How John Wayne Sold The Vietnam War.
- James Lisnek
- Mar 25
- 12 min read
Written by James Lisnek, March 11th, 2026.
How John Wayne Sold The Vietnam War
Celebrities have been the perfect mouthpiece for prescribing the ideas and morals of a larger entity since the creation of the modern world. Whether it be for a country's government, or for a big corporation, celebrities have been the muse that forces entire societies to act collectively toward the goal of a larger entity. Through films like, The Green Beret’s, directed by Ray Kellog released in 1968 and in the documentary produced and directed by the Department of Defense, A Nation Builds Under Fire released in 1967, we see that John Wayne is no different than the celebrities of society's past. In this essay, I aim to highlight how John Wayne represented the U.S. government as the spokesperson for the Vietnam war and what effect he had on the pro-war attitude in the U.S..
In 1967, the U.S.’s many departments of war funded a documentary meant to prescribe the many ideologies relevant to the anti-communist movement and convince the general public that the war in Vietnam was an attempt to protect the free world. The documentary, A Nation Builds Under Fire opens with Vice President Hubert Humprey giving a preface to the war, explaining that the U.S. was in Vietnam to help the South Vietnamese in, “...building the foundations of a society in which they and their children can live in peace and freedom.”(0:01:01). Shortly after Humphrey’s address, John Wayne is given full control over exploring the current status of the war effort in Vietnam; quickly firing shots at the Viet Cong in the documentary saying, “The myth of Viet Cong invincibility is dead. The ground, sea, and air team in Vietnam has killed it.” (0:13:30) This is the type of absolute claim that the U.S. government is trusting a reliable figure like John Wayne to make to the American people as the spokesman. John Wayne has been a symbol of the American spirit since the 1950’s, due to his gung-ho and patriotic attitude that the films he stars in portray him as. The connotation of the films he usually stars in, are also relevant to discussing his role in the Vietnam war, due to the fact that John Wayne has been seen to only star in war movies that portray him as the knight in shining armor that saves the day. Films like, The Searcher (1956), Rio Bravo (1959) and The Longest Day (1962) among others that take place during a time where the United States still existed as a colonialist society with eyes on securing the Western States for their own. In addition to the rough depiction of the Western film genre, John Wayne has also played a crucial part in depicting the glorification of World War 2. Either way you slice it, John Wayne has been painted as a decorated hero of war by the people of the United States simply by the sheer amount of films he has been in that support that claim, despite never having served in any U.S. conflict himself. In 1967, John Wayne was still very culturally relevant in films that actively depicted the glorification of war; so naturally, the conclusion for the DoD (Department of Defense) was to cast John Wayne as the commentator for the documentary, A Nation Builds Under Fire. What we don’t know is, who is the target audience for this documentary and after some digging, I found that a magazine titled, “The Gateway” released in 1971, was showing the documentary A Nation Builds Under Fire during the, “Anti-Bolshevik Youth League" program block on television. Other films shown in tandem with the documentary were, “Communists on Campus” and “Communist Target:Youth”. After finding this, I asked, what does A Nation Builds Under Fire have to do with “Communists on Campus” and “Communist Target: Youth”?
