# Listen Up, Maggots! I'm Dead! - RIP R. Lee Ermey
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** celebrity-death
**Created:** [April 15, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470 "2018-04-15T23:43:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/1 "2018-04-15T23:43:48Z")
Dead at age 74. We’ll miss you, Gunny.
So much for more seasons of “Lock and Load.”
---
### Author:  [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/2 "2018-04-15T23:55:17Z")
That’s a shame, I really liked him. Hell, he could come over to my house and fuck my sister!
R.I.P. Sgt. Hartman
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/3 "2018-04-15T23:59:28Z")
:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(☹
I’ve met him a couple of times, mostly at NRA annual meetings and conventions. In real life he was a kind and gentle man yet still larger than life. Way, wayyyy too soon for him to go.
Yet another reminder that even in the 21st century pneumonia is still a dead serious disease and a killer. It did what the entire Viet Cong couldn’t.
_Sigh_ ☹
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/4 "2018-04-16T00:03:51Z")
I hope he had permission.
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### Author:  [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/5 "2018-04-16T00:11:52Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#):
>
> That’s a shame, I really liked him. Hell, he could come over to my house and fuck my sister!
>
> R.I.P. Sgt. Hartman
You made me smile even as the sad news was sinking in.
Then I wondered what R. Lee Ermey would have thought of your comment… I giggled a little, knowing he would approve.
Thank you
RIP
---
### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/6 "2018-04-16T00:22:26Z")
The “Toy Story” cast are dropping like flies.
He was a hoot in, “The Frighteners.”
What is your major malfunction, numbnuts?
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/7 "2018-04-16T00:23:57Z")
That sucks quite a bit.
Also be on the lookout for this man who may have played a role.
[ ](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--0dARpOvD--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/ru1syf5nymej9oknjqdz.jpg)
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/8 "2018-04-16T00:26:26Z")
RIP, Sgt. Ermey
I enjoyed his series “Mail Call”.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/9 "2018-04-16T00:41:58Z")
Respect, you god damned jarhead.
And thank you for your service.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/10 "2018-04-16T02:13:12Z")
He’ll be missed. Loved Gunny Time.
The Official “GaryM” of the Internet
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Burden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Burden)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/11 "2018-04-16T02:30:52Z")
He was amazing in _ **The Boys in Company C** _, so much so that he got to keep playing the same character over and over throughout his career.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/12 "2018-04-16T04:27:11Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#):
>
> That’s a shame, I really liked him. Hell, he could come over to my house and fuck my sister!
>
> R.I.P. Sgt. Hartman
I hear he was the kind of guy who had the common curtesy to give a "Reach-a-…
Aw, never mind.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/13 "2018-04-16T04:37:50Z")
Semper Fi, dude. R.I.P.
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### Author:  [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/14 "2018-04-16T04:54:02Z")
Every cannibal on the congo is now no longer in danger of being short-dicked. So at least there’s an upside.
Sorry…SIR, EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO IS NOW NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING SHORT-DICKED, SO AT LEAST THERE’S AN UPSIDE, SIR!
[cannot hear me; requests politely that I repeat that statement as though I had a pair.]
**SIR, EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO IS NOW NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING SHORT-DICKED, SO AT LEAST THERE’S AN UPSIDE, SIR!**
[compares my efforts at vocalization to taurine manure, and requests again politely that I repeat that statement]
**SIR, EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO IS NOW NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING SHORT-DICKED, SO AT LEAST THERE’S AN UPSIDE, SIR!**
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/15 "2018-04-16T06:34:30Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#):
>
> Every cannibal on the congo is now no longer in danger of being short-dicked. So at least there’s an upside.
>
> Sorry…SIR, EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO IS NOW NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING SHORT-DICKED, SO AT LEAST THERE’S AN UPSIDE, SIR!
>
> [cannot hear me; requests politely that I repeat that statement as though I had a pair.]
>
> **SIR, EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO IS NOW NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING SHORT-DICKED, SO AT LEAST THERE’S AN UPSIDE, SIR!**
>
> [compares my efforts at vocalization to taurine manure, and requests again politely that I repeat that statement]
>
> **SIR, EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO IS NOW NO LONGER IN DANGER OF BEING SHORT-DICKED, SO AT LEAST THERE’S AN UPSIDE, SIR!**
When I was in, non-coms got pissed when you called them “sir”. That was for officers.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/16 "2018-04-16T11:47:03Z")
Just box him up and ship him home.
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### Author:  [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/17 "2018-04-16T12:29:50Z")
I am so upset. He was my over 50 crush way back when Mail Call started. I’m gkiving him a very subdued “Hoorah”.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/18 "2018-04-16T13:13:54Z")
Dude was only 42 or 43 when they filmed Full Metal Jacket?
Wow, I thought he was older. Probably because I was so scared of him.
I’m trying to think of anyone who made a full movie debut who stole the show more than him. I mean, he absolutely made the opening 45 minutes of Full Metal Jacket memorable. He owned the movie and everything after that is less memorable. I think just about everyone leaves that movie thinking of him.
Truth it, anyone doing “drill sergeant” routines are imitating him now. A lot of people’s image of boot-camp is from that movie and his performance.
I believe it is true that Kubrick had another actor and had Ermey training him. Let the other actor go, used the real deal.
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### Author:  [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/19 "2018-04-16T13:25:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Dude was only 42 or 43 when they filmed Full Metal Jacket?
>
> Wow, I thought he was older. Probably because I was so scared of him.
That was exactly my thought–he definitely doesn’t look 42 in the film to me.
A few weeks back I introduced my daughter to FMJ, Once Ermey’s half of the film ended we simply shut off the film–the second half just isn’t worth it.
I remember going to see that film in the theater with my brother–I was in the military at the time and was in awe as to how precisely Ermey had nailed the boot camp experience. I told my brother, who looked at me with a shocked expression, asking me if it was really like that, to which I said “yes it was.”
Of course, the film combined many things from many experiences into one catchall boot camp experience (e.g. I never saw a real “blanket party” but I knew they happened), nevertheless Ermey was everything that made that film what it was. Had he not been there, the first half would have been as forgettable as the second half.
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### Author:  [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-maggots-im-dead-rip-r-lee-ermey/812470/20 "2018-04-16T15:00:51Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> When I was in, non-coms got pissed when you called them “sir”. That was for officers.
Yes but in “Boot” you gotta give the drill instructors “sir sandwiches.”
Not a Marine, but friends/relatives with a lot.
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