Why Didn’t John Wayne Serve in WWII?

John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima 1949

 

John Wayne acted in thirteen movies during WWII. At the time of Pearl Harbor, he was 34 years old and married with 4 children.

While many established actors such as Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and Clark Gable served on active duty, Wayne never did.

Viewing Hollywood films as important to the war effort, California draft boards often gave actors deferments.

Wayne obtained 3-A status, “deferred for [family] dependency reasons.”

In 1944, Wayne was reclassified as 2-A – “deferred in support of national interest.” A month later the Selective Service Board reclassified him 1-A, but his studio appealed and he retained 2-A status until the end of the war.

 

What would happen if the United States returned to a draft? 

 

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