Posted on 01/31/2015 8:34:17 PM PST by Silly
Dear FReepers:
I’m writing a short work which contains a tangential reference to a character in “Stripes” (1981), Morgan, the Army recruiter who interviews John (Bill Murray) and Russell (Harold Ramis).
Can you kindly help me identify the recruiter’s rank, etc., from this screen shot? (See comment #1 for a link to the the full scene.)
(BTW, this information is not in IMDb’s Trivia and Goofs pages — I checked.)
Also, as a side question for you real military experts (not essential to the piece), can you tell me whether the rank that our FReepers identify from Morgan's movie uniform is consistent with that of real-life recruiters from that era (early 80s)? Just curious about it. I know movies do not always research things perfectly, especially in non-so-serious films.
Thanks for your help! If my piece gets published, I’ll post a link here.
— Silly
I was told just to call them all sergeants and not worry about it. Simply remember that the fancier their patch, the higher up they are in the chain.
Sergeant First Class.....looks like he served in a Combat Zone with the 101st Airborne.....with a unit that received both a Presidential Unit Citation and a Meritorious Unit Citation. Didn’t see jump wings....has a Combat Infantrymans Badge (CIB) and an Air Assault badge. I would say he saw action in Viet Nam in the late,late 60’s and early 70’s as the war was wrapping up. That would put him at about 10-14 years service in 1982.....about right for a SFC.
Watch the clip. SFC.
As someone from The People's Republic of Washington (not D.C., for those on the East Coast,) how did you view the last few minutes of the game against the Sea Hags (A.K.A. The Seahawks.)
Just Luck???????????
My wife told me not to leave watching the game on the television, I almost did.
Actually I did leave the television room, and went to my computer room, when I heard her YELLING, I went back.
Not sure about the order of precedence either. It looks like he’s sporting an Army Commendation medal over a Purple Heart.
Will they send us someplace special?
Master jump wings on left pocket
Deadly! Coach McCarty should be charged with “Non Aggressive
Coaching” a capital offense! Hanged, Drawn and Quartered!
Worst coaching I’ve ever seen him do!
If Favre was the QB he’d told McCarty to stuff it and called his own plays. I knew what the end would be when the Pack was on the 1 yard line twice and couldn’t put it across due to poor play calling!
I’m backing the ‘hawks tomorrow! Go ‘hawks Go!
Hawks 27 Pats 24
looks more like senior wings
E-7
The clip shows two rockers indicating that he is a Sergeant First Class (SFC, E7). It is entirely plausible to have a Soldier of that rank detailed to recruiting duty. My only question about that is the SFC is wearing his Class A jacket. Those jackets aren’t the most comfortable. In reality he’d have his jacket hanging up in a closet close by and he’d be in Class B’s (Sans jacket) around the office. Now days they’d likely be in cammies for office duty and Class A’s when they go to meet contacts.
Are you sure?....looked like Air Assault to me but hard to tell...Jump wings would make more sense.....I am Field Artillery...don’t know the Infantry side so much.
I thought it was the Sea Hawgs!
They didn’t ask ME if I was homosexual. I think that’s a personal question from the Sarge, who’s probably a flaming faggot with the hots for Bill Murray!
When I enlisted in the Air Force back in the 70’s the recruiters were SSGT’s.Being from the Air Force I am not familiar with the Army’s rank structure.It always confused the hell out of me.As did the Navy’s.
But yea!I’d say that you’d be likely to see some one of that rank in the recruiting office.
Could be. I can’t really make out a wreath.
You mean like, flaming?
Someone with far too much experience, honor, grace and class to be meeting with the two a-holes in front of him.
We looked at my Father in Law’s Army photograph. He was a recruiter from 1970 to about 1985.
He was wearing his class A uniform jacket in the photo taken in about 1975 or 1976. It is identical to the Stripes shot.
He was in the Army quite some time and was a Master Sergeant in the photo. He retired from the Army. It is also the same uniform he was wearing at his funeral. He was really proud of his service.
He was a good recruiter and hardly ever failed to recruit my Wife and her Sister’s boyfriends when they still lived at home with the parents
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