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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/ ... 4A20121225

Wow as I had no idea that he was a hero as well!!! Thanks! Hal

Had no idea, thanks for sharing.

Yeah, I think he was the last of the Hollywood WWII vets ... a real vet, not a USO show vet.

Don't be fooled by that mindless pap of an article. Although Mr. Durning was wounded in action and decorated veteran, there is not a single shred of evidence that he was anywhere near Malmedy when the massacre occurred. It is a perfect example of myth becoming fact on the internet.

Still, he was a fine actor with a distinguished career and deserves recognition for what he accomplished.

No mention of Malmedy in Wikipedia, though he was in the Bulge but in what capacity no one knows, and no mention of being a prisoner, however briefly.

He didn't like to talk about it, like so many vets. That leaves room for people to make stuff up.

Even the Washington Post obit for Durning repeats the same stuff plus that he helped liberate Buchenwald. I found this at another site:

Voight brought a friend, actor Charles Durning, 81. An Army Ranger, Durning survived D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and eight bayonet wounds. He also helped liberate Buchenwald.

How do you survive eight bayonet wounds? Was he trying to see how fast he could stab the ground between his toes and got scratched eight times? Also ran into stuff about Lee Marvin supposedly saying that Bob Keeshan was a very brave sargeant at Iwo Jima (the Kaptain was barely 18 at the time and stateside). Also, Mr. Rogers was a navy seal who had 25 kills in Viet Nam and wore those long sleeve sweaters because his arms were covered in tattoos. Marvin allegedly said he was (Marvin) was wounded on Mt. Surabachi. He was never there. He was wounded on Saipan.

Come to think of it, did Richard Dreyfus actually ever know a Mary Ellen Moffit?

Way OT - but..
I would love to see what current CGI could do with the Gorn...
And could we get a few to join the Marines....

I have heard several different times that Durning was in the Normandy invasion, and landed on June 6th. What outfit and what happened I don't know. But I have known several vets from that operation, and they deserve a salute no matter what!

This settles nothing of course. This is one of the longest obits I've seen in the NYT and I've been getting it every day for over twenty years.

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Sorry, I posted the wrong edit at the beginning.

ORIGINAL: RevRick

Way OT - but..
I would love to see what current CGI could do with the Gorn...
And could we get a few to join the Marines....

I have heard several different times that Durning was in the Normandy invasion, and landed on June 6th. What outfit and what happened I don't know. But I have known several vets from that operation, and they deserve a salute no matter what!

[:D] I'd like to animate this - - but I haven't got round to it yet. [gotten around]

Incidentally, the author, Robert Berkvist, is a journalist who specializes on the stage, actors, directors etc.. He does not specialize in anything military or war story wise. I can't vouch for him, but a lot of writers in his area are more critics than real journalists.

Well, read the obit in both the Washington Post and New York Times today. Nobody really seems to have any accurate record of Mr. Durning's actual military career. But it does not stop virtually every media news source and blogger from passing on the same myths. He was a ranger, he was in the Big Red One, he went ashore in the first wave at Normandy, he suffered multiple bayonet wounds. (one of rarest forms of injury in WWII), he stepped on a S-mine, he killed a German soldier with a rock, he was one of the few survivors at Malmedy, he was one of only three survivors at Malmedy, (really, only three? [8|]), he was present at the liberation of Buchenwald-it just goes on. It makes Audie Murphey look like a total wanker.

I don't necessarily think Mr. Durning was responsible for all of this myth, although he seemed somewhat reluctant to deny any of it. Not out of character for an dramatic actor...[;)] I have been know to let a few embellishments about my life remain uncorrected.

It is just sad to see major news organizations pass around such stuff without verifying the facts.