By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) on Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 12:32 am:

CAPT. DALE DYE, USMC (ret.) (Senior Military Advisor) is a top military consultant to the entertainment industry, whose expertise has been invaluable to numerous military-themed motion picture and television projects. He worked with Oliver Stone on his Oscar®-winning film Platoon, as welt as on his subsequent films: Born on the Fourth of July, Heaven and Earth, Natural Born Killers and JFK. Dye's other movie credits include the Academy Award®-winning Forrest Gump, Casualties of War, Sniper, Under Siege, The War, Outbreak, Sgt. Bilko, Mission: Impossible, Starship Troopers and DreamWorks' Small Soldiers. He has also advised on numerous television shows, in addition to authoring five novels, including the New York Times bestseller "Platoon", based on the hit movie.


Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Dye graduated from Missouri Military Academy and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1964. He served in Vietnam in 1965 and 1967 through 1970, surviving 31 major combat operations and earning a number of decorations, including three Purple Hearts for wounds suffered in combat.

Having risen to the rank of Master Sergeant during his 13 years as an enlisted Marine, he was chosen to attend Officer Candidate School and was appointed a Warrant Officer in 1976. Promoted to Captain, he was sent to Beirut with the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in 1982-83. He served in a variety of assignments around the world, while earning a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland.

After retiring from the Marines in 1984, Dye worked for a year at Soldier of Fortune magazine. He spent time in Central America reporting as well as training troops in guerrilla warfare techniques, before leaving the magazine in 1985 and heading for Hollywood.

By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) on Monday, September 17, 2001 - 11:56 pm:

Dale Dye

By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (12.239.86.117) on Monday, May 20, 2002 - 03:12 pm:

If a retired Marine captain with three Purple Hearts and 31 Vietnam combat missions under his belt tells you it’s tough out here in Tinsel Town ... you take notice. But if anyone can survive the jungles of Hollywood, it’s Dale Dye ’81.

Widely regarded as the top military consultant to the entertainment industry, Dye packs an arsenal of Hollywood credits that includes Oliver Stone’s Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, and JFK and Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan.

Dye landed in Hollywood after retiring from the Marines in 1984. After a detour in Central America, where he trained guerrilla troops and wrote for Soldier of Fortune, he headed for the bright lights. "I wasn’t reaching the audience I wanted to reach. I was preaching to the choir," says the self-described "professional military man by birth," who had already ruled out obvious second career choices like police work and a Pentagon desk job.

A long-time movie fan, he realized all military movies had one thing in common: They ticked him off. "They upset me . . . because they’re wrong," he said. "They misperceive the professional military man . . . the real public servants who are willing to lay their life on the line. They get short shrift in Hollywood."

Getting Hollywood to listen wasn’t easy. Dye’s break came after he read a small piece in Variety about "a heretofore unknown director doing the definitive Vietnam film based on his own experiences." Dye found that director, Oliver Stone, the Hollywood way: by making the rounds and buying lunches and drinks for people who knew Stone. "I got one writer drunk as a skunk and he scrawled Stone’s home number on a matchbook." Dye called Stone the next day to tell him, "I think you need me."

After Platoon’s success, including four Academy Awards, "Suddenly Dale Dye was the hot product if you were doing a military movie and if you wanted very emotional, very effective, very accurate," he says.

Unlike Hollywood’s military technical advisors of old, who were "allowed to sit in a chair and go to sleep" until somebody wanted to know "what side the ribbons go on," Dye uses an in-your-face, boot camp approach with actors before filming. Borrowing "the same methods that have succeeded for the Corps," Dye says he relies on "a certain psychological bent, a certain way of opening a guy’s chest cavity and grabbing his throbbing heart and talking to him that way. I’m physical and psychological . . . to knock down psychological barriers. Once you get them [actors] naked and trembling, then you can begin to work. . . . No actor can portray a soldier without having a soldier’s experience to some degree."

Dye knows just when the actors get it right, like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. "I’ve been there in that exhausted zombie-like state. He captured it," says Dye.

