Dale Adam Dye Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializing in portraying realistic military action in Hollywood films. Dye has also offered his expertise to television, such as the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, and video games, including the Medal of Honor series.
Early life and education
Dye was born on October 8, 1944, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to Dale Adam and Della Grace (née Koehler) Dye. His father was a liquor salesman in and around St. Louis and took Dale with him as he visited working-class taverns. There he heard war stories from World War II veterans. One particular story about man-to-man fighting told by a Marine who said he had fought in the Pacific Theater piqued Dale's attention. He looked up the Battle of Iwo Jima that night and made up his mind to join the U.S. Marines. Dye was educated at St. Joseph's Military Academy in Chicago and the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico, Missouri.
Military career
Dye had hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, but after failing the entrance exam three times and having exhausted his family's meager funds getting through military academy, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines in January 1964.
During three tours of duty in South Vietnam, he participated in 31 combat operations. During his 1967-to-1968 and 1969-to-1970 tours of duty, he was attached to two different battalions of the 1st Marine Division. Dye spent a total of 13 years as an enlisted Marine, rising to the rank of Master Sergeant before being appointed a warrant officer in 1976.
Afterward, he entered into the Limited Duty Program and became commissioned as a captain, making him a "mustang". While he was a captain, he was deployed to Beirut for duty with the Multinational Force in Lebanon in 1982 and 1983. Shortly after his return, the Marine barracks were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 241 Americans, most of whom had been stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Fellow Marine correspondent Gustav Hasford dubbed him "Daddy D.A." (as he was among the oldest of the correspondents) and included him as a character in his first semi-autobiographical Vietnam novel The Short-Timers, and more extensively in his second, The Phantom Blooper. The movie based on Hasford's first novel Full Metal Jacket included the "Daddy D.A." character (played by Keith Hodiak), though neither the character nor Dye's name is explicitly mentioned in the dialogue.
Later career
Technical advising
Dye retired from the Marine Corps in 1984 and founded Warriors, Inc. The company specializes in training actors in war films to portray their roles realistically, and provides research, planning, staging and on-set consultation for directors and other film-production personnel. His company is the top military consultant to Hollywood. While on active duty, Dye was a combat correspondent and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Maryland University College. After retiring, Dye became a correspondent for the Soldier of Fortune magazine. He worked for the magazine for one year, during which he worked in Central America, providing guerrilla warfare training to troops in El Salvador and Nicaragua while reporting on conflicts in the region.
Dye was determined to make Hollywood's depictions of battle more realistic. After unsuccessfully offering his services to a number of directors, he pitched fellow Vietnam War veteran Oliver Stone a plan to put actors through a mock boot camp before production of the movie Platoon. Dye put the principal actors—including Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, and Forest Whitaker—through an immersive 30-day military-style training regimen. He limited how much food and water they received; when the actors slept, he fired blanks to keep the tired actors awake.
Dye consulted during development of the Medal of Honor video games series, and lent his voice and likeness to the character Gunnery Sergeant Jack Lauton in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. He reprised his role as Colonel Robert Sink in the Brothers in Arms video game series, for which he also provided his likeness.
Bibliography
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1986
| Platoon
| Captain Harris
|
|-
| 1986
| Invaders from Mars
| Squad Leader
|
|-
| 1988
| The Beast
| Helicopter Crew Chief
|
|-
| 1989
| Always
| Don
|
|-
| 1989
| Born on the Fourth of July
| Infantry Colonel
|
|-
| 1989
| Casualties of War
| Captain Hill
|
|-
| 1989
| The Favorite
| French Officer
|
|-
| 1990
| Kid
| Garvey
|
|-
| 1990
| Fire Birds
| Colonel A.K. McNeil
|
|-
| 1990
| The Fourth War
| Sergeant Major
|
|-
| 1990
| Spontaneous Combustion
| General
|
|-
| 1991
| JFK
| General Y
|
|-
| 1991
| Servants of Twilight
| Police Officer
|
|-
| 1992
| Under Siege
| Captain Nick Garza
|
|-
| 1993
| Heaven & Earth
| Larry
|
|-
| 1993
| Cover Story
| Jack
|
|-
| 1994
| Endangered
| Ricky
|
|-
| 1994
| Guarding Tess
| CIA Agent Charles Ivy
|
|-
| 1994
| Natural Born Killers
| Officer Dale Wrigley
|
|-
| 1994
| Blue Sky
| Colonel Mike Anwalt
|
|-
| 1994
| The Puppet Masters
| Brande
|
|-
| 1995
| Outbreak
| Lieutenant Colonel Briggs
|
|-
| 1995
| Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
| Captain Nick Garza
|
|-
| 1996
| Sgt. Bilko
| First Engineer
|
|-
| 1996
| Mission: Impossible
| IMF Agent Frank Barnes
|
|-
| 1997
| Trial and Error
| Dr. Stone
|
|-
| 1997
| Starship Troopers
