[video:youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/lIvz1oOcoGU?si=oAIECiyfm_18QG62[/video]

My granddad was in the Battle of Anzio. He was a colonel in Gen Clark's staff for Operation Shingle. I've found some cool pictures of my grandpa during the war on Google.

They don’t many like that anymore…

One of the greatest actors of all time.

He had to be in some pain all his life and alot when he got older. He made some movies after the Gunsmoke series ended , he was getting on up there in years. My wife and I are Gunsmoke junkies. Fun fact : he was a very good horseman and loved to ride. He actually owned one of those beautiful Buckskins he rode on Gunsmoke .

we could certainly use Marshall Dillion today, its the wild Wild West out there…

Yup

The woke folks would have him and Festus hooking up out on the trail, Doc and Ms. Kitty would be sleeping around, etc. It would be trash TV like everything else. You might even get something with someone and Festus’s mule.

You know Ol' Doc and Ms kitty was screwing right? Purty sure the Ol' Doc was still married, when he was trying (she probably was too) to wear out Ms Kittys bearings sooooooooo???? 🤣🤣🤣

And nobody ever went to the bathroom in over 20 years

YouTube and Gunsmoke about all I watch.

You probably also recognize Buck from a little show called Bonanza, where he was cast as Ben Cartwright's horse.
He then donated Buck to a therapeutic riding center. Buck taught mentally and physically challenged children to ride until his passing in 1992 at the age of 45, an unusually long life for a horse.
Matt Dillion's horse was a big buckskin American Quarter Horse named Buck.

He rode several different Buckskins during the 20 years Gun Smoke ran. He started out on a Roan , then an Indian boy gave him the first Buckskin. You can tell they're different over the years by their stockings . He also had wooden grips on his long barreled Colt in the first couple of seasons.

I thought this was about William Conrad. He was Marshall Dillon on Gunsmoke before James Arness.

But thanks for the video, it was good.

He was Matt Dillon on the radio series , before it went TV.

Yes. I've got a old time radio app and listen to the radio version of gunsmoke when I'm on the road. Listened to an episode earlier today. I also listen to Hopalong Cassidy as well.

He rode several different Buckskins during the 20 years Gun Smoke ran. He started out on a Roan , then an Indian boy gave him the first Buckskin. You can tell they're different over the years by their stockings . He also had wooden grips on his long barreled Colt in the first couple of seasons.
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True. He had at least 3 Buckskin horses. there was one with 4 black socks, one with 2 white socks and one with one white sock. And of course Marshal and a few other that were just used on one episode each. Ben Cartwrigt (Lorne Greene) and James Arness (Gunsmoke) rode the same buckskin horse. "Buck"was foaled ,and trained at Fat Jones stables in North Hollywood. James Arness had a bad back,he was able to ride him because of his smooth gates.

When Uncle Sam Called, He Reported for Duty.
As a rifleman in the U.S. Army, Arness earned the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign with three Bronze Campaign Stars, Purple Heart, and the World War II Victory Medal. Quite impressive distinction for a man whose intent had been to join the Navy as a fighter pilot, but was rejected because he was too tall. The Army had no problem with James Arness’ height. In fact, they took full advantage of it, using him as a human depth detector! On January 22, 1944, Arness was deployed to Anzio Beachhead in Italy, and because of his 6’7” stature, he was ordered first off the landing craft—to determine the depth of the water. Ten days after the Anzio landing, Arness found himself in several brutal firefights. Anzio would later be called one of the longest protracted battles of the war. During a moonless night on February 1, 1944, Arness was creeping through a vineyard toward the enemy, when he heard voices and a scream. Soon a devastating battle began and he took on repeated machine gun fire, that splintered his lower leg. A concussion grenade exploded nearby, lifting him off the ground as he desperately tried to lay low, with bullets flying all around and over him. The battle raged on, and eventually, the enemy troops were defeated. But Arness was severely wounded. Back in the United States, he underwent several surgeries to repair damage to his right leg but it left him with a bad back due to the leg being hurt.

Cool. I read where Lorne Green didn't like to ride and wasn't a very good horseman. Horses didn't like him much either. They'd have to cut because often Lorne would shout " whoa you son-of -a bitch."