Dye runs his company, Warriors, Inc., "like it’s a rifle company. I’m fighting a constant war with skirmishes" here and there. But Dye’s intensity is not all fire. He sees the "great absurdity and humor" in life and in war and peppers his speech with jokes, often self-effacing ones. In fact, the combat veteran calls humor "the sharpest tool in my drawer."

Another stereotype buster: As a UMUC student in Asia, the combat veteran wanted a "soft major, English." While other servicemembers pursued public administration and computer science, Dye struck a deal with instructor George Sidney. If Dye finished the book he was working on, Sidney would make sure Dye got the humanities courses he wanted. Dye finished Run Between the Raindrops — his attempt to exorcise some of his Vietnam demons — and Sidney made good on his promise to get Dye those courses he needed. Sidney even sent the book to his agent, and Avon first published the book.

In Okinawa Dye taught several courses for UMUC. Saying he likes to "spread around what I’ve learned," Dye recalls what he experienced taking night classes while on active duty: "A whole world opened up to me."

Readily acknowledging he’s always been something of a rebel, he praises the Marine Corps’ tolerance for mavericks. For someone originally seeking a place in the U.S. Naval Academy, he says he hit pay dirt in the Marines: "The Corps always had a certain tolerance for colorful characters."

What’s next for this actor (with 40 film credits) and author of five books? The HBO series Band of Brothers. And on his wish list: "It’s time to do a terrific Korea film, and I want to do Beirut. I want to do my own story about Beirut, called Outrage."

http://www.umuc.edu/alum/achiever/spring00/career_change.html

By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (12.239.86.117) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 11:52 am:

Tom Hanks and Dale Dye on the set during Ep. 5


http://www.rexfeatures.com/cgi-bin/rppshimg0?i=325011C

By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (12.239.86.117) on Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - 01:31 pm:

Dale Dye
Captain
U.S. Marine Corps (Ret)
Purple Heart (2)

In the accompanying photos, Dale Dye is seen at two particularly significant moments in a long, active and varied career.



His first Purple Heart medal for wounds received in combat was presented in late 1967 by his 1st Marine Division battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel O.K. Steel. Dye was serving as a Combat Correspondant with Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines patrolling west of the Danang TAOR when the unit came under intense mortar and RPG fire from an enemy force bunkered into a treeline. In the action designed to eliminate the enemy force, Dye was peppered with mortar shrapnel.

The second photo was taken in March 1968 during Operation Ford when Dye was attached to Echo Company, Second Battalion, Third Marines, a unit of Task Force X-Ray operating out of Phu Bai near the DMZ. On an operation to trap and eliminate North Vietnamese Army forces who had escaped from their earlier Tet fight in Hue, the Marines were hit in the flank by an entrenched enemy unit with its back to the South China Sea. Dye rescued two wounded Marines during the ensuing firefight and personally helped wipe out two enemy machinegun positions as he advanced forward of the Marine defensive line with an M-60 machinegun. He was wounded in the action which resulted in award of the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V and his second Purple Heart.

http://www.nphm.org/storiesdale.html

By Chris Langlois (Chrisdfw) (12.241.64.130) on Tuesday, September 10, 2002 - 08:47 pm:

Dale Dye and Tracy Gordon Goff


Courtesy of Tracy

By Caroline 'tree' Fallin (Carolinefallin) (216.12.29.153) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 05:59 am:

What other things has Dye been in? I know when I first saw him in BoB I thought he was very familiar. I was really impressed by his intensity in the role and was amazed to learn of his background.

tree

By Michael D Reeves (Irishmike136) (65.129.94.210) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 08:47 am:

Hi Tree,
Capt Dye has been around since the mid '80's.
He also handled the Boot Camp for the actors in
Saving Pvt. Ryan. For more try here:

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Dye,+Dale


Good Luck
IrishMike

By cias (Cias) (208.148.113.67) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 12:06 pm:

Mike
I just tried the link. It didn' t work.
Gary

By Derek D. Tircuit (Dtircuit) (216.78.134.246) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 12:13 pm:

Try this one:

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Dale%20dye

Those silly people are using Microsoft servers....