According to the U.S. FBI report on, “Communist Target: Youth”, written by the FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, was, “The successful Communist exploitation and manipulation of youth and student groups throughout the world today.” (FBI, Hoover, 1). The report then illuminates the various riots and protests worldwide in favor of communism. Uprisings ranging from Japan to Uruguay were shown and were a direct representation of the fear that the U.S. had over the seemingly inevitable spread of communism. Further along, the report mentions how communism functions as a “Trap for Students” by saying, “Particularly unfortunate is the fact that many youth and student groups in our Nation today are totally unaware of the extent to which they can be victimized and exploited by communists.” (FBI, Hoover, 3). Even thoughthey do not thoroughly explain how these students would be exploited, they still make the statement as if it were fact. Oddly enough, the report only provided theories on fears of communism and reports on ongoing court cases involving existing communist parties in the U.S., but nothing of real substance for explaining how bad communism really was for the youth in question. Unfortunately, I could not find anything for “Communists on Campus”, but with the context of “Communist Target: Youth” being shown on the “Anti-Bolshevik Youth League” in tandem with A Nation Builds Under Fire, the propaganda machine resonates loudly within the Vietnam war documentary and we could assume that all three are vessels to attempt to educate the youth on the horrors of communism and the heroism of serving your country in the war to stop the spread of communism. A Nation Builds Under Fire depicts the Vietnam war as a military operated humanitarian effort to save the South Vietnamese from the Northern Vietnamese aggressors. The documentary functions as a virtual tour of the landscape of the Vietnam war; showing footage of combat zones, the strength of the U.S. military and the squalor of the Southern Vietnamese villages all dubbed over John Wayne’s various pro-war monologues. John Wayne goes on to say, “The leaders of the North Vietnamese military forces said that, “the organization, composition and training of the American forces were not fit to tackle a revolutionary war” I guess they forgot 1776.”(0:12:38) When I heard this I thought to myself, ‘How is this comment relevant in depicting the the Vietnam war in an educational way?’ Before I could come up with an answer, John Wayne says, “Anyway, we Americans who knew something about revolution, developed a revolutionary answer in the field of these cutthroats and terrorists.”(0:12:38). John Wayne makes this patriotic monologue to the tune of various weapons being fired on screen all as an absolute display of power and grit, which is quintessential John Wayne. Using the United States’ history of revolution in a modern context serves to reinforce the justification of the war effort and then by calling the Viet Cong “cutthroats and terrorists” paints them as inhuman infidels that need to be exterminated. This commentary by America’s prized icon functions as a device to engineer consent and support of the war in Vietnam to the impressionable youth watching the Anti-Bolshevik Youth Program. The documentary uses anti-communist buzzwords paired with the military display of power as a means to appeal to the spectator based on their interpretations of the glorification of war that they are used to in modern cinema. Having this documentary shown to the impressionable youth of the Anti-Bolshevik Youth League on television, with cultural icon, John Wayne, being the messenger of the pro-war movement would easily lead to the radicalization of younger generations to act against communism. This was the U.S. government's intention, even listing A Nation Builds Under Fire in databases like, “Military History Education” which is ran and operated by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). In addition to our documentary of emphasis, the DTIC also has other films by John Wayne in its databases like, Rio Grande (1950), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and even The Green Berets (1968), but before we make a commentary on these films' relevance within a government's military database, let's explore the nature of DTIC.
The mission statement of the DTIC, based on what they had posted on their website, is,“ensure the innovation and knowledge stemming from DoD’s (Department of Defense) past and current investment in science and technology (S&T) forms the building blocks for the next generation of discovery and accelerates capability to the warfighter.“(DTIC, 1) This mission statement is acceptable due to the nature of the database, but how are John Wayne’s historical fiction films considered, “building blocks for the next generation”? By including fiction films in a database that only serves to educate the public on U.S. conflicts in war, it creates a discrepancy between reality and the glorification of reality. A Nation Builds Under Fire uses real footage to depict the layer of Vietnam that the U.S. government wanted audiences to see, but that does not make it factual. In addition to A Nation Builds Under Fire, the heavily frowned upon film, The Green Berets was also found in the DTIC databases as a form of “Military History”. After looking at the DTIC’s website further I found that, “DTIC supports the Department's efforts to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence” (DTIC, 1). I wish I could find an answer to why 20+ John Wayne films are considered as “an effort to revive the warrior ethos” , but unfortunately, the DTIC would not elaborate further. As far as John Wayne’s involvement in A Nation Builds Under Fire goes, DoD did not have John Wayne in mind for narrating the documentary. Rather, their original host fell ill suddenly and John Wayne was asked to step up, but according to a Congressional Record that was released in March of 1971, CBS theorized that, “The Pentagon helped John Wayne make “The Green Berets.” John Wayne helped the Pentagon make this film (A Nation Builds Under Fire) in Vietnam.”(9419)Though the DoD responded with, “...the two films are entirely unrelated and that Mr. Wayne's participation in “A Nation Builds Under Fire” was a last minute substitution.” (9419) These two films are not unrelated whatsoever, and let's explore why.
