 5 in Germany when his clothes caught fire and flames rose higher than his face.A brother raced to get Mom, who ran to Sean, then put out the flames with her bare hands.He repeats: “She put it out with her bare hands.”The wife of Iron Mike was that tough.A marriage that lasted 69 yearsMichael Healy, the son of a police detective, left his hometown of Chicago and enlisted in the Army as a private in 1945, two months before the Japanese surrender. The Army sent him to post-war Japan, which is where he met 18-year-old Jacklyn Maddrix, whose father was a U.S. prosecutor at Japanese war-crimes trials.They were at a function and Healy, a young lieutenant, asked her to dance. Such attention was not new to her, said Sean. “She was a young girl, went to dances, a beautiful woman. All the officers wanted to dance with her, court her. Several proposed to her.“Jacklyn said she was drawn, though, to this particular young officer. “He was so knowledgeable, very knowledgeable, and he was so gentle,” she said.His moves on the dance floor didn’t hurt either.“Absolutely,” she said. “We were good dancers. We appreciated each other.” They were married 69 years until his death in 2018, at 92.Providing comfort to othersDuring his 35-year career, Healy earned three Distinguished Service Medals, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, seven Bronze Stars with Valor, two Purple Hearts and many more honors.
“I worried about him constantly,” Jacklyn said.Her youngest son, Pat, who’s 63 and lives in the Chicago area, says she never burdened her sons with those fears, however.“I never felt that she expressed her concern,” he said during a phone conversation. “I know she was afraid about dad being at war, but she kept it to herself. She didn’t express it to me.”Retired Maj. Gen. Michael D. Healy, pictured during the Vietnam era, was recognized in 2015 by the commanding general of the Army's John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School with the Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment award. Healy, who inspired the character portrayed by John Wayne in the movie "The Green Berets," retired in Jacksonville.

John Wayne's character in the movie "The Green Berets" was inspired by Mike Healy.
Her second son, Mike, who is 71 and lives in Jacksonville, has a lasting memory of that ever-present worry. “Sometimes those military cars that drove around where we lived, and stopped at the houses of Gold Star wives, they would sort of pass our house, and she would be at the window.”She made a point to comfort the wives of soldiers killed in battle — often forming friendships, sustained by regular telephone calls, that lasted decades. That, she felt, was one of her obligations.“Our phones used to ring really late at night,” Sean said. “When somebody’s husband died, they’d call my mother, and she’d comfort them the best she could, but … “‘A great warrior’In 2015 Maj. Gen. Healy was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment, the Green Berets’ equivalent of a hall of fame. At the ceremony in Jacksonville, Healy said he thought each day of the men he lost in battle.“They gave me their hearts and a lot of them their lives,” he said. “I never forget them. Every night I speak to them.”Mike said their father discouraged his sons from joining the military. “He was a warrior, and a great warrior, but he didn’t want us to go through battle and suffer,” he said.He said his father never shared what he went through in battle, never told stories of his heroics or the horrors he saw. He did, however, praise his soldiers, and was clearly profoundly affected by losing any of them.“I remember him saying, ‘I want you to do something constructive,’” Mike said. “The addendum was, ‘Not destructive, like I have to do.’ He was glad to fight for his country, especially being in charge of boys he could protect. He was a great commander, and they loved him. But he didn’t want us to go.”Military moves and stressLife as a military family meant constant upheaval. The boys were always the new kids at school, and Jacklyn had to regularly oversee those moves and settle in a new spot. The family lived in France, Germany and Turkey, and in numerous spots in the U.S.“We lived in four different houses in North Carolina,” Sean said. “We lived in Northern Virginia two different times. We lived in Maryland, three different houses. We lived in Kansas. We lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. We lived in Kentucky with the 101st Airborne.”The family often lived in base housing but had to move out each time Healy was sent to war. Son Mike remembers his mother’s prized piano sitting in each new living room, surrounded by boxes. She’s lived in 30 different houses since getting married, he figures.A family photograph shows Jacklyn Healy and her husband, retired Maj. Gen. Michael Healy.
“I think she was stronger than my father,” her third son, Tim, 70, said over the phone from Toccoa, Ga. “I say that with tongue in cheek, but she dealt with just about everything a mother can deal with, on her own, while my father was doing his duty in the Army.”Tim was one of three sons who were injured in a car wreck caused by a drunken driver, suffering numerous broken bones that left him in an Army hospital for more than three months. Another son sustained some brain damage.And though their father was able to return home earlier than expected from Vietnam, it was their mother who was there at the worst time, who had to carry that stress for weeks.Taking in straysMichael Healy joined the Army as an enlisted man and made his way up the ranks to general. And while Jacklyn, unlike many other officers’ wives, never went to college, she was more than able to hold her own in conversation and in her obligations as a general’s wife, her sons say.“There were some snooty officers’ wives who went to snooty finishing schools up North, but they had a lot of respect for her,” Sean said. “My mother had a lot of class.”
She is an accomplished classical pianist and often, as the day wound down, would lull her sons to sleep by playing piano in the living room: Chopin, Brahms, Beethoven.She’s always been an animal lover, and at home earlier this week, her turtle, St. Francis, rested in an enclosure in her bedroom. Meanwhile, caregiver Jennifer Vess’ little dog snuggled at her side in bed.In separate conversations, her sons told of their lasting memories of their mother’s care for animals, particularly how she would feed countless stray dogs and cats while the family was living in Turkey.“I took them in,” the general’s wife said, “all of them.”