Gotta have them %'s in it.

Adios,

Derek

By JANE Southern England (Jane) (195.93.32.7) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 01:25 pm:

Hi ya Tree.. nice to hear from you...

A pic of Dye on the set of SPR



"I believe there is a certain core spirit within an American fighting man, within a fighting man of any nationality. A certain heart and spirit is common with all fighting men. Actors - who are like dry sponges until you pour on the water - need to be immersed in the rigorous lifestyle, in the horros facing infantrymen and combat people all over the world. So to the extent that insurance and lifestyles will allow, I immerse those actors in that lifestyle. I take them to the field, I make them eat rations, I shoot at them with blank ammunition, I best them up, I beat on them, I make them crawl and sleep in the mud and the cold and the dirt. And when they come out the other end, if I've done my job successfully, they have an inkling of what it's like - the deprivations, the hardships people endure to serve their country in the military....
..Stephen (Spielberg) says "Real is the watchword" and if it looks horrible on screen, well, so it is in combat. The more horrible we can show it,the more people will understand the nobility of the sacrifice that those men made"

a quote from Capt. Dale Dye USMC (ret.)


..best wishes..Jane...

By Jonathan Jones (Jonjones) (213.122.92.90) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 02:16 pm:

The gritty realism certainly helped generations to bridge the gap between themselves and the veterans of such conflicts. Less of the "A Team" and more of "SPR" and "BoB", please, when it comes to realism.

Regards, Jonathan.

By Caroline 'tree' Fallin (Carolinefallin) (216.12.29.153) on Tuesday, September 17, 2002 - 09:54 pm:

*boggle* WOW Does this man ever SLEEP?? Jonathon, thank you so much for the link...I never would have thought to look for him on IMdb. :-) Jane, my darlin, thank you for that fantastic pic and quote! Dye is a combination of brains, courage and looks. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. And his attributes seem to rub off on those around him. A true American hero.

By cias (Cias) (208.148.113.85) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 12:13 am:

Jonathon, me lad(I must be a lot older than you).
You mentioned the "A Team". I could not believe the stupidity of a lot of the American viewers of the show who complained about the "violence" yet never said anythinf about shows where people were getting stabbed or blown away. The "A Team" would show people getting blown into the air-but they never landed, dead or alive nor was any blood ever shown. The "A Team" was a spoof on spy, action, police and whatever all rolled into one. Its characters were caricatures of people from other shows. I watched it as an action comedy which is what it was. It was a "piece o' cake."
Regards,
Gary

By Jonathan Jones (Jonjones) (62.7.47.44) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 02:31 pm:

My problem with the media Gary, is that shows like the A Team tend to be shown during primetime.
This means that they reach the widest audience and thus a greater number of impressionable folk, old or young. They saw shooting and explosions. It was made to look exciting, glamorous and even fun. As you've said, they didn't tend to show any consequent damage, wounds, death, trauma or the overall effects (on friends/family and the like) of the usual conclusions to such violent behaviour. As we both know, all of this was not restricted to the A Team. As you've already posted, generations grew up on a diet of unrealistic violence.

And then came shows like BoB and films like SPR which did tend to exhibit said consequences and were thus classified for a more mature audience. Does anyone else see what's wrong with ths picture, here?

Reports in the press and the like hanged on the idea that the realistic portrayals were "shocking". Not to those who had lived through such instances they weren't. So then, shocking to who? Those who had grown up on that unrealistic diet, I for one would say.

I would like to think that these more realistic portrayals have significantly helped to shift the public conscience with regards to the veterans and perhaps also to that great American bugbear, gunlaws.

Regards to All, Jonathan.

