Beyond the Article
This column originally appeared in the April 2010 issue. Click here to see what else is inside.

It should come as no surprise that R. Lee “The Gunny” Ermey, the new spokesperson for SOG Specialty Knives & Tools, is a knife enthusiast. He likes all kinds, custom and factory, though by his own admission is a “hunting-knife-kind-of guy,” and finds many of his favorites at knife and gun shows, swap meets, etc.—just like many of the rest of us. Also, a few episodes of his Lock N’ Load with R. Lee Ermey on the History Channel have focused on blades, including one not long ago on Gen. George Patton’s saber. “We were comparing it with the old cavalry sword and, as far as I’m concerned, the old cavalry sword won,” Gunny noted.

Being ex-Navy, I would be lying if I said I did not find myself chuckling throughout the interview with the retired Marine. As such, he is a stickler for authenticity when it comes to any movie that includes Marine themes, and it brought back lots of memories from my “swabbie” days.

For example, recalling when director Stanley Kubrick called him asking if he had heard of The Short-Timers—the book on which the movie Full Metal Jacket is based—Gunny said, “It just so happens that not only had I read it but I was in the process of reading it the second time. He asked me about it and I said it was a very entertaining book about the Marine Corps. However, it’s full of technical nonsense as far as I’m concerned and right away that caught his attention. I basically put together a book report for Stanley and I sent it out to him. He called me back and hired me as technical advisor. I basically accepted the job so I could get my foot in the door and play the role of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.” Not only did Gunny eventually get the part of a lifetime but he also wrote most everything the character of Hartman said and did in the movie.

A big film buff myself, I asked Gunny what he thought of other Marine-themed movies, including Clint Eastwood’s Heartbreak Ridge and John Wayne’s Sands of Iwo Jima.



“I thought Clint Eastwood as Gunny Highway stunk. [The movie] was a technical rag. It took me three sittings before I could watch that rag all the way through,” Gunny said. “Gunnery sergeants do not fight with officers [as Highway does with Maj. Malcolm Powers, played by Everett McGill in the film]. I mean, that is just totally unheard of. It makes me sick some of the stuff I have to put up with and see in some of these movies.

“I look at these shows as entertainment, OK? I’m not sitting here judging this guy about whether he’s a Marine or not. If that’s the case we’d have to get doctors to play doctors, mechanics to play mechanics, real disc jockeys to play disc jockeys. That’s not the case, though. We get actors to play these roles and the actors bring their personalities to the character.

“But what bothers me more than anything is technical correctness,” he maintained. “It aggravates me to see a movie about the Marine Corps, or the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard or Navy, when you’ve got an actor who won’t cut his [expletive deleted] hair for the role. I don’t think that actor should be playing the role, plain and simple.”

After his assessment of Eastwood, I was reluctant to press Gunny any further on Duke Wayne, but he had not forgotten my original question. As it turns out, I am glad he remembered.

“Sergeant Stryker in the Sands of Iwo Jima was a kick-ass ol’ boy,” Gunny said. “John Wayne’s always been one of my heroes.”

Me, too, Gunny—and so are you to scores of Americans and our combat troops overseas. Hoorah!

Corrections

The correct phone number for Lansky Sharpeners is 716-877-7511. The correct phone and e-mail for Bill Burke: 208-336-3792 and billburke@bladegallery.com