According to the article, “The Duke’s Green Berets” written by J. David Truby, the film The Green Berets started as a passion project for John Wayne in 1965 and eventually, he signed an agreement with Universal to help produce it. Due to how unpopular the Vietnam war was in American culture, Universal backed out at the last minute and Warner Bros. took the opportunity to produce it. The Pentagon quickly made its equipment and personnel available to John Wayne throughout the filming of The Green Berets in 1967.The Pentagon’s quickness to provide that help to John Wayne during a war overseas, perked the ears of many journalists at the time, but it wasn’t until years later that CBS is found questioning the reliability of the Pentagon in a Congressional Record from 1971, saying, “Was it the intention of this comment to suggest that John Wayne's willingness to narrate the film in question (A Nation Builds In Fire) was a quid pro quo for Defense Department assistance in filming “The Green Berets?”” To which the Pentagon denied the accusations and called the two films “entirely unrelated” as we had stated previously. How could a propaganda documentary about Vietnam and a historical fiction film about Vietnam be “entirely unrelated” especially when the two films share John Wayne as their spokesman in selling the Vietnam war. I do find it strange that right at the time of shooting the documentary the DoD’s original narrator spontaneously fell ill and they just so happen to get America’s idol to fill the shoes as the narrator and then right after, the Pentagon fully supplies the production of The Green Berets with all of their up to date weapons and limited personnel to help supervise. The Green Berets even went down in history being the only pro-war film to release during the Vietnam war era, which also seems to be quite the coincidence. With that being said, these two films seem so incredibly related to one another it makes me ill, but it didn’t seem to matter much because The Green Berets had a terrible reception in the U.S. upon release. The film was criticized for glorifying the ongoing conflict in Vietnam and the film's creation sparked outrage across the nation, leading to thousands of protestors in major cities nationwide. The Green Berets is a film that follows an anti-war journalist that is tasked with documenting a mission led by a special forces unit in South Vietnam. By the end of the film, this once anti-war journalist becomes pro-war after experiencing the horrors of Vietnam and the power of the U.S. military. This film’s narrative structure is so obviously propaganda approved by the Pentagon and the country knew it. At the New York premiere of The Green Berets, 25 men from the Special Forces were brought as guests to the film, but were berated by anti-war protesters. According to David Truby in “The Duke’s Green Berets” one of the men from the Special Forces said that the protestors, “Were the hairiest and lousiest group of hecklers.” after it was described that the group was carrying Vietcong flags to stand in solidarity with Vietnam (Truby, 54). John Wayne is no stranger to speaking on the political state of the world, much less is he a stranger to advocating for the death of student protestors who oppose the Vietnam war. We can see this first hand in Sandra Scanlon’s book, The Pro War Movement: Domestic Support For The Vietnam War And The Making Of Modern American Conservatism, where she highlights one of John Wayne’s comments about youthful activism regarding the Vietnam War. In 1967, John Wayne is on record saying that, “I think they oughta shoot ‘em if they’re carrying the Vietcong flag.” (Scanlon, 62). Students holding the Vietcong flag is the modern day equivalent of students holding up a Palestinian flag, so hearing John Wayne using his platform in a way that villainizes the future generations of the country is quite an interesting strategy. To me, John Wayne’s saying this during the creation and publication of A Nation Builds Under Fire is largely counterintuitive to the youth culture that he was intended to target. John Wayne’s comments were largely tone deaf to the cultural state of the United States, but that didn’t stop him from trying to persuade the country to believe his pro-war ideology. In 1969, there was one final John Wayne film release that had succeeded in creating a pro-war attitude in the United States and oddly enough the film had nothing to do with Vietnam at all.