By Jane Lindholm (Jlindholm) (204.48.169.252) on Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 11:15 pm:

Dye, Dale
Role: Col. Robert Sink
Age: 57
DOB: 10/8/44
Place of Birth: Cape Girardeau
City, State of current residence: Hollywood, CA
Education info:
Missouri Military Academy, BA in English from the University of Maryland
Family info: N/A

Marital Status: married to Kathryn (a former LA Rams cheerleader)
Children: N/A
Projects other than BOB:
As head and founder of Warriors Inc., he has worked as a military consultant and as a character actor for over 30 films including Platoon, Born on the Forth of July, Heaven and Earth, Natural Born Killers, Saving Private Ryan, and Rules of Engagement. He's also advised on several television programs like The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson and Mission of the Shark and appeared in a few like the TV show JAG. In addition, he has authored five novels including Run Between the Raindrops, Outrage, Platoon (based on the movie), Conduct Unbecoming, and Duty & Dishonor. He's also worked as a military consultant for Playstation's WWII action game "Medal of Honor". He's currently working on HBO's Alexander the Great miniseries and the feature film The Great Raid. He is also likely working on Spielberg's next venture Ghost Soldiers.


Highlight of this person’s performance:
From episode 7 "Breaking Point": "Dick, Dick! Capt. Winters! Goddam it, you do not go out there! You're the battalion commander, now get back here!"

Trivia:
-Capt. Dale Dye survived 31 major combat operations in Vietnam and earned several decorations including 3 Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star.
-He was awarded a commission as Captain when he was assigned to Beirut with the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in 1982-83.
-After retirement, he trained troops in guerrilla warfare tactics in El Salvador and Nicaragua while reporting for Soldier of Fortune.
-His advisory fee reportedly tops $50,000 per film. His wife is the CFO of the company.
-Dale Dye's language can be very salty. On the set of Saving Private Ryan, he referred to Tom Hanks as "Turd#1" and has referred to Damian Lewis as "horsecock" and "ginger-shit".

New Addition!
Fan Mail
18208 Herbold Street
Northridge, CA 91325
USA


*All Dale Dye info Courtesy of Selene, ‘Bunny on the Moon’

By cias (Cias) (208.148.113.11) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 - 01:15 am:

Jonathon
Re: "The A Team".
The British prefer the rapier thrust to an axe.
Whereas Americans may like the rapier they are more used to the axe. Thus "Monty Python" and other witty shows versus "The A Team" which was broad comedy. If you can remember that far back the team was usually in a jam and came up with some strange weapon or strange junkyard type of vehicle, all of which were mocking the slick stunts and cars of the James Bond movies. People really died in the 007 films. In essence, it is a perception problem caused by cultural differences.
As far as critics complaining about violence in BoB, one can' t compare that to the violence of 20 years earlier. The times had changed and many of the old critics had been replaced by newer, dumber, politically ignorant and incorrect critics. These critics are part of the ill-named liberal establishment who look for something to complain about to get their column noticed. Your Mr. Churchill would have had grounds for one of his famous speeches denouncing such cowards for denouncing a film such as BoB. The liberals in this country are anything but liberal. I don' t know about yours. What' s even more confusing, I was told that in Canada, the Liberal Party is conservative and the Conservative Party is liberal!
I wonder if today' s critics were in London during the Battle of Britain if they would have fired off a letter to Mr. Hitler complaining about the mess he was making of the country and that he should take his war somewhere else because one could hardly drink his tea, what with the bombs shaking his flat and making too much noise.
Indeed, it seems that everyone is seeking to censor something no matter in which side of the aisle they sit.
Regards, Gary

By Jonathan Jones (Jonjones) (213.123.50.31) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 - 06:39 pm:

Gary, I wholeheartedly agree with your observations. I've found that since I've began posting on this site that I've had to hold my tongue re: such cultural differences.

Over here, we rarely appreciate military docorations. For example, Colonel "H" Jones (Parachute Regiment)won a posthumous Victoria Cross for his storming of an Argentine machine gun position during the Falklands War. All the British paras I've talked to just thought that it was yet another irresponsible waste of a life by a man in a position to know better. There were other options open to him (and them) at the time. They were not impressed by the actions of their own CO! I'm also aware of General Lee's sentiments regarding decorations (or rather, the lack of them) in the Confederate Army, too. As we've said, cultural differences.

