Posted on 05/13/2005 5:55:54 PM PDT by AZHua87
WASHINGTON, May 13, 2005 – A man who probably is best known as the Marine drill instructor from the movie "Full Metal Jacket" and as host of the History Channel's "Mail Call" program visited recovering troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here May 12.
Marine Sgt. James King tells R. Lee Ermey, best known as the Marine drill instructor in the movie "Full Metal Jacket" that he plans to enter the Marine Corps Marathon and the New York Marathon after he recovers from the amputation of his left leg. Ermey met recovering war wounded at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington May 12 as part of a USO-sponsored visit. Photo by Michael E. Dukes (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
"I thought I'd come down and see how they're treating you down here," R. Lee Ermey told one of the patients he visited on the hospital's Ward 68.
A retired Marine gunnery sergeant, Ermey said he retired long ago, but he never left the Marine Corps. "I've been with the Marines for 44 years now," he said.
"Semper Fi!" Ermey said as he greeted Marines and soldiers alike. The Latin term "semper fidelis" means "always faithful" - a philosophy Ermey said he thinks all military members share.
"I've seen all your movies and own the first two seasons of 'Mail Call,' said Army Pfc. Michael Hawkins, an Operation Enduring Freedom soldier recovering here. The National Guard infantryman, who suffered from blast wounds while serving in Afghanistan, insisted on standing despite his wounds, while he spoke to Ermey. They talked about Ermey's recent trip to Afghanistan, where he traveled on patrol with a transportation company. "All the best to you," Ermey said to Hawkins as he shook his hand before heading for the next room.
(Excerpt) Read more at dod.mil ...
Dang but I love that man!! OOORAH!
I imagine it's more than a "little bit." I've always admired them too. Never been in the military (4-F and geek all the way) but I've always dreamed of being in the service and wishing I was in the care of someone like this guy.
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: If you ladies leave my island, if you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human, f*cking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grabastic pieces of amphibian shit. Because I am hard you will not like me. But the more you hate me the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair. There is no racial bigotry here. I do not look down on niggers, kikes, wops or greasers. Here you are all equally worthless. And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you maggots understand that?
OOOH FRICKIN RAH!
Semper Fi Gunny Ermey
Don't feel bad when I retired they gave me a recall code of 14K. When the enemy gets to 14th and K Street in D.C. they'll recall me to active duty.
That's the Red-Light district of DC.
"And my orders are to weed out all non-hackers who do not pack the gear to serve in my beloved Corps. Do you maggots understand that?"
hehe that's one of my favorite lines from the entire movie.
Ermey also did a good one in a movie called Siege at Firebase Gloria. Outstanding Marine.
Semper Fi
P.I.M.R.D., it can only be.
Gunny's a helluva guy.
OOH RAH!
I read that one of the reasons Full Metal Jacket was so good was that Ermey convinced Kubrick that he (Kubrick) had it all wrong, and straightened him out.
He didn't just recite lines, he created the role.
In 1969 my girlfriend broke up with me and married another guy. I quit college, (I was on athletic scholarship) and asked my local board to draft me.
I had completed the physcial and was with the group about to take the oath when they noticed I had missed the hearing test due to having been sidelined by an extra eye test.
As you might guess, I failed the hearing exam. I still remember them asking me what was wrong with my hearing. I told them "nothing". The guy said to take it again. I still think if I had told them I was deaf, they would have passed me.
I later went to an ear, nose and throat specialist and he said I was deaf at certain frequencies but it shouldn't have kept me out.
I later passed a much tougher physical for a government agency. Also got my scholarship back and married an even prettier girl.
http://shop.usps.com/cgi-bin/vsbv/postal_store_non_ssl/browse_content/stampReleaseDisplay.jsp?OID=8610
Semper Fi!
'59-'64
Ya can't help but love the Gunny!
There was a very funny story about making R. Lee Ermey the White House press secretary posted on FR a few months back. Can't find it now.
That Clown is simply trying to disprove Ermy's reach around theory.
Or he is the poster boy for "Peter Puffers"
on the other hand he looks like he is in pretty good shape, knows anatomy, might make a decent Corpsman or Radio Operator.
No Flames, I'm just thinking outloud.
(I wish I had that much hair)
Here's the straight poop from imdb.com:
Trivia for
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Anthony Michael Hall was originally set to play Pvt. Joker, but was fired for objecting to Stanley Kubrick's perfectionist style of directing. He was replaced by Matthew Modine.
Former US Marines Drill Instructor R. Lee Ermey was hired as a consultant on how to drill USMC style. He performed a demonstration on videotape in which he yelled obscene insults and abuse for fifteen minutes without stopping, repeating himself, or even flinching - despite being continuously pelted with tennis balls and oranges. Director Stanley Kubrick was so impressed that he cast R. Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann.
Vincent D'Onofrio gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Lawrence, breaking Robert De Niro's movie weight-gain record (60 pounds) for Raging Bull (1980).
Michael Herr, a very close friend of Stanley Kubrick, helped write much of the screenplay, particularly the part set in Vietnam. His contributions to the script are based largely on his own experiences as a reporter covering the war. Like Joker and Rafterman he was essentially freelance and allowed to travel anywhere in the country. Additionally, the scene where Joker and Rafterman watch the crazed gunner in the chopper shoot civilians is taken directly from "Dispatches", Michael Herr's memoir of his experiences.
