The Real Men of "Full Metal Jacket"

By Allen J. Folk

["Real" Sgt. Kurtz, Played by R. Lee Ermy]

CJ, I want to tell you a true story:

On November, 1966, a recruit by the name of Jerry Gustav Hasford, graduated from Parris Island, South Carolina.

Jerry was in Platoon #3092 and Sgt. Frank J. Kurtz, and Cpl. Ron Guidry were his drill instructors.

During the Vietnam War, Jerry Hasford was a Marine war combat correspondent. After he was discharged from the Marine Corps, he went on to become a writer and in 1979, he wrote an autobiographical novel called: "The Short Timers". 

That novel was used to make the movie, "Full Metal Jacket", and Jerry was asked by Hollywood, to help to write the script for the movie. 

Jerry told the producers of the movie that since his book was based on his own wartime experiences, he wanted the men from his Platoon to be used for the movie.  Of course, the movie star, Mathew Modine, was the one who played the part of him, the wise-cracking Pvt, Joker. 

Author, Jerry Gustav Hasford

Also, Jerry was friends with a recruit named Dick Koehn.  Dick was the soldier that Sgt. Frank J. Kurtz caught stealing the doughnuts from the drill instructor quarters. 

Actor R. Lee Ermy

Well, Jerry wanted that to be in the movie, too, and of course Vincent D'onofrio, was the movie star who played the goofy recruit, Pvt. Plye, who got caught with the jelly doughnut in his foot locker.

E. Ray Ermy, the movie star who played tough and gritty Gunny Hartman, was actually playing the part of the real Sgt. Frank J. Kurtz.

Unfortunately, Jerry Gustav died impoverished at the age of 45 on January 29, 1993, on the island of Aegina, Greece, from his out of control diabetes. It was thought to have been caused by the agent orange that was sprayed in Vietnam.

Below is a picture of Dick Koehn. When Dick was in Platoon #3092, he was friends with Jerry Gustav Hasford. Dick was the coffee boy for the drill instructors. We called them “house mouses”. 

Dick Koehn

One day, the senior drill instructor, Sgt. Frank J. Kurtz, caught Dick stealing a couple of doughnuts from the drill instructor’s quarters and the rest of the platoon paid for them.

When Jerry was writing some of the script for the movie, he told the producers that he wanted this fact to be portrayed in the movie and, of course, they got Vincent D'onofrio, the movie star, to act out the part about when Dick Koehn got caught with the doughnuts. 

When I went to boot camp on August 18, 1965, Cpl. Frank J. Kurtz was our Jr. drill instructor for our platoon #361.  

After we left boot camp, Frank got promoted to E-5 Sgt, and became the senior drill instructor for platoon #3092, along with Cpl. Ron Guidry.  He was the Jr. drill instructor who trained Jerry Gustav Hasford.

Frank and his wife, Margaret, are very good friends of my wife and I and we get together every year, along with two other friends that I grew up with and went to boot camp with in platoon #361.  

We all have a lot of respect for Frank Kurtz.  His training is what kept us alive in Vietnam.

Allen J. Folk 

“I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do, and by the grace of God, I will.” ~Everett Hale