As I've already said re: shows like the A Team, they were shown to the broadest audience, including those most impressionable. Obviosly, the mature members of the audience could appreciate it for the great entertainment that it was and appreciate the satire and irony. However, there were also those more impressionable members of the audience, too.

I just wonder what would happen if such shows were deemed only for a mature audience (as it is only they who could fully appreciate their entertainment value and also be aware of the farcical nature of the violence), whereas shows like BoB should be shown to that wider audience on primetime? I just wondered if it would have any effect on violent, gun-related crime? Especially that aimed at veterans, who may be seen as "soft" targets, due to their age?

Regards, Jonathan.

By cias (Cias) (208.148.113.94) on Thursday, September 19, 2002 - 11:36 pm:

Jonathon
This is degenerating down to a need to understand the particulars of each country. Your last sentence or two about crime and veterans is a mystery to me. It must be a UK problem about which I have no knowledge.
You must have had a reaction to "The A Team" when you were younger because you seem obsessed about it. I have thoughts concerning the "Great Generation" and those that have followed which I think I posted on WBG. There are so many places that we post ideas that often have nothing to do with the topic that I' m having trouble remembering if and where I put a response.
However, even if my ideas are correct in the US doesn' t mean that there' s a reason to mention them in the UK and vice-versa.
We may both like BoB, but that doesn' t mean that we like it for the same reasons. People who aren' t posters to these boards or family or part of the production haven' t acquired the same degree of intimacy with the actors and the people portrayed and thus may like it for different reasons.
We don' t have to think alike to converse. We do need to remember that our opinions have been fostered by different backgrounds. We may need to clarify what we mean with each other. We may not always understand what each of us has written. The explanation helps us understand each other better.
I always wish you the best because I sense that you are good and someone else is good and someone else is good and I'm good too-but we' re all different. It would be boring if we weren' t.
Take care my friend.
Gary

By Jonathan Jones (Jonjones) (62.7.43.82) on Friday, September 20, 2002 - 03:03 pm:

Hiya Gary,
I've read of a number of instances throughout Europe of vets being cheated, mugged, robbed or whatever simply due to being regarded as soft targets due to their age by the criminal fraternity.

As for the A Team, I liked the show for same reasons as we've both already agreed. However, it was produced on the back of the "Rambo" mania that was sweeping the United States, if not the western world, at the time. The issue of the Vietnam war was big news again. I remember Reagan addressing the issue of Vietnam MIA's due to media pressure.

I'm against "gung-ho" gun violence being portrayed to the likes of impressionable minors. I suppose that we'd all like to think that parents and the like have the right to use discretion and I agree with that, too.
However, unfortunately not all parents and the like are responsible, mature adults and I've worked with some of their offspring that's proved the point. To these impressionable folks, fooling around with guns looks like an adventure, in a fun sense.

There's that lovely scene halfway through "Terminator 2" when Arnie and Edward Furlong observe the latino kids in the trailer park fooling with toy guns, which draws Furlong to one dark conclusion and Arnie to observe that "it's in your nature to destroy yourselves". Creepy.

That's why I approve of the more realistic approach of the guy that this thread is dedicated to. I regard it as a more balanced approach to the entire subject matter which thus exhibits less deception in what it portrays. Take care, bud.

Regards, Jonathan.

By yvette thomas (Bettyb) (194.117.133.182) on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 07:05 pm:

have just seen Dale Dye in Platoon on BBc2, he looked VERY young, and i hardly recognised him. Again he played a captain-i guess anything else would be benaeth him!

By Marigold Papa (Marigold) (203.160.183.79) on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 12:34 am:

Anybody seen him in "Guarding Tess"? He was really arrogant there!

gold

By christine (Tendmd) (168.215.239.20) on Friday, April 04, 2003 - 08:21 am:

i've just seen again the movie "guarding tess" coz hbo-asia was airing it this april. and yeah that's capt. dale dye alright.

tine

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