KANSAS BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY-24 March
Staff Sergeant (SSG) Ronald Lee “Lee” Ermey was born on 24 March 1944 in Emporia, Lyon County, Kansas to John Edward “Jack” and Betty Jane (Pantle) Ermey. He was a Marine and an actor. Lee is best known for playing the role of “Gunnery Sergeant Hartman” in the 1987 film about Vietnam, Full Metal Jacket.
Lee came from a large family as he had five brothers. As a youngster, Jack Ermey moved the family to a small farm outside of Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas. In 1958, when Lee was 14, the family moved to a rural home between Zillah and Granger, Washington—both towns are in Yakima County in the eastern part of the state.
Lee Ermey was a troublemaker as a teenager. He appeared before a judge who supposedly gave him a choice—the military or jail. Lee chose the former. In 1961, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps with his parents’ permission. Lee went through boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) in San Diego, California. He was assigned to the aviation support field for a few years.
In 1965, Ermey returned to the San Diego MCRD as a drill instructor. He was assigned to I Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion. Ermey was there until 1967.
In 1967, Ermey reported to Marine Wing Support Group (MWSG) 17 at the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) at Futenma on the island of Okinawa, Japan. In 1968, probably after the Tet Offensive at the end of January, MWSG-17 was deployed to South Vietnam. Ermey spent 14 months in Vietnam before returning to Okinawa.
In 1972, Ermey had reached the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG) or pay grade E-6. The Marine Corps forced him to retire because of medical issues related to several injuries. In 2002, SSG(R) Ermey was given an honorary promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) by the Marine Corps Commandant, GEN James L. Jones.
After his military discharge, Lee attended the University of Manila in the Philippines on the G.I. bill. While there, he was cast in his first role where he played a Marine Corps drill instructor in the movie, The Boys in Company C that was released in 1978. Lee then served as a technical advisor to the director, Francis Ford Coppola. He also was cast as a helicopter pilot in a single seen in the 1979 movie, Apocalypse Now. In 1984, he was a Gunnery Sergeant or “Gunny” in the 1984 movie, Purple Hearts, that starred Cheryl Ladd. All these films were shot in the Philippines.
In 1987, Lee Ermey was hired as the technical advisor for Stanley Kubrick’s movie, Full Metal Jacket. In training the actor, Tim Colceri, for the role of Gunny Hartman they recorded several 30-minute sessions where they hurled insults at a group of extras. Kubrick watched the tapes and was impressed that Ermey could assume the Drill Sergeant role for up to two hours at a time without any script. Before filming began, Ermey had replaced Colceri as the Gunny. Colceri was kicked down to a minor role of a door gunner on a helicopter. Ermey wrote more than 50% of his own dialogue and was given the freedom to ad lib.
Lee Ermey eventually appeared in 60 films. In many roles, he was in an authority figure role. These included the movies Mississippi Burning (1988), Toy Soldiers (1991), and Se7en (1995). Lee also lent his voice to “Sarge” in the Toy Story trilogy and in X-Men 3 (2006).
Lee Ermey hosted two programs on the History Channel. The first was called Mail Call and lasted from 2002-2009. He would answer viewers’ questions about military issues from historic times to the present. Ermey would discuss tactics, weaponry, and military history. The subject matter was dictated by the viewer email. The second program was Lock n’ Load with R. Lee Ermey. It discussed the history of various weapons used by modern militaries.
Lee was also involved in other television ventures, video games, and commercials as well. In 2015, he hosted a program on the Outdoor Channel called Gunny Time. He appeared as a guest on many shows where the role required a commanding military figure. Lee’s voice was on several video games and commercials. For the latter, it was often something related to the military or the outdoors such as WD-40, SOG Specialty Knives, or the Young Marines.
Lee married his wife, Nila, in 1975. They were parents to five children. They were still married when Lee passed away on 15 April 2018 at the age of 74 in a hospital in Santa Monica, California. The cause was related to pneumonia. Gunny Ermey was buried on Friday, 18 January 2019, at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia.
The first ten minutes of Full Metal Jacket are some of the finest in cinema history. I wish I had the memory to spew out the insults the way he does in those ten minutes.
Gunny! He actually retired as a Staff Sgt. because of his success in Hollywood given Gunnery Sgt honorary . A legend to us jar heads. Full Metal Jacket had to be one of the best recruiting films for the USMC. I must have watched that movie many times as a youngster.
