Hi everyone!
John Wayne, to me, has always represented the very best that America stands for, and in these trying times, watching an old Duke film helps to remind me of the great moral values our country was founded upon and makes me sentimental for simpler times when "right was right and wrong was wrong."
I've had a lifelong personal connection to John Wayne because my great grandmother baby-sat a very young Marion Morrison when he was just a young buck playing cowboy on the prairie of Iowa. I do not know whether this was in Winterset Iowa or some other small town in Iowa. When I last saw my grandmother it was 1976, she was in her late 90's and had lived most of her life in Keokuk, Iowa....Her son, my grandfather, had the opportunity to visit Wayne's Arizona ranch in the 70's & brought me back some rocks he picked up for me there while he visited...to my disappointment my grandfather did not get to meet the Duke. (I was told he was in Hollywood making a movie)
As an adult, the code that the Duke lived his life by helps to provide me with a solid moral compass. If you ask yourself, "How would the Duke handle this situation?" The answer, invariably, is that his solution to every problem was to confront every challenge with honesty, integrity, and courage...not a bad guy to look up to!
I am glad I have discovered this on-line community and look forward to learning, discussing, and sharing our passion for the legacy that is John Wayne.
Cheers,
Patrick
and the Mrs. 
