Back By Popular Demand: G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero?
I received this last night from a reader named Daniel Schroeder in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was so compelling that I had to publish it. He has given me permission to use his name since I don't want to take the credit and I think he deserves credit for this superb effort. I'm not sure how far this will go, but I can see people getting as upset about it as I am and Mr. Schroeder appears to be. At least we can let our voices be heard.I've edited it a little for brevity, repetition, and formatting, adding emphasis here and there. The parts in quotes are from the article that was his source, which is cited at the end. Otherwise, it is as I received it.
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Question: "How many able-bodied U.S. Marines does it
take to hold a hill against 2,000 armed and motivated attackers?"
Answer: 1.
The Real G.I. Joe
That Marine was 25 year old Platoon Sergeant Mitchell Paige, whose citation for his Medal of Honor reads as follows:
"When the enemy broke through the line directly in front of his position, P/Sgt. Paige, commanding a machine gun section with fearless determination, continued to direct the fire of his gunners until all his men were either killed or wounded. Alone, against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he fought with his gun and when it was destroyed, took over another, moving from gun to gun, never ceasing his withering fire."
Paige, who later retired from his beloved Corps as a Colonel and is now deceased, was the only able-bodied Marine left in his platoon. He ran from machine gun to machine gun, firing each, leading the advancing Japanese to believe his position was still fully-defended. After that, he charged the rallying enemy soldiers with a 40 lb. , .30 caliber Browning machine gun in hand, bandoliers strung over his shoulders.
Years later, when the Hasbro Toy Co. asked Paige if he would be the model for a new toy to be called G.I. Joe, he had one stipulation---that Joe would always be a United States Marine.
The New "G.I. Joe"
In order to market a new movie based on the G.I. Joe character, Paramount Pictures has stated that they need to "eliminate Joe's connection to the U.S. military."
This, of course, means that Joe will no longer be a Marine. Based in Brussels, Belgium, the new "G.I. Joe" is to be a United Nations-type, blue helmet-wearing soldier of the world, because Hollywood finds the concept of an American military hero to be a hard sell to international movie-goers. I guess they don't care what Americans might think.
Call to Action: GO JOE!!!
We can do something about it, though. Paramount Pictures, which produced such military classics as The Sands of Iwo Jima and We Were Soldiers, is the studio making this disgusting new "G.I. Joe" movie. Hasbro Toy Co., of course, is the company which owns the G.I. Joe toy franchise and has licensed its use for this project.
We need to let light up their phones and flood their offices with letters letting them know that we won't stand for this disgrace.
G.I. Joe is a United States Marine and he bears the image of a Marine who earned the Medal of Honor fighting for our freedom, not the image of some U.N./commie puke. He's a red-blooded American and stands for something good and wholesome, regardless what some croissant-eating hippie in Europe or Hollywood thinks.
Here are the addresses and phone numbers of Brad Grey, the CEO of Paramount Pictures, and Al Verrecchia, the CEO of the Hasbro Toy Co.
Brad Grey,
CEO, Paramount Pictures
5555 Melrose Ave., Ste. 121
Hollywood, CA 90038-3197
(323) 956-5000
Al Verrecchia,
CEO, Hasbro Toy Co.
1027 Newport Avenue
Pawtucket, RI 02862-1059
(401) 431-8697
Action Steps
1. Send this to all of your friends and family.
2. Call and demand to speak to Mr. Grey and Mr. Verrecchia.
3. Write them.
Let them know that you're not going to take this insult to the honor of United States Marine Mitchell Paige, a Real American Hero, and every other Marine and member of our Armed Forces who have fought and died and are currently fighting and dying for our country, so that Hollywood liberals can make disgraceful trash like this.
Here's the link to my source article at the Las Vegas Review Journal by Vin Suprynowicz. The article has more details about the movie.
Here's the link to the IMDb page about the movie.
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I hope you can publish this. I grew up with G.I. Joe being the Real American Hero and didn't know the story of who the real G.I. Joe was till tonight.
I came across the Review Journal article on Drudge, tonight, and got so hopping mad I had to do something about it. I've e-mailed it to some other media outlets, too. I think with email and other internet tools we can get enough people informed to stop this.
