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R.I.P. Charles Durning

Article about: American actor Charles Durning, 89, died on December 24th, at his home in New York City. He participated in the Normandy landings on D-Day, and also in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarde

  1. #1

    Default R.I.P. Charles Durning

    American actor Charles Durning, 89, died on December 24th, at his home in New York City. He participated in the Normandy landings on D-Day, and also in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts. R.I.P.

    Dusty

  2. #2

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    Hi Dusty, I heard this on the news and did not recognise his name at first, then once his picture was shown I instantly knew who he was from his many films.

    RIP.

    Cheers, Ade.
    Had good advice? Saved money? Why not become a Gold Club Member, just hit the green "Join WRF Club" tab at the top of the page and help support the forum!

  3. #3

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    Another one of those great old veteran character actors gone.

    Come to think of it, his long and immensely productive acting career began many years before I was even born and he continuously worked right to the end, so his was one of those faces that have accompanied my whole moviegoing/TV-watching life in ever-new roles.

    R.I.P.

  4. #4

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    A true hero in the sense of the word. I understand he landed on D-DAY and was later wounded.A real soldier and gentleman,GOD rest his soul and peace to his family.

  5. #5

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    For his valour and the wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Heart medals. Additional awards include the World War II Victory Medal!

    I loved his films !

    Nick
    "In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard." - SS Obergruppenfuhrer Wilhelm Bittrich - Arnhem

  6. #6

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    I did not recognize the name either, but the picture . . . He was a good actor, and one of our heroes. RIP. He was also awarded the Legion of Honor in 2008.

  7. #7

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    I recognised the name immediately, but never knew he was
    a Heroic WWII Vet. He had a great acting career.........

    RIP
    Regards,


    Steve.

  8. #8

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    I remember him from O Brother, Where Art Thou?, RIP!...

  9. #9

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    As said by others, a great character actor for his long career and a frontline soldier when it mattered most. RIP

  10. #10

    Default Re: R.I.P. Charles Durning

    He was truly a very brave and fearless man and his is a remarkable story of survival. As a 21-year-old infantryman, Private Charles Durning was in the first wave of soldiers to land on Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. He was the only man to survive a machine-gun ambush. Despite suffering serious machine gun and shrapnel wounds, Durning killed seven German gunners to survive D-Day.

    Several months later, in Belgium, Durning was stabbed eight times by a bayonet-wielding teenage German soldier. That day, he survived by killing the German with a rock in hand-to-hand combat. Durning recovered from those wounds and was released from the hospital just in time to fight in the Battle of the Bulge, where he was taken prisoner.

    Charles Durning was one of only a handful of men to survive the infamous massacre of American POWs at Malmedy, Belgium. He and two others escaped, and the rest were murdered. Durning was obliged to return with American troops to identify the bodies of his fellow prisoners.

    Several months later, a chest wound caused his return to the US, where he recovered from both physical and psychological wounds in Army hospitals until being discharged as a Private First Class in January 1946, a month shy of his 23rd birthday.

    For his service during World War II, Charles Durning was awarded the Silver Star Medal and three Purple Hearts.

    In a People magazine interview in 1990, Durning said, "There's only so much you can witness." He spent four years in and out of Army hospitals, being treated for the physical and psychological scars of war.

    R.I.P. Charles Durning.

    Ned.
    'I do not think we can hope for any better thing now.
    We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker of course, and the end cannot be far.
    It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more. R. SCOTT.
    Last Entry - For God's sake look after our people.'

    In memory of Capt. Robert Falcon Scott, Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates and Edgar Evans. South Pole Expedition, 30th March 1912.

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