Clint Eastwood Stayed Silent For Over 60 Years,
Finally Shares Heart Wrenching Story
Clint Eastwood has stayed silent and taken
his lumps for over 60 years. Finally, he has
decided to reveal the truth.
Clint Eastwood is a well-known icon of American
entertainment, but the Hollywood legend has
an incredible story that most people don’t
know. The veteran actor and filmmaker who
has risen to international fame was born in
1930 during the Great Depression to a modest
background. His father was a migrant worker
while his mother worked in a factory. But,
there’s so much more to his story.
Eastwood weighed in at an astonishing 11.59
pounds at birth, which was considered a medical
anomaly back then. He eventually grew to be
6 feet 2 inches tall and was drafted into
the United States Army during the Korean War,
according to Wikipedia. But, what many don’t
know is that, at 21 years old, Eastwood was
a passenger on a World War II-era Naval aircraft
that crashed in the Pacific.
“I was catching a free ride from Seattle
down to Almeda,” Eastwood said of the flight.
“It was stormy and we went down off of Point
Reyes, California, in the Pacific. I found
myself in the water swimming a few miles towards
the shore. I remember thinking, ‘well, 21
is not as long as a person wants to live.'”
The award-winning actor and director spent
several hours in the Pacific, where he swam
his way through beds of kelp before reaching
shore and climbing up a cliff to radio for
help. The experience may have prepared him
to direct his film, “Sully: Miracle on the
Hudson,” which chronicles the final moments
of US Airways Flight 1549 and the dramatic
aftermath, according to The Telegraph.
“Though he says that these events didn’t
particularly figure in his decision to make
the film, it did give him a unique insight
both into the experiences of the passengers
and crew, and the vital split-second decisions
of Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger
– decisions that were later challenged by
the authorities, much to Eastwood’s annoyance,”
the Telegraph reported.
“I suppose having been in a similar situation
as the pilot, I would have chanced a water
landing rather than go someplace where there’s
no runway,” Eastwood said. “And of course,
Sully was familiar with that area,” he continued,
speaking of the quick-thinking pilot, Captain
Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who made
an important, split-second decision to land
on the Hudson.
Although the heroic pilot successfully left
the 155 passengers aboard his flight virtually
unscathed, thanks to his skilled yet controversial
landing after a bird-strike destroyed both
of the aircraft’s engines, his choice to
land in the water was shockingly contested
by authorities.
“He knew where the helicopter ports and
ferryboats were, so he picked the right spot,
where everyone could get to them fast. It
wouldn’t be like being out in the middle
of the ocean,” Eastwood added of Sully,
who’s played by star Tom Hanks in the film.
“He knew that somebody would see them.”
Although Sully’s landing was undeniably
miraculous, it’s what happened to Sullenberger
after the crash that truly inspired Eastwood.
“Anybody who keeps their wits about them
when things are going wrong, who can negotiate
problems without panicking, is someone of
superior character, and interesting to watch
on film,” Eastwood said. “But for me,
the real conflict came after, with the investigative
board questioning his decisions, even though
he had saved so many lives.”