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John Wayne’s ”expensive” sayings made the fans ”nod”’. – My Blog

John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979) was an American movie Actor, director, and producer, known in movies like Stagecoach, Angel and the Bad Man, Red River, and The Shootist.They say that life is a good teacher and through them who lived this life we can learn a lot, especially from great people like John Wayne a.k.a Duke.Today I am going to share with you Wayne’s 5 rules you should be remembering in your daily life:


1. Money cannot buy happiness but its more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.
This is a long debate everywhere, rich people say that “those who say money can buy happiness are the ones who don’t have” and broke people reply that “you don’t know how miserable we are just because we don’t have coins in our pocket”.John Wayne made it clearer that though money cannot buy happiness but when unhappy moments arrive money can make someone comfortable.


2. Forgive your enemy but remember the bastard’s name.
Forgiving your enemy is in your favor, most of the time carrying such burden in your heart is more painful while the bastard doesn’t even know.Just to be careful, put their names somewhere in your mind. Once a soldier always a commando and once enemy, I don’t know.

3. Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they’re in trouble again.
Do what is right, help people but never expect something in return.According to John Wayne, the only thing you can expect from people is that if you have helped them in the hard times, they will remember you when they’re in trouble again.

4. Many people are alive only because it’s illegal to shoot them.
Everyone has enemies and some people do harm to us to the level we even wish to kill them. Not only our enemies would be killed if to kill was not illegal but also some innocents and powerless people.About this rule, something you have to learn is that we’re surrounded by people that don’t kill us only because it’s illegal.
5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.
Haha this rule is somehow funny but it is true on the other hand. You will find people telling you stop drinking alot it will solve nothing but at least you’ll have that sedative moment.Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.

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Interesting things happen at the “Duketober” celebration at the John Wayne museum . – My Blog

The enduring legacy of actor John Wayne, America’s ultimate cowboy, was celebrated last month, fittingly enough, by the Cowboy Channel in association with the John Wayne: An American Experience museum in Fort Worth, Texas.


The “Duketober” celebration is a month-long airing of classic John Wayne movies via broadcast and streaming. It will culminate with a 50th anniversary live panel discussion on Nov. 3 in remembrance of Big Jake, the 1971 movie that bought Wayne together with sons Ethan and Patrick, who will participate in a discussion about his films and career.Wayne’s legacy has taken a few hits in the last couple of years.

