JARHEAD the movie

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

Anyone hears any details on the movie coming out this winter. I heard that it is about the gulf war and that is it. stars Jammie foxx and that jake ghellyndal guy but that is it...just curious that is all

[Sgt0811]

If you go to the listed url you can read a little about it.



http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418763/

[RLeon]

From what I understand it's based on Anthony Swofford's book which isn't a book that will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about the Marines...look for a typical "why are we here, and this sh*t sucks" Hollywood war movie. I hope and pray that this won't be the case and that the movie will show the Corps and the US in a good light.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by RLeon
From what I understand it's based on Anthony Swofford's book which isn't a book that will give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about the Marines...look for a typical "why are we here, and this sh*t sucks" Hollywood war movie. I hope and pray that this won't be the case and that the movie will show the Corps and the US in a good light.

Leon, you are truly a gifted linguist! :-) A better rating of a 'Hollywood' Marine Movie could not have been given by anyone else any better than you have put into so few words!

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

R Leon I was stationed with swoff during his time at Mare Island and when we both went down to 7th Marines together. He is not a bad dude and we had alot of good times. He was just alittle to sore at the way he was treated in the Marines that is all. ALot of Marines have the same kind of feelings he had. The book has alot of truth to it I know I expirenced it with him so you are entitled to your opinion but I know the guy and he isn't that bad

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

Thanks Sgt that is what I thought I haven't be able to get ahold of Swofford because it is summer break at where he teaches and he usually travels in the summer but I just wanted to make sure ...

Semper Fi

[GunnyL]

I read the first couple of paragraphs of the book. All I had to read about was him stealing duece gear from his fellow Marines and that anything that wasn't secure was his. I gave the book back to the guy who loaned it to me and told him I really didn't need a Sh*t Bird Lance Corporals perspective on the Marine Corps. The guy was a thief by his own admission.
This isn't any movie I would pay to see.

GunnyL

[Old Marine]

How can any Marine movie be good without John Wayne or R. Lee Ermy starring in it?

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

That is your opinion Gunny and if you are going to hold it against him that we had to take what we needed when it was not given to us than I am guilty of that also. Why no blame supply for not giving usa the gear we needed to do our job. They had plenty of the stuff we needed but we always worried about thier numbers not what we needed to go out on patrol and do our jobs. I never aquired gear from fellow Marines but snuck inot supply for boots or cammies or a new pack or batteries and I only took what I needed. And if I am a thief than so be it but if it saved Marines lives in my unit I will wear that title proudly

[lucien2]

I for one, will not watch a movie or read a book that portrays the Untied States Marine Corps in a bad light, ever. Semper Fidelis until the very end.

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by Sgt Ski 2/7
That is your opinion Gunny and if you are going to hold it against him that we had to take what we needed when it was not given to us than I am guilty of that also. Why no blame supply for not giving usa the gear we needed to do our job. They had plenty of the stuff we needed but we always worried about thier numbers not what we needed to go out on patrol and do our jobs. I never aquired gear from fellow Marines but snuck inot supply for boots or cammies or a new pack or batteries and I only took what I needed. And if I am a thief than so be it but if it saved Marines lives in my unit I will wear that title proudly

Ski, there is a big difference between scrounging for gear for the unit, and the stealing of gear from your fellow Marines in a combat situation. Scrounging is an art! The Scrounger takes plywood for huts, and he takes sand bags for positions, and he takes boots for the troops, or meds for the Corpsman, but a scrounger does not take for himself, nor does he take from his own unit. A thief takes for his own being, and he shares nothing with others. Big difference!

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

Oh I was a scrounger by far ...I was started this thread to see how they are going to portray the story and find out if it was going to be in a positive light or a negative. Everyone has to remember that this is one persons view of his time in the military. I am not saying I agree with him or not, I am just wondering what the stroy line is and if it is loosely based on the book or not. No matter what anyone thinks he is not a bad guy and he will always be considered a friend

[Joseph P Carey]

Truthfully, Ski, it sounds like you should know it already, and it kind of sounded like you were trying to promote the film for your old buddy!

[GunnyL]

According to the book, he was selling his buddies gear to the Pawn Sops and Surplus Stores, not using it for his personal combat use. He was just a Sh*t Bird thief no matter how you try to put a spin on it Ski!

GunnyL

[enviro]

None of us are stupid enough to think there weren't some sh*tty times in the Corps.

Somehow, it seems treacherous to air out OUR dirty laundry in a book and movie and profit over it.

