We lost two great American role models this week. They were different from one another in many ways, but each gave us ethical examples to live up to.
I met Barbara Bush 30 years ago. I lived in New Hampshire, and during the first-in-the-nation Presidential Primaries there, New Hampshirites got to meet all the candidates if they wanted. As I walked up to the West Street Wardhouse in Concord, there big as life was Barbara Bush, bright of eye and smile. She looked me in the eye (I remember her being my height) and shook my hand (a strong hand-shake, like a man’s). She said, “I’m Barbara Bush, and I’d like you to vote for my husband.” I replied “Well, ma’am, I’m committed to Jack Kemp, but I think your husband is going to win the nomination, and I’ll vote for him in the election.”
She did a little double-take, and then, without losing a bit of her radiance, she answered enthusiastically “I’ll accept that!”
Her life, including a marriage that lasted longer than this old man’s long life, was exemplary.
In the gun world, we lost R. Lee Ermey, “the Gunny.” I never got to meet him face to face. We both enjoyed Glock matches but were never at the same one at the same time, and at the SHOT Show and NRA meetings, I had too many appointments to stand in the long waiting line of his countless fans to meet him. The Evil Princess did, though, and when Gunny learned that her late husband, her daughter, and her grandson were Marines, he made extra time to chat with her. I never met anyone who knew R. Lee Ermey and didn’t find him a kind, good man, a Vietnam vet who worked tirelessly for veterans’ rights.
May they both rest in well-earned peace.
Mas – agree that we are diminished by both losses. I also never met the Gunny, but know people who have, and they said the same as you about his kindness and big heart. While I never had the pleasure, my wife, also from NH, met Ms. Bush on more than one occasion and was a big fan. She especially liked Barbara’s direct, practical, no nonsense approach, and the fact she thought her husband had been wrong in both raising taxes and in the restriction of imports of ‘AK-47″ type rifles.
Both great people and both were in the public eye for decades without messing up. That is a real accomplishment!
I love “Mail Call” and of course, “Full Metal Jacket.” He played Gunnery Sergeant Hartman as well as Margaret Hamilton played The Wicked Witch of the West!
Couldn’t agree more. The best of the best. Never got to meet either one and I consider that my great loss. But, they will both be there at the Pearly Gates waiting for us(hope I make it there).
It has indeed been a sad week. I lost my Dad on Thursday after a long illness and I take comfort knowing he is now at peace.
Dad and I admired both Barbara Bush and Gunny Ermey.
I can see him enjoying a spirited conversations with both of them in heaven.
RIP to three wonderful people…..
Deepest condolences Linda.
Thanks Mas. It was a long time coming and he is at peace. Hopefully up in heaven dancing with his beloved.
I never met either, but I felt I had a pretty good handle on Gunny Ermey. Interviews, his shows… to a degree, his movies… I just had a feeling “this man has a good heart.” He loved his wife and family, and that included his dogs. I always prefer the company of ‘dog’ people… they tend to be better ‘folk.’ I know we all get old and die (well… if things go smoothly), but… damn, I sure miss Gunny being “out there.” He was a man’s man and a Marine’s Marine. I always wanted to go to one of the events where I knew he was going to be, but could never swing it with finances or time. The last time I felt this devastated was when Carroll Shelby passed away… and I never got to meet him, either.
Well… I miss you, Gunny Ermey. We are diminished.
Both are great people that will be missed greatly. May they both rest in peace.
A small bit of trivia about R. Lee Ermey. All the lines you heard him speak in “Full Metal Jacket” were his own lines and not the writers’- with full approval of Stanley Kubrick.
May they Rest In Peace.
Rest easy Gunny and First Lady Bush. You were class Acts and both lived a life of service.
I first saw the Gunny in the movie, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.
I couldn’t see him after that without seeing the world’s best psychopathic Sheriff ever portrayed in film.
Watching him in Full Metal Jacket afterwards just made his performance that much better.
The man was versatile, to say the least.
I have very mixed emotions upon hearing of the deaths of these two great Americans. One is joy of the memories of how they lived and the terrific examples they were. Another is the sadness of knowing that Americans like Barbara Bush and the Gunny are a vanishing breed and I fear we will see their like less and less from now on. I felt the same way when Ronald Reagan died. At breakfast today, a friend and I were discussing the people we regarded as perfect role models in recent history. Folks like Sgt. York, Audie Murphy, even the movie stars seemed to be of a better moral fiber. I fear for the future.
Agree with pretty much everyone here. Gunny was made for Full Metal Jacket. And Barbara Bush was a classy lady, who was not only a graceful first lady, but also a wonderful ambassador for America. When our nation buries people like these, we are diminished, but we are also reminded just how great we are because we have them.
The reason Ermey was so good in Full Metal Jacket is that he wasn’t acting.
What you see is what the recruits under his direction got.
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