Lee Marvin And

[handplane]

THE REST OF THE STORY Captain Kangaroo passed away on January 23, 2004 as age 76 , which is odd, because he always looked to be 76. (DOB: 6/27/27.)

It reminded me of the following story.

Some people have been a bit offended that the actor, Lee Marvin, is buried in a grave alongside 3 and 4 star generals at Arlington National Cemetery.

Here's a guy who was only a famous movie star who served his time, why the heck does he rate burial with these guys? Well, following is the amazing answer: I always liked Lee Marvin, but didn't know the extent of his Corps experiences.

In a time when many Hollywood stars served their country in the armed forces often in rear-echelon posts where they were carefully protected, only to be trotted out to perform for the cameras in war bond promotions, Lee Marvin was a genuine hero. He won the Navy Cross at Iwo Jima.

There is only one higher Naval award... the Medal Of Honor.

If that is a surprising comment on the true character of the man, Marvin credits his sergeant with an even greater show of bravery.

During a dialog on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson", Johnny's guest was Lee Marvin. Johnny said, "Lee, I'll bet a lot of people are unaware that you were a Marine in the initial landing at Iwo Jima... and that during the course of that action you earned the Navy Cross and were severely wounded."

"Yeah , yeah... I got shot square in the bottom and they gave me the Cross for securing a hot spot about halfway up Suribachi. Bad thing about getting shot up on a mountain is guys getting' shot hauling you down. But, Johnny, at Iwo I served under the bravest man I ever knew... . We both got the cross the same day, but what he did for his Cross made mine look cheap in comparison. That dumb guy actually stood up on Red beach and directed his troops to move forward and get the hell off the beach. Bullets flying by, with mortar rounds landing everywhere and he stood there as the main target.

Johnny, I'm not lying, Sergeant Keeshan was the bravest man I ever knew.

The Sergeant's name is Bob Keeshan. You and the world know him as Captain Kangaroo."

[blim]

My Hero!!!! I grew up on the Capt, Bunnyrabbit, Mr. Moose, Mr. Greenjeans, Dancingbear.....My mom used to ground me from the show when I was naughty (which of course, I never was ) and it worked like a charm, well, at least I remember getting very, very angry when she did ground me.

Glad to see he got promoted from Sergeant to Captain!

Thanks, Handplane, what a great story and I'm printing this one for my folks! I want to throw some pingpong balls and steal carrots.

Liz