Wayne’s war films directly inspired young men to volunteer for Vietnam.

Evidence

The mythical wars Wayne fabricated had very real repercussions. As one working-class Vietnam veteran later recalled, he went to Vietnam to “kill a Commie for Jesus Christ and John Wayne.” It was Sands of Iwo Jima that inspired Ron Kovic to volunteer for the marines during the Vietnam War, a war that would cost him the use of his legs and lead to a disenchantment with war that he chronicled in his memoir, Born on the Fourth of July. Offscreen, too, Wayne worked to recruit young men to the war effort, ridiculing as “soft” those who didn’t enlist. One critic labeled Wayne “the most important man in America,” given the role his films played in driving American engagement in Vietnam. — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 130

Categorization

• SEED: The statistic-free but vivid link between pop-culture heroism and real enlistment could anchor an essay on how manufactured narratives produce bodily consequences.