R. Lee Ermey was involved in a jeep accident during the making of the movie. At 1am he skidded off the road, breaking all of his ribs on one side. He refused to pass out, and kept flashing his car lights until a motorist stopped. In some scenes, he does not move one of his arms at all.
The scenes of the ruined city of Hue were shot at a dockyard on the Isle of Dogs, London that was scheduled for demolition. In some shots there is a rock in the background that looks very much like the monolith from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Stanley Kubrick says it wasn't intentional, but was noticed while watching the rushes.
Mickey Mouse is referred to at the end of both segments: when Hartmann enters the head to confront Joker and Pyle, he cries "What is this Mickey Mouse shit?"; and Joker and co. sing the theme from the Mickey Mouse Club as they march through the burning city. A third Mickey Mouse reference is in the press room: a Mickey Mouse figure can be seen near the window behind Private Joker.
R. Lee Ermey hardly blinks at all in any scene.
As Joker prepares to kill the sniper, his chest turns as he raises the gun - hiding his peace symbol button from view.
The inscription "I Am Become Death" is written on Animal Mother's helmet. This is a quotation from the Bhagavad-Gita, spoken by J. Robert Oppenheimer after the explosion of the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo.
Toward the end of the movie, when "Cowboy" uses the radio to request tank support, the voice of Murphy, to whom he is speaking, is probably none other than Stanley Kubrick.
Stanley Kubrick's daughter Vivian Kubrick makes a cameo appearance during a scene in Vietnam where Joker and Rafterman encounter a mass open grave. Vivian Kubrick can be seen wielding a motion picture camera, shooting into the open grave for a few moments.
Director Trademark: [Stanley Kubrick] [faces] Private Pyle during the scene when all Marines are being pumped up to kill, and when he is in the head.
Gustav Hasford began working on "The Shortimers" (the book which Full Metal Jacket is based upon) while serving in Vietnam, and based many of the characters (and names) off of those he served with.
According to director John Boorman, Stanley Kubrick wanted to cast Bill McKinney in the role of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. However Stanley Kubrick was so unsettled after viewing Bill McKinney's performance in Deliverance (1972) that he declined to meet with him, saying he was simply too frightened at the idea of being in his presence.
Mike Allred tried out for the lead role in this film, but was turned down.
The entire film was shot in England (Pinewood studios and military barracks).
When telling the recruits about Christmas services, Sgt Hartmann calls the clergyman "Chaplain Charlie". In Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) Alex refers to the prison chaplain as the "prison Charlie".
In several of the Vietnam scenes a Red Ryder B.B. gun can be seen in the squad leaders pack, and in the scene where "Vietnam: The Movie" is being filmed he is holding it in his hand as the camera crew goes by.
Except for the title cards "A Stanley Kubrick Film" and "Full Metal Jacket", there are no opening credits.
The siren heard at the Da Nang base during the Tet Offensive is the same as heard at Burpelson AFB in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).
Director Trademark: [Stanley Kubrick] [zoom] The opening shot of the scene by the open mass grave
Much, if not all, of R. Lee Ermey's dialogue during the Paris Island sequence was improvised. While filming the opening scene, where he disciplines Pvt. Cowboy, he says Cowboy is the type of guy that would have sex with another guy "and not even have the goddamned common courtesy to give him a reach-around". Stanley Kubrick immediately yelled cut and went over to R. Lee Ermey to ask him, "What the hell is a reach-around?" R. Lee Ermey politely explained what it meant. Stanley Kubrick laughed and re-shot the scene, telling R. Lee Ermey to keep the line.
The only shot that actually shows Parris Island is when the platoon graduates and another shot of video is imported into the movie showing the graduation location on Parris Island by First Battalion.
Advertisements for this film were censored in some parts of Canada due to the tagline "In Vietnam the wind doesn't blow, it sucks." At that time, Canadian censors had not yet decided whether the phrase "it sucks" (or "this sucks") was obscene.
To make Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's performance and the recruits' reactions as convincing as possible, Matthew Modine, 'Vincent D'Onofrio (I)' and the other actors playing recruits never met R. Lee Ermey prior to filming. Stanley Kubrick also saw to it that R. Lee Ermey didn't fraternize with the actors between takes.
According to his shirt on Parris Island, Pvt. Joker's real name is J.T. Davis.
The term "full metal jacket" refers to the type of small arms ammunition used in warfare, as heard in Private Pyle's famous line spoken on the toilet, "7.62 millimeter, full... metal... jacket." Full metal jacket ammunition has a copper coating covering the lead core of its projectile.
One of the scenes cut from the movie was a scene that showed a group of soldiers playing soccer. The scene was cut because a shot revealed they were not using a soccer ball, but a human head.
Another cut scene involved a sex scene between Pvt. Joker and the Vietnamese prostitute. According to the actress, Stanley Kubrick cut the scene because it detracted from the cold mood of the film.
In the first part of the movie, in the sequences inside the dormitory during the drill, a special lens was design to keep every single soldier in focus. Kubrick intended that no one was special and they all had the same treatment.
My personal favorite.
http://www.rleeermey.com/
ROFLMAO!! The intro alone is worth the visit.
"You're so ugly you could be work of modern art"
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman to Pvt. Pyle
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.