"Charles Durning" Topic

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Not only was Mr. Durning the "king of the character actors", but he was also a veteran of the battles of Normandy and the Bulge, and was awarded the Silver Star for valor and three Purple Hearts for wounds he received.

Godspeed, Mr. Durning, and thank you VERY, very much for sharing your talent with us and for your service to our country. I salute you, sir.

RIP .. What a life he had. I never realized he'd gone through that much.

"He was among the first wave of U.S. soldiers to land at Normandy during the D-Day invasion and the only member of his Army unit to survive. He killed several Germans and was wounded in the leg. Later he was bayoneted by a young German soldier whom he killed with a rock. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and survived a massacre of prisoners."

Damn. On Christmas Eve too. RIP.

I was just watching him as Doc Hopper in Te Muppet Movie this week.

Almost anybody can sing.
Not everybody can dance.
YouTube link

Not bad for a vet with a leg wound.
Pay close attention to when he puts his hat on.
I love this clip.

However, while it is clear that Charles Durning served during WW2, there are many unanswered questions and tall tales regarding the details of his service. He accepted the award of the Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur based on his having been an Army Ranger and having survived the Malmedy Massacre. These assertions were both untrue, yet he made no attempt to correct the citation. And then there's this:

"My father. John A. O'Connell, survived the Malmedy Massacre and I have done a lot of research over the years about the incident. Several years ago i saw a reference to Chares Durning being a survivor as well. i thought about contacting him, but knowing the way the incident haunted my father, instead chose to leave him alone. I did do some extensive research on Durning's involvement and wasn't able to find any mention of him.

My father died in 1985, but before he passed away , he was contacted by a man who was writing a book about the massacre. My father culled memories as best he could, and sent them along with telegrams and letters he had sent home while recovering from injuries. I have a copy of the resultant book "The Malmedy Massacre" by John M Bauserman. It is a very complete account of the incident and aftermath with multiple indices and complete lists of those killed as well as survivors. Mr. Durning's name appears nowhere in the book.

i am confident Mr Durning served his country honorably, as did my father. I have no idea how or by whom this apparent disinformation was disseminated. Perhaps, as others have suggested in this thread, it was a mistake by a publicist. I suppose it is easy enough for someone unfamiliar with WW2 history to confuse Normandy and Malmedy. However, I consider Mr Durning's failure to set the record straight regarding his involvement a disservice to my father and the others who were victims of this horrendous and historic event.

sincerely,
John A. O'Connell Jr. "

There was an earlier discussion here on TMP several years ago where someone pointed out that his name does not appear on the roll of recipients of the Silver Star.