March 24 - R. Lee Ermey

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On this day, in 1944, Ronald Lee Ermey was born in Emporia, Kansas. After spending his formative years on a farm near Kansas City with his five brothers, Lee and his family moved to Zillah, Washington when he was fourteen. The transition did not go well for the teenager. At the hearing for his second arrest for criminal mischief, the judge gave Lee, then seventeen, a choice: go to jail or enlist. He choose the military and never looked back.

In 1961, Lee became a United States Marine. After surviving training in San Diego, he spent almost four years in aviation support. He then got a position that would serve him well beyond the two years he actually held it: drill instructor. From 1965-67, Lee honed his skills, barking orders at new recruits and presenting an aura of absolute command. He then transferred to the Marine base in Okinawa, Japan, which was just a short hop away from South Vietnam. Starting in 1968, Lee spent 14 months fighting the Viet Cong as part of the Marine Wing Support Group 17. He advanced to the rank of E-6, Staff Sergeant, and earned numerous awards including: a Meritorious Unit Commendation, a Good Conduct Medal with two bronze stars, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with one silver star, the South Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with palm, a South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citation, the South Vietnamese Campaign Medal, a Rifle Marksman Badge and a Pistol Sharpshooter Badge. In 1972, Lee received a medical retirement due to injuries sustained in the line of duty.

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As a veteran, Lee began attending the University of Manila in the Philippines on the G.I. Bill. While there, he got a part as a Marine drill instructor in The Boys in Company C, a picture that was filming nearby. Boys was one of the first movies to come out after the Vietnam War that was about the Vietnam War. This led to a role as a chopper pilot in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (Lee also served as a technical advisor) and a handful of other parts over the next several years. His breakout role came in 1987 in a film similar in plot to Boys, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. As Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Lee earned Golden Globe and Boston Society of Film Critics nominations.

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Jacket jumpstarted Lee’s acting career and he would spend the next three decades playing… well, mostly drill sergeants. But let’s face it, he was really good at it. Whether it was a one off on The Family Guy or Dr. House’s ex-military father on House or a drill-sergeant –turned-therapist selling GEICO Insurance, Lee became Hollywood’s quintessential military man. Sure he’s played a minister on The X-Files and a registered sex offender on Law and Order: SVU, but the overbearing drill master was his gig and he knew it. Lee even had a couple of shows of his own on the History Channel that leaned into the persona, Mail Call in which he answered viewer questions about various military topics and Lock n’ Load with R. Lee Ermey which chronicled the history of various weapons.

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Naturally, when Pixar was creating the first fully computer animated feature, Toy Story, released in 1995, they picked Lee to lead their band of green army men. He voiced the role of Sarge in all three of the original films, as well as a handful of direct-to-video pieces and video games. Whether admonishing Woody to do the right thing or reminding everyone that we never leave a man behind, Sarge gave both backbone and heart to the world of toys.

Throughout his life, one of Lee’s joys was to spend time at the Marine base in San Diego talking to new recruits. In 2002, for his tireless dedication to the Corps, he was given an honorary promotion to E-7, Gunnery Sergeant. He passed away on April 15, 2018 in Santa Monica, California and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. He was 74.