R. Lee Ermey, a native of Emporia, Kansas, is a former U.S. Marine Corps drill sergeant and Vietnam veteran who became famous for playing himself in Hollywood.
Ermey was an Air Cavalry Officer in Apocalypse Now, advised director Louis Gossett in the making of An Officer and a Gentleman, and is best remembered for his role as Gunny Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket. In recent years, his mean mug hosted "Mail Call" and "Lock 'N' Load with R. Lee Ermey" on The History Channel.
The way things work now, the U.S. Marine Corps operate as a division
of the Department of
the Navy. When a Marine dies in combat, his or her family receives a
condolence letter on Navy letterhead with no mention of the deceased's
Marine Corps service.
Two bills have been written to address the
issue. H.R. 24, authored by Congressman Walter B. Jones (R-North Carolina) is
expected to pass. Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts' bill,
S.504, is on shaky ground. Today,
Ermey and the Marine Corps League plan to hold press conferences in
Washington, D.C., in support of the legislation.
Can't make it to
D.C. on such short notice? You can follow Ermey's progress on Facebook
and Twitter. That's
next-generation military technology right there.
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The Gunny has no wish to separate the Corps from the Navy, at least what I've heard from him the past two days.
R Lee's effor to make the condolence letter more Marine centric is a valid effort but his thought that the Marine Corps name should be added to the Department of the Navy title is worng. The Marines were birthed from the navy and will forever be "A Department Of" the Navy. Maybe R Lee would like to completely separate the Marines from the Navy and throw away 235 years of history and tradition. I am a Navy Corpsman and have served 10 years with the Marines Corps. The Marine Corps is absolutely dependant on the Navy. They are nothing without us. They cannot go anywhere, hell they cannot even perform PT without a Corpsman standing nearby. Let them separate themselves and watch them flounder. Why not take the "Corps" out of their name too since their numbers have far exceeded the definition of a "Corps".
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