Content area
Full Text
Editor's Note: The following article is reprinted in memory ofR. Lee Ermey who passed away on April 15, 2018. His obituary can be found in the In Memoriam department on page 62.
A blistering wit, migraine-inducing bark and scowl that could weaken the knees of any recruit make R. Lee Ermey one of the most recognized drill instructors in the Marine Corps' colorful history, but he was all smiles May 17,2002, when presented with an "honorary promotion" to gunnery sergeant.
The new chevrons were pinned on Ermey, a medically retired Marine staff sergeant and Vietnam veteran, at a ceremony aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, recognizing there is more to the man than the drill instructor he was or the characters he's portrayed in numerous movies and television shows.
He stood on the yellow footprints on the same depot in 1961 as a Marine recruit. Little did the troubled youth from the state of Washington know what was to come when he enlisted on his birthday "under a bit of duress."
"The judge said if I didn't join the Marine Corps, he was going to put me where the sun never shined," Ermey said with a chuckle. "I figure I'd be spending life in the Walla Walla Penitentiary [Washington State Penitentiary] if it wasn't for the Marine Corps. I basically owe everything to the Marine Corps."
The judicial ultimatum firmly set Ermey on the march across the parade deck to success. He described the drill field, both as a recruit and later when he returned as a drill instructor, as the birthplace of his career.
"When I went through boot camp it just flat woke me up" Ermey said. "It gave mea little discipline and squared my young a- away.
"When I came back to the drill field it was the start of something big. As an instructor, I became comfortable working with people," he continued. "That is basically what I do now, work in front of people. I think being an instructor has got to be the greatest school you can go to for becoming an actor. If you're not comfortable in front of people, you sure won't be comfortable in front of a camera."
After boot camp, Ermey served for two years...