It's not cool to discuss the family business with people who just won't understand - and even more so - people who will take it and spin it into something negative.

Overall - it sucks. I read the book from cover to cover and was disgusted. I can identify with the Marine, but I sure as hell don't agree with him.

[enviro]

And anyone who wants to know more about "aquiring gear" should read chapter 10 of Brute Krulak's book "First to Fight".

Chapter 10 is called "The Honorable Art of Institutional Theft"

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

Not promoting the movie at all I say see it if you want. The book was meant to be another persons point of view right or wrong it is his. I am just curious about who is doing the movie and if it was based on the book or not.

[Joseph P Carey]

Ski, You have heard the personal opinions from your fellow Marines as to what they think of a thief in their outfit, or one that profits from it in a book. I do hope the writer is not teaching ethics where he currently teaching. I think we can little more use those kind of ethics! Now, he wants to trash the Corps based on his life, and his twisted set of values, and he wishes to profit more from it in the Hollywood Cesspool where selling out your brother is just another day at work.

It takes all kinds...!

Question: With all the money he has made, did he ever search out these men he had stolen from, and pay them back? I should guess this would be part of his twelve step plan for being a thief! My guess is that they would not take the money.

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

hey like i said I it is his life and views and guess what every Marine fought so that a person can have his own views of something and make a profit on it . As for me there is no greater love than the beloved Corps. He earned the title just like you and I did and just because his beliefs are different doesn't make him a bad guy. Do you boycott Walt Disney also......

[enviro]

Is the Disney reference made for his supposed Dishonorable Discharge?

http://www.snopes.com/disney/waltdisn/discharg.htm
Claim: Walt Disney received a dishonorable discharge from the military during World War I.
Status: False.

Origins: In 1918, sixteen-year-old Walt Disney was eager to take part in the war in Europe but was too young to join the military. After a plan to enlist in the Canadian Army fell through, Walt signed up with the American Ambulance Corps, a division of the Red Cross, by lying about his age. In November of 1918, after the war had ended, Disney's outfit was shipped across the Atlantic to France.

Walt Disney was assigned to an evacuation hospital in Paris, where he drove trucks and ambulances and ferried military officers from place to place. In February of 1919, Walt and another driver were selected to transport a load of beans and sugar from Paris to Soissons, but their truck broke down in the French countryside during freezing mid-February weather. Walt dispatched his assistant to return to Paris via train while he stayed with the truck, but after two days of waiting Disney finally made his way to the nearest village in search of food and shelter. After sleeping for nearly a day, young Walt returned to the site of the breakdown to find that the truck was gone. (Disney's assistant, after taking time out for a two-day drunken binge, had finally notified authorities about the disabled truck, and it had been towed back to Paris.) When Walt returned to headquarters in Paris he faced a disciplinary board for having abandoned his truck, but the board found that Disney had taken reasonable steps to safeguard the vehicle and did not move to dismiss him from his volunteer duty.

The legend about Walt Disney's dishonorable discharge seems to have begun with the notion that he hung his release from the Red Cross upside-down behind his desk. Even though neither Walt's Red Cross release nor anything else was hung upside-down in his office, the rumor of the upside-down certificate somehow got started and was taken as a sign of Disney's displeasure with his experience in France; over time his volunteer duty with the Red Cross (a civilian organization) was mistaken for actual military service, and his release was transformed into a dishonorable discharge. Thus arose the legend that Walt Disney had not only been dishonorably discharged from the military, but that he was proud of it -- so proud, in fact, that he hung his dishonorable discharge on the wall of his office for all the world to see on his weekly television show. (The "office" depicted in Disney's television broadcasts was merely a soundstage mock-up, however -- his real office was never shown.) The apocryphal story of Walt's dishonorable discharge spread widely and was even repeated on official tours of the Pentagon and told to recruits in basic training. Some versions of the legend included the detail that an influential congressman had offered to "fix" Disney's discharge and turn it into a honorable one, but Walt declined the favor.

Why people believe that Disney would have been proud of a dishonorable discharge is rather puzzling. In the closest thing Walt left to an autobiography (The Story of Walt Disney, putatively written by his daughter Diane), he spoke only positively of his time in France: "The things I did during those eleven months I was overseas added up to a lifetime of experience. It was such a valuable experience that I feel that if we have to send our boys into the Army we should send them even younger than we do. I know being on my own at an early age has made me more self-reliant . . ." Presumably Disney's image as a creative and inventive artist seemed at odds with the conformity required by military service, and people believed Walt was proud of not having fit in with such an organization. As the legend of Disney's dishonorable discharge grew, the incident with the abandoned truck in France was dredged up as the reason for the discharge.

