R Lee Ermey "Gunny" passed away!!

I saw a USO show he did in Baghdad in 08. Very intense. He was quite a guy, and will live on in legend.

Semper Fi Shipmate.

Rest in Peace. We have the watch.

You are never really gone until the last person who speaks your name passes as well. RIP you will be remembered and spoken about for many years to come.

Heard about this earlier today.

Sad indeed.

D.B. Cooper said:

To borrow a line from his character, Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, from "Full Metal Jacket" (probably his defining Hollywood role): "Marines die. That's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives forever. And that means you live forever." R. Lee Ermey will live forever in the hearts of his fans.

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I wrote this on my classroom white board today, and had a brief discussion about him. Only 2-3 kids (high school) per class knew who he was. Most had never heard of him. I don't recall being this affected by a celebrity's passing, even celebrities I really like.

^^^
I think it's because he was just a regular guy who earned some "celebrity" later on.
Either way, he'll be missed by many of us because of the fact that, while he became an "actor", he was a real person before and after...?
YMMV

R. L. Ermey Gunnery Sergeant USMC. Rest In Peace.

RIP.


A true gentleman. Met him once when I was in the Corps and he signed a R. Lee Ermey doll I bought for my dad. He was a class act and will be missed.

Semper Fi Gunny.

Gunny R Lee Ermey was one of those Marines that has left his mark upon the world. He will be missed but not forgotten. Semper Fi my brother.
My friend met him in Yuma AZ a few years ago and got me an autographed picture of Gunny.



D.B. Cooper said it right. We Marines never die, as long as the Corps lives.
Here is something I keep on my wall, The Marines Prayer.


For those that thought at first that it was me that had passed, don’t worry. The Marine barrack in heaven are full and the Devil doesn’t want me.

Gunny R. Lee Ermey - Semper Fi my brother.
May St. Peter greet you with a salute, you earned it!

To our THR Gunny, now I have to find the autographed pic my nephew got me at a conference some years ago.

A Marine's Marine!

My favorite story about him--and I can't remember if it was here or one of my gun-lover friends' dads--was them meeting him at a gun show.
He was there for something probably with Glock or CRKT or whatever, and the guy was looking through a table of surplus garands, IIRC.
They shook hands, chatted, Ermey asked him what he was there for, and he replied he was looking for one of the rifles as a shooter.
Ermey started picking them up and inspecting them, then handed him the best one off the table and said "Buy that one, it's good."

ohihunter2014 said:

I just want to so I apologize I totally forgot about you being here until someone said something and thought oh crap I have to fix this. I PM a mod right away and he fixed my heading. On the bright side you have a lot of fans here.

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No problem. I kind of found it funny and I bet Gunny Ermey would have too.
Most people think of Full Metal Jacket when think of Movies and Gunny. But I have always like him in Siege At Firebase Gloria and Saving Silverman. He was hard in Siege at Firebase Gloria and Funny as hell in Saving Silverman.
Gunny was a true Marine down to the core. He loved God country and Corps. He was a man that stuck to his beliefs. I bet he hated Snowflakes and pillow huggers.

JTHunter said:

Gunny - that prayer is good for everybody.

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I try to live by it everyday. Semper Fi to all.

Fair winds and following seas, Gunny.

They needed him to make those Marines guarding Heaven's streets so squared away that they make 'The Old Guard' at The Tomb look like rag bags.

Still a sad note, even two days later.

Sobering too, "complications of pneumonia"--get your shots my friends, that vaccine is a life-saver.

I'll never forget the first time I saw FMJ!!!!! I swore to my wife that he was the dead ringer of my boot camp D.I.
I was glued to his every word. He was fair, but seemed delighted to make life terrible for all of us boots.
I followed his life in the entertainment field after discharge.
I was so scared that my D.I. never knew my name!!!! He must have done a good job.

The first time I saw him play a Drill Instructor was in The Boys in Company C, as Staff Sargeant Loyce. I must of seen that move more the 50 times at the movie house in Kinville Okinawa back in 1983.

GunnyUSMC said:

The first time I saw him play a Drill Instructor was in The Boys in Company C, as Staff Sargeant Loyce. I must of seen that move more the 50 times at the movie house in Kinville Okinawa back in 1983.

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I was just looking at his entry on IMDB.com. Company C was his first film, but I had forgotten about Siege of Firebase Gloria. He was in a LOT of movies, and I don't think the majority of them were military roles.

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Oh man, that's too bad. He seemed like one of the good guys. R.I.P. and best to his family.

D.B. Cooper said:

I was just looking at his entry on IMDB.com. Company C was his first film, but I had forgotten about Siege of Firebase Gloria. He was in a LOT of movies, and I don't think the majority of them were military roles.

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He played a great psycho in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Though I don't really go for slasher movies.

On the other hand Jessica Biel was in it, and I'd watch a two hour long movie if it was just her sitting in a chair doing nothing at all.

He'll be missed and was a good public face for gun owners.

Did anyone else notice that Sgt. Hartman NEVER blinked on camera in the movie? This is a very difficult feat for any actor, I can only remember it happening once before. Sir Lawrence Olivier never blinked in the 1967 movie "Khartoum". I suspect Marine D.I. are trained in this.....

I was never a Marine, I served my time in the Army. But I have always had enormous respect for the Marines. They have a shared bond that no other branch of the service has.

I know Gunny is in heaven now........weeding out all non- hatchers......