A 50-year-old Playboy magazine interview outlining some of his controversial views on race surfaced, sparking his USC alma mater to remove an exhibit on him. There’s also a movement to remove his name from the Orange County airport. So far, that action has failed to gain ground . But Wayne’s cinematic legacy, particularly his western movies, continue to rank among the finest ever produced by Hollywood. Such films as The Searchers, True Grit, Stagecoach and Rio Bravo are considered classics of the genre.

“The John Wayne: An American Experience (JWAAE) museum in the Fort Worth Stockyards has created a perfect synergy for the Cowboy Channel to highlight this incredible western film legend and showcase many of his classic films for our audience,” said Cowboy Channel CEO Raquel Koehler Gottsch.

“Our fans absolutely adore John Wayne, and we couldn’t be happier to have a great relationship with his family and be able to share his movies with our audience and dedicate an entire month to such a western star legend.”“He would be thrilled to learn that so many people still cherish his films after all these years and I know he’s smiling somewhere,” said son Ethan Wayne.

The Cowboy Channel will also feature a Halloween movie marathon of Wayne films, and fans can tune-in to such classics such as Rio Grande, Sand of Iwo Jima, and The Shootist.

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James Caan shares a memorable collaboration with John Wayne on the set of El Dorado. – My Blog

In 1997, James Caan joined The Late Show with David Letterman to starred on John Wayne after they alongside one another on the hit movie El Dorado.While Wayne portrayed the noble elder gunfighter Cole Thorton, Caan plays his loyal friend, Mississippi. Furthermore, the movie was directed by esteemed producer Howard Hawks.


James Caan notes that the first big-name he worked with in Hollywood was John Wayne. Wayne was 33 years older than Caan and already had boomed success in the industry, so naturally, James Caan admired the Duke.“He was great because he could intimidate you,” explains Caan. “He’d stay on you forever, and you’d just crumble. I mean, he’d just try you.”However, on the set of El Dorado, James Caan recalls getting directions from Howard Hawks, also known as Coach.

“So this one night I remember I was between he and Mitchum and Howard Hawks was about 72 at the time, and we’re outside in this old Tucson. This big old western town and Hawks comes up and says, ‘now look, Kid, when you say that line, here’s what’s going to happen. Duke, you go down the middle of the road right down the center because we are going to surround this bar. Mitchum, you go around that way, and Kid, you go around.’ I said, ‘alright, Coach.’ because that’s what we called him, Coach.’

“He was coach,” notes Letterman. “John Wayne was Duke, and you’re the Kid.” After Hawk gave the instructions, he began walking back to the cameras. James Caan, who does a perfect John Wayne impression, reflected on when Wayne tried to offer the then-youngster a few tips.“So now he has to walk back up 50 yards back to the camera. There’s all kinds of extras, and he’s walking back, and the dude looks at me and goes, ‘now look, Kid.’ He says, ‘when you say that there line, I want you to turn around and give me that look you give me.’

“Give Me That Look That You Give Me.”The men begin to laugh hysterically because Jame Caan has no idea what John Wayne is talking about. Regardless, Caan still gave it a try.“I have no idea what he’s talking about. But the truth is that Mitchum explains me that I was laughing at him all the time. Every time he talked because you had to. How can you take him seriously? That ‘why did you do it’ look. So he said, ‘give me that look that you give me.’ I said, ‘alright. Alright Duke.’

At this point, it isn’t Wayne who is mad about Cann’s performance. It is Hawks. However, the Duke still offered his advice. James Caan must.“He gets behind the camera everything starts going, and they go ‘ACTION!’ and I send my one line and I take a step, and I turn around. Coach goes ‘CUT’. Comes running up, and he goes, ‘look, when you take the step. Don’t take the step. I want you to say the line and go. Just go!’ He starts to walk back to the camera, and Wayne goes, ‘now look, Kid. Don’t take a whole step, take a half a step and then turn around and give me that look you give me.’

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