[Joseph P Carey]

Thank you Enviro! For the record, Disney did a lot for the Service during WWII. He even lent out his cartoon images for the men to make unit patches and designs for their planes and ships, where today's production companies would be charging someone for the use of the caricatures. He provided the USA with Patriotic films and promoted a great deal of the USO backing for the troops. Never once did he have anything but good things to say about the USA, which seems to be a bygone tradition in the Hollywood of today. Walt Disney was good man!

For the resord: Swafford is no Walt Disney!

[RLeon]

Sgt Ski, 1st I never knocked Swofford, I just pointed out that his book wasn't a "I love the Marine Corps". I understand that Swoff was disgruntled, we all were at one point in time. I just hope Hollywood doesn't just focus on the negative like they do in other war movies like 'Platoon'...we don't need joe public thinking that Jarheads are a bunch of ticked-off sh*tbirds.

[Sgt Ski 2/7]

That is why I was askig if anyone had heard how or what stroy if any they where going to portray fromt he movie. I know alot fo people on here surf the internet and was just wondering if they had any info sites on it. Hey I am more worried if I am going to get a spot in the movie...lol


Semper Fi

PS I am not trying to start any argueements on here with anyone so please stop with the harrassing emails Thanks

[Joseph P Carey]

Originally posted by Sgt Ski 2/7
That is why I was askig if anyone had heard how or what stroy if any they where going to portray fromt he movie. I know alot fo people on here surf the internet and was just wondering if they had any info sites on it. Hey I am more worried if I am going to get a spot in the movie...lol


Semper Fi

PS I am not trying to start any argueements on here with anyone so please stop with the harrassing emails Thanks

May I take this opportunity to apologize to you for any e-mails you may have received.

I myself do not send any e-mails unless I receive one on a subject, or I might, for the personal information only, to receive knowledge of something, for instance, if a person was in or around a unit I was in, or something like that. But, I would not, and I would urge others to not, go after someone over what is said on the boards.

The boards to me are an exercise in debate. Most times, I will try to stimulate debate by taking a side in an issue in order to read of what others think, and sometimes, I will put a needle to people to see what kind of a reaction I will get, but I will only do so on the boards.

I too receive E-mails, but in my case, they are 95% positive in nature, and the very few of them are negative. I answer them all!

Sometimes, it is nice to read that people are interested, or even emotional, in what is being said. After all, that is what debate is for. But, I do urge others to keep it on the boards. Again, Ski, I apologize to you for deeds of others. As it is, I noticed the other day that my e-mail box was completely filled again, both here and on my home e-mail. I usually empty them once every two weeks into files on the computer.

Taking a positive stance on e-mails, it is good to know that people care about the issues.

[RLeon]

Go Here to get an overview of the movie.
http://www.themovieinsider.com/movies/mid/1765/Jarhead

[bobpage]

Ya know, in the early 80's during Beirut, we Marines at 1/8 had a rash of thefts too. New deuce gear was flying out of our locked up sea bags. If you were in a pumping unit, at least at LeJeune, you had the needed gear. Granted some of it was Viet Nam issue, but hell, it worked. In 84 we got new rifles (A2's) and Kevlar helmets. Stealing is stealing. We lived in open squad bays and it STILL happened. If we caught them, we beat the p*ss out of them blanket party style. Thieves are thieves, and if you need something there is always one who can get you hooked up. In our case, these pecker heads cost us Lance Corporals who made 570 dollars a month dough to buy replacement stuff, or get NPD for helmets stolen. He needed to be introduced to my Gunny. ALL of my SNCO's and senior officers were Viet Nam vets and there was no such thing as a talking to. They explained it so you got it the first pass. Get it? Sounds like the leadership there was not paying attention.

[Joseph P Carey]

Bob, Maybe it is not just that Vietnam Era Marines that took care of things any differently, it was the way of the Corps! When I was with 2/8 in early 64, the standard operating procedure from the SNCOs was, "No thief gets brought to them without lumps". We hardly ever had anything stolen from us. Most of our SNCOs were from the Korean Campaign back then. We 'Vietnam Marines' had some very good teachers. The last thing anyone wanted in a unit was a thief, who would steal from their fellow Marines!

[SuNmAN]

I'd watch the movie.