Kubrick ate it up. He loved it. He just let me go crazy.
There was a huge, tremendous amount of disabled veterans and the Veteran's Administration just wasn't geared up for it. I know for a fact that it's getting better and better.
I honestly do feel that I am a role model for young people.
The best part about the movie, and everybody seems to rave about it, is the boot camp part.
Back in the old Corp, we weren't training those privates to infiltrate into the peacetime Marine Corp. We were training those privates to go to Vietnam.
I spend a lot of time with my characters.
I was stationed at a Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego from 1965 to 1967.
I disagree with a lot of those changes, however at the end of the day - I go down to recruit graduation at least once or twice a year.
I've never had to spend any time in the VA hospital, so I really can't speak for those guys.
Everybody respects the Vietnam Veterans of America.
America's trying to do the best for its veterans.
I always love to come to Austin.
Kubrick's films have life - they just never die.
There have been a lot of changes in recruit training in the past twenty years.
I got space from Travis Air Force Base, went back to the Philippine Islands and made it a point to meet the only American casting director in the Philippines. I was off and running.
Drill instructors worked seven days a week, fifteen to seventeen hours a day in many cases, with no time off in between platoons.
I try to get over to Iraq and Afghanistan as much as I can.
We had times in '66 and '67 when we would pick up a platoon of privates out of the receiving barracks the week before we even graduated the platoon that we were on!
I go the VA Hospital when I have a problem and the doctor jumps on me.
Communications are better now than in my Vietnam days.
