Robbers once broke into John Wayne’s home
Jeremy Roberts of Medium interviewed Patrick about his father’s memory. He talked about what it was like growing up with Wayne as his father, explaining that he was a good kid to his family. However, Patrick did grow his hair out at one point, which his father didn’t care for. He explained how the timing wasn’t great, since the actor associated it with the robbers who broke into his home.
“The thieves had stolen $20,000 worth of prized memorabilia, mainly guns,” Patrick said. “He owned an AK-47 that was given to him by a Montagnard tribe while he was touring military bases in Vietnam”
However, the long hair certainly played into the narrative. Patrick continued: “He always claimed it was druggies, these long-haired hippies, that stole his stuff. When I looked like that, he said, ‘Oh, for God’s sake.’ He accused me of being one of those people. They left a bad taste in his mouth.”
As a result, Patrick wanted a security system installed into his new house. Wayne also wanted one installed in his own house, so the security guard agreed to travel to Newport Beach to help him out with that.
John Wayne wanted to make his home alarm a hilarious tape recording to scare off robbers
Patrick continued that he saw the same security guard a few weeks later and asked him about how the meeting went. However, the guard’s visit to the Wayne home didn’t turn out exactly how he expected. The pair went through the house and sat down for coffee after.
“’I was describing to him the way I thought the alarm could be set up and what he should do,’” Patrick recalled to Medium. “‘Your dad had this frown on his face as he was listening to me. I said to him, ‘Mr. Wayne, do you have some questions or concerns about what I’m talking about here?’”
Patrick continued: “My dad said, ‘What I thought is if someone broke into the house, a tape recording of my voice could go off saying, ‘I see you, you son of a b****.’ My dad was dead serious. The security guard had to bite his lip to keep from laughing because he knew my dad wasn’t kidding. That would have been a pretty good alarm.”
The actor’s son thought highly of him
Patrick had a large amount of respect for his father. The True Grit star had the true presence of a legend, which also followed him through public spaces.
“My dad was one of these people whose presence was show-stopping,” Patrick said. “He could walk into a room and everything would come to a standstill. I’m not kidding. Everybody would stop and look.”
Wayne’s home was the target of a robbery, but his response in the form of wanting a voice recording is especially hilarious and memorable.