Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rogers

[goofynina]

Just when you think you know all there is to know about somebody, someone proves you different:  I found this very interesting...



       *You Might Not Ever Guess*
*
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 ) His death 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 .
His marker gives his  name, rank (PVT) and service  (USMC). Nothing
else.
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, he
credits his sergeant with an even  greater show of bravery.*
*
Dialog from "The  Tonight Show with Johnny Carson": His 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
of gunfire so that he could get his men to safety. He did this on more
than
one occasion because his men's safety  was more important than his own
life.
*
*That Sergeant and I have been  lifelong friends. When they brought me
off
Suribachi we passed the Sergeant and he lit a smoke and passed it to
me,
lying on my belly on the litter and said, where'd they get you Lee?'
Well
Bob... if you make it  home be fore me, tell Mom to sell the 
outhouse!" *
*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." *

*On another  note, there was this wimpy little man (who just passed
away) on
PBS,  gentle and quiet. Mr. Rogers is another of those you would least
suspect  of being anything but what he now portrays to our youth. But
Mr.
Rogers was a U.S. Navy Seal, combat-proven in Vietnam with over
twenty-five
confirmed  kills to his name.  He wore a long-sleeved sweater on TV, to
cover the many tattoos on his forearm and biceps.  He was a  master in
small
arms and hand-to-hand combat, able to disarm or kill in a  heartbeat *

*After the war Mr. Rogers  became an ordained Presbyterian minister and
therefore a pacifist. Vowing  to never harm another human and also
dedicating the rest of his life to trying to help lead children on the
right
path in life. He hid away the tattoos and his past life and won our
hearts
with his quiet wit and  charm. *
*America's real heroes don't flaunt what they did; they quietly go
about
their day-to-day lives, doing what they do best  They earned our
respect and
the freedoms that we all  enjoy. *
*Look around and see if you can  find one of those heroes in your
midst. *
*Often, they are the ones you'd  least suspect, but would most like to
have
on your side if anything ever  happened *
*Take the time to thank anyone  that has fought for our freedom. With
encouragement they could be the  next Captain Kangaroo or Mr.Rogers** *

[thegrammalady]

you just like making me cry - don't you

[bolta72]

Ya, its not always what you see up front.

[Sluff]

Here is another good story.

One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mothership, he saw something that turned his blood cold. A squadron of Japanese bombers were speeding their way toward the American fleet. The American fighters were gone on a sortie and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor, could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the flaeet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch weaved in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until finally all his ammunition was spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to at least clip off a wing or tail, in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. He was desperate to do anything he could to keep them from reaching the American ships. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had destroyed five enemy bombers. That was on February 20, 1942, and for that action he became the Navy's first Ace of WWII and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later he was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of that heroic action to die. And today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. So the next time you're in O'Hare visit his memorial with his statue and Medal of Honor. It is located between terminal 1 and 2.

Story number two:

Some years earlier there was a man in Chicago called Easy Eddie. At that time, Al Capon virtually owned the city. Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. His exploits were anything but praiseworthy. He was, however, notorious for enmeshing the city of Chicago in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder. Easy Eddie was Capone's lawyer and for a good reason. He was very good! In fact, his skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time. To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big; Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago city block. Yes, Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. Eddy did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddy saw to it that his young son had the best of everything; clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Yes, Eddie tried to teach his son to rise above his own sordid life. He wanted him to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things that Eddie couldn't give his son. Two things that Eddie sacrificed to the Capone mob that he could not pass on to his beloved son: a good name and a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Offering his son a good name was far more important than all the riches he could lavish on him. He had to rectify all the wrong that he had done. He would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Scar-face Al Capone. He would try to clean up his tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this he must testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. But more than anything, he wanted to be an example to his son. He wanted to do his best to make restoration and hopefully have a good name to leave his son. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street. He had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer at the greatest price he would ever pay.

I know what you're thinking.

What do these two stories have to do with one another?

Well, you see, Butch O'Hare was Easy Eddie's son.

[Hawkeye]

Wow, I guess you learn something new everyday.  I liked Captain Kangaroo, and Mr. Rodgers as a kid but I never would have believed you if you told me they were both decorated war veterans.  And as for Sluff's stories I guess Easy Eddie did the right thing and made a better life for his son.

[nextnoel]

And Mr. Rogers was a vegan, too!

[glitter]

both terrific posts, thankyou so much for sharing them....I would love to hear more posts like this...

[nextnoel]

I'm disappointed!  The following is from Wikipedia (not a great source in its own right, but here it is):

Fred Rogers has been the subject of a few urban legends. Among the urban legends and rumors about Rogers:
That he served in the military around the era of the Vietnam war, he was a Marine sniper, or a Navy SEAL, he wore cardigans to cover tattoos on his arms representing his kills as a sniper etc. Rumors to this effect have been completely discounted as being false on urban legend verification websites. Not only is military service not mentioned in any biographies about him, but there is no period of time, unaccounted for, where he could have been involved in war efforts. During most of the Vietnam conflict, he was fully dedicated to his television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and before that, around the start of Vietnam, he was living and working in Canada, and was working on getting rights for his show and moving it to Pittsburgh.