Sincerely,
Daniel W. Schroeder
Little Rock, AR
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Originally Posted October 29, 2007
posted by Henry Rearden at
11:32 AM
6 Comments:
I agree 100% with Daniel Schroeder. The only G.I. Joe is a U.S. Marine and my boys (ages 10 and 3) will be very upset when they hear what they are trying to do. Our young people today need to be taught to be patriotic - this is definitely not going to help that happen. People need to understand we would not be the United States of America, as we know it today, without the Marines and the other men and women of all the Armed Forces - we owe them our freedom and Hollywood needs to know that we haven't forgotten that. I urge you all to do as Schroeder says and light up the phones, emails and mailboxes of Hollywood. I know two little boys (not to mention three little girls) at my house who will be writing them a letter tonight. Remember America is the home of the brave and the free.
I agree with Mr. Schroeder. My father was in the Navy in WWII fighting for the USA. The freedoms that we enjoy in our country were won by the brave men and women that have fought for those freedoms. Today, our brave men and women are still on the front lines defending our freedoms and protecting our nation.
Our children need real heros to emulate. My three boys played with G.I. Joe as they grew up and now my grandsons are doing the same. Real Heros instill Real Patriotism in our children and young people. Without this, our country faces defeat and demise. This is a cry of shame for us. Hollywood and Hasbro should be ashamed and not be able to sleep at night as they encouage children to support UN type troops instead of the valiant and great troops of the United States of America.
I encourage every patriotic American to follow Mr Schroeder's instructions to call, write and make your voices known. How about boycotting those who are instigating this change? As Lori H. said, " Remember America is the home of the brave and the free." Wonder if this is why all the illegals want in?
mary g.
I think that whether you support the war in Iraq or not...we owe it to our soldiers who are fighting for our freedom not to allow something like this to happen. Things like this can seem to some as trifling and unimportant. But it is the frequency of the "small things" (and I'm not trying to say that I see this as small) that gradually erode who we are as a nation and how we came to be who we are. I can only imagine how discouraging this kind of news might be to our marines (and other branches of the armed forces). They deserve better, don't you think?
Marcey, Lori, and Mary, thank you for your comments. People all over the country have seen this post and are acting to stop this great dishonor to our fighting men.
Keep sending this to your friends and encourage them to act. Send it to soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines. Send it to their families. I don't think Hollywood can fathom the reaction they'll receive from our brave men and women in uniform. They deserve better.
There are several key facts wrong in this article. The author is just passing along an urban myth.
G.I. Joe was not based on a real person. The doll was inspired by a TV show called "The Lieutenant".
The toy was never just a marine. The toy line started with 4 dolls, a soldier, a pilot, a marine, and a navy seaman.
Because sales were lagging, within 4 years of the toy's introduction, the military theme was changed to that of an Adventurer. In the 70's the adventurer line did better than the military toys of the 60's.
In the early 80's the new smaller toys were given yet another storyline. This is the one that the movie will be based.
It wasn't until the late 90's (decades after the toy had been introduced) that there was a special edition G.I. Joe based on Mitchell Paige.
That said, Mitchell is a real hero, but that has nothing to do with G.I. Joe, or this movie.
Really, 5 minutes of fact checking on google provided the real story.
There are several key facts wrong in this article. The author is just passing along an urban myth.
G.I. Joe was not based on a real person. The doll was inspired by a TV show called "The Lieutenant".
The toy was never just a marine. The toy line started with 4 dolls, a soldier, a pilot, a marine, and a navy seaman.
Because sales were lagging, within 4 years of the toy's introduction, the military theme was changed to that of an Adventurer. In the 70's the adventurer line did better than the military toys of the 60's.
In the early 80's the new smaller toys were given yet another storyline. This is the one that the movie will be based.
It wasn't until the late 90's (decades after the toy had been introduced) that there was a special edition G.I. Joe based on Mitchell Paige.
That said, Mitchell is a real hero, but that has nothing to do with G.I. Joe, or this movie.
Really, 5 minutes of fact checking on google provided the real story.
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