Undefeated, directed by Andrew V. Mclaglen and released in 1969 was a film that followed a group of Confederate and Union soldiers after the end of the Civil War. John Wayne was among the Union soldiers and served as leader to bridge the two groups into becoming one. In a country that was divided between pro-war or anti-war, this film made a commentary that many viewers were receptive to. According to Marco Macias and Daniel McClure in their article, “UNDEFEATED: JOHN WAYNE'S CONFEDERATE-YANKEE ADVENTURE in Mexico and the Rise of Populist-Conservatism, 1860s/1960s”, they explore how Undefeated served as a rallying cry for white conservatives who were pro-war in the 1960’s. Macias and McClure both point out that during this time there was a severe culture war happening in the United States. The Civil Rights Movement was at an all time high, anti-war protests shut down entire cities and people who disagreed with both anti-war protests and civil rights protests were the minority. That is until Undefeated gave them a platform in which, “The culture war drew its strength from the conservative "possession of history," as it could draw upon traditional ideas about the past--including both the violence of white nationalism as well as its white-washed history--to rhetorically attack the critics of white nationalism in the 1960s, resulting in cultural wedges designed to unify white Americans around cultural issues.” (Macias, McClure). How strange that John Wayne is yet again at the center of a movement that is trying to rouse patriotism out of its people, but I suppose that's why the DoD recruited him for their propaganda schemes.
A Nation Builds Under Fire was just one of dozens of different methods to attempt to convince the American Youth that the war in Vietnam was justified, humanitarian and overall beneficial to the world. By using John Wayne, an American icon, the price of entry to asking American viewers to tune in to a propaganda documentary on the Vietnam war was lowered ten-fold, just because people idolized John Wayne, they trusted him, respected him and looked up to him. This is why it was important to use John Wayne during the U.S. attempts at targeting the young and impressionable audiences with their propaganda documentary opposing communism like A Nation Builds Under Fire. Television stations would air this documentary during program blocks like the "Anti-Bolshevik Youth League”, that would be played in tandem with programs like “Communist Target: Youth” which served as a metaphorical boogie man for the American Youth who watched it. John Wayne’s The Green Berets and Undefeated also served to radicalize the general public of the United States in favor of the war in Vietnam. Many anti-war protests began because of The Green Berets creation and many Conservative, pro-war rallies began due to the release of Undefeated. Despite the impact of these two films in the U.S., it’s important to recognize that John Wayne found himself at the epicenter of these attempts at persuading the U.S. general public toward the pro-war effort for the Vietnam war. John Wayne being the only string to connect all three of these films enables me to state that John Wayne played an active and supporting role in selling the concepts and ideologies that the U.S. government wanted to prescribe to the general public, in order to ensure support for the Vietnam war as well as, de-incentivize communism in younger generations.
Bibliography
Department of Defense. Department of the Army. U.S. Army Military District of Washington. U.S. Army Audio Visual Activity. (ca. 1975 - 1978). (1966). A Nation Builds Under Fire [Videorecording].https://search.library.ucsb.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_dpla_primary_adebb37cc952b0d4fbdd84ef9332e97a&context=PC&vid=01UCSB_INST:UCSB&lang=en&search_scope=DN_and_CI&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,,%20%E2%80%9CA%20NATION%20BUILDS%20UNDER%20FIRE%E2%80%9D&offset=0
The Gateway (1971-02-04) by University of Alberta.
War on Film: Military History Education. Video tapes, Motion Pictures, and related Audiovisual aids (1987-01-01) by Defense Technical Information Center.
Congressional Record. March 29-April1, 1971: Vol 117 Part 7 by Superintendent of Government Documents.
The Pro War Movement: Domestic Support For The Vietnam War And The Making Of Modern American Conservatism (2013) by Sandra Scanlon.
Macias, Marco A., and Daniel Robert McClure. "UNDEFEATED: JOHN WAYNE'S CONFEDERATE-YANKEE ADVENTURE in Mexico and the Rise of Populist-Conservatism, 1860s/1960s." Film & History, vol. 52, no. 1, summer 2022, pp. 32+. Gale Literature Resource Center, https://go-gale-com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA713670698&v=2.1&it=r&u=ucsantabarbara&p=LitRC&aty=ip
John Wayn’s 1968 take on the Vietnam War sang the praises of U.S. Special Forces but was panned by critics by J. David Truby. (2013).
DTIC Webpage. (2026)
Communist target: youth. Communist infiltration and agitation tactics. A report. 1960. By, Unites States Bureau of Investigation, Hoover, J. Edgar. (1895-1972)
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