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Northeast Louisiana | And I didn't really think much of it until I saw this:
Durning's rugged early life provided ample material on which to base his later portrayals. He was born into an Irish family of 10 children in 1923, in Highland Falls, N.Y., a town near West Point. His father was unable to work, having lost a leg and been gassed during World War I, so his mother supported the family by washing the uniforms of West Point cadets.
The younger Durning himself would barely survive World War II.
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.
In later years, he refused to discuss the military service for which he was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts.
"Too many bad memories," he told an interviewer in 1997. "I don't want you to see me crying."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/12/25/durning-king-charac...
Edited by Five Lock Boll 12/25/2012 17:46
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I saw that actor Charles Durning died
