...Mr. President!
"I'm Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor, from now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and the last word out of your filthy sewers will be 'Sir.' Do you maggots understand that?"
Hollywood has given us a vast pantheon of inspirational American military men, real and fictional, over the years: George C. Scott in/as “Patton”; Medal of Honor WWII vet Audie Murphy; the Special Forces operators in “Blackhawk Down”; and, of course, John Wayne (films too numerous to list) are but a few who come to mind.
Perhaps no other in recent memory, however, has ingrained himself in various aspects of modern culture the way that retired U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor R. Lee Ermey has.
Ermey, who burst onto the scene as the hectoring drill sergeant in the 1987 Vietnam pic, “Full Metal Jacket,” has carried that persona into nearly every role he’s played. And that’s OK. Ermey isn’t supposed to be a cookie-cutter method actor, drawing on the deep well of raw emotional memories. His job, which he always does pitch-perfect, is to be the gruff drill sergeant/leader.
In short, he’s a no-nonsense guy who is supposed to shape “weak and worthless (fill in with your favorite adjective and/or expletive)” into “fine-tuned killing machines.” That stare, that voice, that ramrod-straight posture and those eyes that burn laser-like into the skulls of his charges does all that...and more.
Ermey was at a Toys for Tots event recently. Beyond asking those in the audience to aid the charity, the world’s most famous drill sergeant lights into the current administration. (He starts about 2:19 into the clip immediately below.)
It would behoove certain politicians to listen to the sergeant...
Perhaps no other in recent memory, however, has ingrained himself in various aspects of modern culture the way that retired U.S. Marine Corps drill instructor R. Lee Ermey has.
Ermey, who burst onto the scene as the hectoring drill sergeant in the 1987 Vietnam pic, “Full Metal Jacket,” has carried that persona into nearly every role he’s played. And that’s OK. Ermey isn’t supposed to be a cookie-cutter method actor, drawing on the deep well of raw emotional memories. His job, which he always does pitch-perfect, is to be the gruff drill sergeant/leader.
In short, he’s a no-nonsense guy who is supposed to shape “weak and worthless (fill in with your favorite adjective and/or expletive)” into “fine-tuned killing machines.” That stare, that voice, that ramrod-straight posture and those eyes that burn laser-like into the skulls of his charges does all that...and more.
Ermey was at a Toys for Tots event recently. Beyond asking those in the audience to aid the charity, the world’s most famous drill sergeant lights into the current administration. (He starts about 2:19 into the clip immediately below.)
It would behoove certain politicians to listen to the sergeant...
Video bonus (below): Ermey's hilarious Geico commercial. In it, he plays himself as a therapist...
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