| Mobile Infantry General
|
|-
| 1998
| Saving Private Ryan
| War Department Colonel
|
|-
| 1999
| A Table for One
| Vernon Harpwood
|
|-
| 2000
| Rules of Engagement
| General Perry
|
|-
| 2001
| Spy Game
| Commander Wiley
|
|-
| 2003
| Missing Brendan
| General Temekin
|
|-
| 2005
| The Great Raid
| General Krueger
|
|-
| 2007
| Music Within
| Captain Ruzicka
|
|-
| 2010
| Knight and Day
| Frank Jenkins
|
|-
| 2011
| Naked Run
| Harry
|
|-
| 2011
| Larry Crowne
| Cox
|
|-
| 2014
| Planes: Fire & Rescue
| Cabbie (voice)
|
|-
| 2014
| The Purge: Anarchy
| Donald Talbott, New Founding Father
|
|-
| 2016
| Sniper Special Ops
| Lieutenant Colonel Jackson
|
|-
| 2016
| Range 15
| President Mattis
|
|-
| 2019
| The Last Full Measure
| Holt
|
|-
| 2021
| Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone
| General Moorland
|
|-
| 2023
| The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
| Vice Admiral R.T. Dewey
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1987
| Billionaire Boys Club
| Defense Attorney
| Uncredited
|-
| 1988
| Supercarrier
| Captain Henry K. 'Hank' Madigan
|
|-
| 1988
| Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Closed Set
| Assistant director
| TV movie
|-
| 1989
| The Neon Empire
| Chief Bates
| TV movie
|-
| 1990
| The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
| Colonel Paul L. Bates
| TV movie
|-
| 1991
| Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
| Major Green
| TV movie
|-
| 1991
| L.A. Law
| President Colonel Kenners
| Episode: "Rest in Pieces"
|-
| 1992
| Raven
| Colonel Paul David Mackay
| Episode: "Is Someone Crazy in Here or Is It Me"
|-
| 1992
| Dead On: Relentless II
| Captain Rivers
|
|-
| 1995–1998
| JAG
| Sergeant Major Hollis / Colonel Bill Cobb
| 2 episodes
|-
| 1996
| Space: Above and Beyond
| Major Jack Colquitt
| Episode: "Who Monitors the Birds?"
|-
| 1996
| Within the Rock
| General Hurst
| TV movie
|-
| 1997
| Rough Riders
| Colonel Leonard Wood
| TV miniseries
|-
| 1998
| Seven Days
| General Cole
| Episode: "Doppleganger: Part 1"
|-
| 1998
| Operation Delta Force 2: Mayday
| Captain Halsey Lang
| TV movie
|-
| 1999
| Air America
| Captain Gage
| Episode: "The Court-Martial of Rio Arnett"
|-
| 1999–2004
| Rocket Power
| Lieutenant Tice Ryan (voice)
| Recurring cast
|-
| 1999
| Mutiny
| Unknown
| TV movie
|-
| 2000
| The Others
| Captain Ken Radley
| Episode: "Souls on Board"
|-
| 2001
| Band of Brothers
| Colonel Robert Sink
| 7 episodes
|-
| 2003
| 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out
| SWAT Lieutenant
| TV movie
|-
| 2005–2010
| Entourage
| Firearms Instructor / Scuba Instructor / Himself
| 3 episodes
|-
| 2006
| Las Vegas
| Sergeant Burn
| Episode: "And Here's Mike with the Weather"
|-
| 2006
| Commander in Chief
| General Peter Allyson
| 3 episodes
|-
| 2007
| The Loop
| Ralph Somkin
| Episode: "The Stranger"
|-
| 2007
| Chuck
| General Stanfield
| Episode: "Chuck Versus the Intersect"
|-
| 2010
| Cold Case
| Al Wasserlauf
| Episode: "Free Love"
|-
| 2011–2013
| Falling Skies
| Colonel / General Porter
| 11 episodes
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1995
| Platoon (American Laser Games) (Unreleased)
| Captain Harris
|
|-
| 1999
| Medal of Honor
| Opening Movie Narrator (voice)
|
|-
| 2002
| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
| Narration in Training (voice)
|
|-
| 2003
| Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
| Gunnery Sergeant Jack 'Gunny' Lauton (voice)
|
|-
| 2005
| Medal of Honor: European Assault
| OSS Handler / Multiplayer Narrator
|
|-
| 2005
| Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
| Lieutenant Colonel Bob Scott (voice)
|
|-
| 2007
| Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
| Colonel Robert Sink (voice)
|
|}
Military awards
Dye's military decorations and awards include:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
| Bronze Star Medal w/ Combat "V"
|-
|
| Purple Heart w/ two " Gold Stars
|-
|
| Meritorious Service Medal
|-
|
| |Joint Service Commendation Medal
|-
|
| Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ Combat "V" and one " Gold Star
|-
|
| |Air Force Commendation Medal
|-
|
| Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal w/ Combat "V"
|-
|
| Combat Action Ribbon w/ one " Gold Star
|-
|
| Navy Presidential Unit Citation w/ three " bronze stars
|-
|
| Navy Unit Commendation w/ one " bronze star
|-
|
| Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ one " bronze star
|-
|
| Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal w/ three " bronze stars
|-
|
| Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
|-
|
| National Defense Service Medal
|-
|
| Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
|-
|
| Vietnam Service Medal w/ three " bronze stars
|-
|
| Humanitarian Service Medal
|-
|
| Sea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ two " bronze stars
|-
|
| Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon
|-
|
| Republic of Vietnam Staff Service Medal (2nd Class)
|-
|
| Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross) w/ Palm
|-
|
| Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Civil Actions) w/ Palm
|-
|
| Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal w/ 1960– Device
|}
See also
- List of notable people from Missouri
- List of notable United States Marines
References
Further reading
External links
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- Warriors, Inc.
- Dale Dye at LeaderNetwork.org
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