And about Lee Marvin, also from Wikipedia:
An internet rumor circulated in recent years purports that Marvin appeared on "The Tonight Show" and told host Johnny Carson that he had served in the Marine Corps fighting alongside Bob Keeshan (alias Captain Kangaroo) at the Battle of Iwo Jima. There is no truth whatsoever to this tale. Marvin never told the story, never served on Iwo Jima (having been invalided out after the battle of Saipan months earlier), and Keeshan never saw combat in any form, having enlisted just before the end of the war. 

[Zach]

That's why you can't trust what you read on the internet!       

[Hawkeye]

Here is info on both accounts from www.snopes.com.

For some reason it wont let me copy and paste the one for Captain Kangaroo so you will have to go to http://www.snopes.com/military/marvin.asp to see it, but please see Mr. Rodgers page below.

Claim:   Children's television show host Fred Rogers hid a violent and criminal past.
Status:   False.

Origins:   The television world recently mourned the loss of Fred Rogers,  the gentle and genial host who delivered lessons on love, kindness, and friendship to children for over 30 years on the television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. His show-opening "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" ditty, his daily on-camera donning of a cardigan sweater and comfortable shoes, and his tinkling Neighborhood Trolley were all familiar, reassuring icons to millions of children (and their parents).

Any popular, decent, clean-cut celebrity is fair game for all sorts of scurrilous rumors these days, it seems we're either too cynical or too bored to accept that a kindly, soft-spoken man who made a career out of teaching and communicating with children as an adult no funny costumes, no frenetic comedy gags, no sickly sweet "baby talk" could possibly live up to his television image. He must be concealing some deep, dark secret antithetical to his public persona, and the variety of rumors floated about Mr. Rogers over the years certainly reflected that sentiment.

Among the more common of the Mr. Rogers-related urban legends are the following claims:

Fred Rogers began his television career as a result of his being convicted of child molestation; one condition of his sentence was that he fulfill a community service obligation by performing a television show for children on a local public station. This circumstance explains the lack of children on his program and the presence of adult characters with suggestive names, such as Mr. McFeely
Given the protests and boycotts directed at Disney when it was revealed that Victor Salva, the writer-director of their 1995 film Powder (released through Disney's Hollywood Pictures subsidiary), had served time for child molestation, it stretches credulity to the breaking point to believe that the host of a children's program on public television could have remained in that position for thirty-three years without having been hounded off the air amidst howls of condemnation from thousands of outraged parents.

Fred Rogers got his start in television through his musical background when, after earning a bachelor's degree in music composition in 1951, he was hired by NBC television in New York to serve as an assistant producer (and later as a floor director) for several of the music-variety type programs (The Voice of Firestone, The Lucky Strike Hit Parade, The Kate Smith Hour) prevalent on TV in the early 1950s. A few years later, he returned to his hometown area to develop programming for WQED in Pittsburgh, the nation's first community-sponsored educational television station. One of the first programs he developed for WQED was The Children's Corner, which contained many of the elements and characters Fred Rogers would incorporate into his own show when he made his on-camera debut as host of Misterogers for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1963.

Aside from the difficulties of working with very young children on scripted television shows, the lack of children on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was due simply to stylistic choice. Although some children's shows of the era featured youngsters who interacted with hosts on-camera, other shows (such as Sheriff John, my local favorite) opted to create the illusion of a one-to-one relationship between host and viewer by excluding children from the studio. The latter method allowed a host to establish a rapport with the youngsters in his viewing audience by appearing to be speaking to them directly, not to the other children on the screen with him.

As for Mr. McFeely, the grandfatherly character who runs the "Speedy Delivery Messenger Service" in Mister Rogers' neighborhood, his name is easily explained: 'McFeely' is also Fred Rogers' real middle name, taken from his grandfather, Fred Brooks McFeely.

Fred Rogers served as a sniper or as a Navy Seal during the Vietnam War, with a large number of confirmed kills to his credit.
This same rumor has often been applied to boyish country singer-songwriter John Denver (among others), and it's just as false when told of Fred Rogers. Not only did Fred Rogers never serve in the military, there are no gaps in his career when he could conceivably have served in the military — he went straight into college after high school, he moved directly into TV work after graduating college, and his breaks from television work were devoted to attending the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963) and the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Child Development. Moreover, Fred Rogers was born in 1928 and was therefore too old to have enlisted in the armed services by the time of America's military involvement in Vietnam.

Fred Rogers always wore long-sleeved shirts and sweaters on his show to conceal the tattoos on his arms he obtained while serving in the military. As noted above, Fred Rogers never served in the military, and he bore no tattoos on his arms (or any other part of his body). He wore long-sleeved shirts and sweaters on his show to maintain an air of formality — although he was friendly with the children in his viewing audience and talked to them on their own level, he was most definitely an authority figure on a par with parents and teachers (he was Mister Rogers to them, after all, not Fred), and his choice of dress was intended to establish and foster that relationship. Fred Rogers "flipped the bird" to his young audience during the taping of his final show in December 2000.
A widely-circulated photograph of Fred Rogers with extended middle finger is available on many Internet sites, but it's a digitally manipulated image, not a frame from a Mister Rogers' Neighborhood broadcast (and out of respect for Fred Rogers, we're not displaying it here).

[glitter]

  thats funny i am so gullible

[goofynina]

  thats funny i am so gullible

That makes 2 of us Glitter   

[Hawkeye]

  thats funny i am so gullible

That makes 2 of us Glitter   

We were all caught up by this one at first I think.