We lost a good man!

“SEMPER FI” AND GOOD-BYE – WE BID FAREWELL
TO A GOOD FRIEND OF MILITARYCORRUPTION.COM
GUNNERY SGT R. LEE ERMEY WAS A MARINE’S
MARINE – VIETNAM VETERAN AND FORMER BOOT
CAMP D. I. – KANSAS NATIVE WAS UNABASHED
CONSERVATIVE – BOARD MEMBER OF THE N.R.A.

© 2018 MilitaryCorruption.com

By DAVID SMALLWOOD

If there ever was a man who personified the image of what a Marine should be, it was Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey.

A real-life drill instructor and Vietnam veteran, this son of Kansas and lover of the Constitution (especially the 2nd Amendment) embodied every aspect of “The few, the proud, the Marines.”  Who could ever forget his outstanding performance as the profane drill instructor in Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, FULL METAL JACKET?

Medically retired from the Corps and living in the Philippines, Ermey’s first motion picture role was in 1979 as a helicopter pilot in Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam war epic APOCALYPSE NOW.  Soon, the real-life San Diego Recruit Depot D. I. had a featured role in THE BOYS OF COMPANY C.

That led to many other movie credits and television roles, eventually the hit show MAIL CALL on the History Channel.  Ermey was the ultimate “authority figure,” but he had a wry sense of humor too, that gave another dimension to the hard-nosed characters he portrayed on camera.

HIS “POLITICS” WERE PRO-AMERICAN

A board member of the National Rifle Association, the “Gunny” was an unabashed conservative, supporting Donald Trump for President in 2016. To him the words “Semper Fidelis” – the motto of the Marine Corps – were sacred.

He loved his country and he will forever be remembered for all the good he did.  Ermey quietly worked behind the scenes to aid veterans who came to him for help.  The “Gunny” was a good friend of ours, and we mourn his passing.

It’s not hard to imagine Ermey counting cadence up above on April 15 as he reunited with Marine buddies he hadn’t seen since they died in combat all those many years ago in Vietnam.

Our editor emeritus, “Major Mac,” an Army combat correspondent and NCO who did three tours back-to-back there from 1966 to 1969 says “Tell the Gunny I’ll be along one of these days to shake his hand and render a heartfelt salute.”