US

THE PASSING OF SILVER STAR AND SCREEN ICON CHARLES DURNING AT 89…….

 

The Tundra Tabloids salutes this WW2 veteran and hero, Charles Durning. He most likely would have refused the label of hero himself, most heroes would, but it’s highly appropriate   to honor the man, one of the rare Hollywood types (nowadays) who served his country with distinction.

21_gun_salute

Charles Durning, ‘king of character actors,’ dies

[…]

charles durningHe was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners.

“They train you to do awful things, then they release you and wonder why you are so bitter and angry,” Durning told USA TODAY in 1994, when he narrated the Discovery Channel’s Normandy: The Great Crusade. “Scars that you have from wounds heal. Scars that you have mentally never heal.”

“There’s no nobility with war. It’s tear-’em-up destruction that leaves you frustrated, bitter and angry. … If you really knew what it was like for an hour, you wouldn’t want anyone to go through it.”

In later years, he refused to discuss the military service for which he was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.

Read the whole thing here.

3 Responses

  1. “There’s no nobility with war. It’s tear-’em-up destruction that leaves you frustrated, bitter and angry. … If you really knew what it was like for an hour, you wouldn’t want anyone to go through it.”

    No one wants to experience the actual bitterness and frustrations, nor the carnage & destruction of war. That is why we honor and respect the great men and women who sacrifice(d) everything to prevent that nightmare from being inflicted directly upon their loved ones and homeland. It’s a terrible reality that security comes at such a high price, a price which only the noblest of men and women willingly risk(ed).

    Thank you for your service, Mr. Durning. Rest in peace.

  2. How on earth are we to survive against a menace that glorifies war, conquest and death in battle? We had better find some way to make people proud of killing the enemy, before the enemy kills us.

    Mohammed set fire to a mosque containing muslims who wanted to look after the sick rather than go into battle.

  3. I enjoyed his work very much. My condolences to his family & friends.

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