Dale Dye
Dye in 2008
Born	Dale Adam Dye Jr. (1944-10-08)October 8, 1944 (age 81) Cape Girardeau, Missouri, U.S.
Education	Missouri Military Academy
Alma mater	University of Maryland University College (BA)
Occupations	Actor technical advisor radio personality writer
Years active	1986–present
Parents	Dale Adam Dye Sr. Della Grace Koehler
Awards	Order of Saint Maurice
Military career
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch	United States Marine Corps
Service years	1964–84
Rank	Captain
Unit	1st Battalion, 5th Marines 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines
Conflicts	Vietnam War Tet Offensive Lebanese Civil War
Awards	Bronze Star Medal w/Combat "V" Purple Heart Medal (3) Meritorious Service Medal Joint Service Commendation Medal Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ Combat "V" (2) Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal w/ Combat "V" Combat Action Ribbon (2) See more
Website	daledye.com

Dale Adam Dye Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of theVietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializing in portraying realistic military action inHollywood films. Dye has also offered his expertise to television, such as theHBO miniseriesBand of Brothers andThe Pacific, theApple TV+ miniseriesMasters of the Air, and video games, including theMedal of Honor series.

Dye was born on October 8, 1944, inCape Girardeau, Missouri, to Dale Adam and Della Grace (née Koehler) Dye.^[1] His father was a liquor salesman in and aroundSt. Louis and took Dale with him as he visited working-class taverns. There he heard war stories fromWorld War II veterans. One particular story about man-to-man fighting told by a Marine who said he had fought in thePacific Theater piqued Dale's attention. He looked up theBattle 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 theMissouri Military Academy inMexico, Missouri.^[2]

Dye had hoped to attend theU.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 theU.S. Marines in January 1964.^[2] His unit was among the first to deploy to Vietnam in 1965. Officers in the unit noticed his keen observational skills and literary interest, and encouraged him to reclassify as acombat correspondent. He became one of a very few Marine combat correspondents. He sent stories to military publications and to the hometown newspapers of fellow Marines.^[3] As a correspondent, he saw more battles than many low-ranking infantrymen. Dye developed an immense respect for the "grunts" who took the brunt of any action.^[2]

Dye was wounded during theTet Offensive in 1968 and had to recuperate in a rear area. During this time, the2nd Battalion 3rd Marines — the unit he had traveled with — was preparing for Operation Ford. Dye persuaded the battalion commander to let him accompany the battalion as a war correspondent. During the next week, the battalion engaged in a number of firefights with units of the North VietnamesePeople's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). On March 18, 1968, Dye replaced an assistant machine gunner who had been killed. The machine gun position was isolated forward of the remainder of the battalion. Although he was wounded, Dye exposed himself to intense enemy fire to retrieve ammunition for the machine gun to help hold off PAVN soldiers during an all-night firefight. During other engagements, he exposed himself to enemy fire to rescue several wounded Marines and a Navycorpsman. As a result of his actions, he was awarded theBronze Star Medal withCombat "V" for heroism.^[4]

During threetours of duty inSouth 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 the1st Marine Division. Dye spent a total of 13 years as an enlisted Marine, rising to the rank ofMaster Sergeant before being appointed awarrant officer in 1976.

Afterward, he entered into theLimited Duty Program and became commissioned as a captain, making him a "mustang". While he was acaptain, he was deployed toBeirut for duty with theMultinational Force in Lebanon in 1982 and 1983. Shortly after his return, the Marine barracks wereattacked, resulting in the deaths of 241 Americans, most of whom had been stationed atCamp Lejeune, North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

Fellow Marine correspondentGustav 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 novelThe Short-Timers, and more extensively in his second,The Phantom Blooper. The movie based on Hasford's first novelFull Metal Jacket included the "Daddy D.A." character (played byKeith Hodiak), though neither the character nor Dye's name is explicitly mentioned in the dialogue.^[3]

In his bookDispatches, journalistMichael Herr provides a vivid picture of Dye during the chaos of the Tet Offensive and theBattle of Huế:^[5]

And there was a Marine correspondent, Sergeant Dale Dye, who sat with a tall yellow flower sticking out of his helmet cover, a really outstanding target. He was rolling his eyes around and saying, 'Oh yes, oh yes, Charlie's got his shit together here, this will be bad," and smiling happily. It was the same smile I saw a week later when a sniper's bullet tore up a wall two inches above his head, odd cause for amusement in anyone but a grunt.

Dye retired from the Marine Corps in 1984 and founded Warriors, Inc. The company specializes in training actors inwar 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.^[3] While on active duty, Dye was a combat correspondent and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree inEnglish from theUniversity of Maryland University College. After retiring, Dye became a correspondent for theSoldier of Fortune magazine. He worked for the magazine for one year, during which he worked in Central America, providingguerrilla warfare training to troops in El Salvador and Nicaragua while reporting on conflicts in the region.^[6]

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 veteranOliver Stone a plan to put actors through a mock boot camp before production of the moviePlatoon. Dye put the principal actors—includingCharlie Sheen,Willem Dafoe,Johnny Depp, andForest Whitaker—through an immersive 30-day military-style training regimen. He limited how much food and water they received; when the actors slept, he firedblanks to keep the tired actors awake.^[3] Dye, who had a small role in the movie as Captain Harris, also wrote thenovelization based on Stone's screenplay.

Dye also worked as a military technical adviser and personal trainer on the 1992 filmLast of the Mohicans, and after working in the same capacity on the acclaimedHBO seriesBand of Brothers (2001), producersTom Hanks andSteven Spielberg called upon his expertise again for their follow-up seriesThe Pacific (2010) andApple TV+ seriesMasters of the Air (2024). In 2017 Dye was recognised as an Honorary Member of the506th Airborne Infantry Regiment (the regiment under the command of GeneralRobert Sink, whom Dye played inBand of Brothers) for his work in bringing a high degree of quality and realism to cinematic portrayals of combat.^{[citation needed]}

AfterPlatoon's critical success, Dye played a role in another Vietnam War movie,Casualties of War, and also prominently appeared as ColonelRobert Sink in theHBO miniseriesBand of Brothers, on which his company also worked.

Dye appeared inOutbreak portraying Lieutenant Colonel Briggs, aU.S. Army officer. He playedTheodore Roosevelt's superior officer ColonelLeonard Wood in theTNT miniseriesRough Riders. He appeared inSaving Private Ryan as an aide toGeneral George Marshall; inUnder Siege andUnder Siege 2: Dark Territory as Captain Garza, an admiral's aide; inSpy Game as Commander Wiley during the rescue sequence; inMission: Impossible as Frank Barnes of the CIA; inJFK as General Y; and inStarship Troopers as a high-ranking officer in the aftermath of the Brain Bug capture.

Dye played himself inEntourage, teaching fictional character Vincent Chase to scuba-dive in preparation for his role inAquaman. He appeared in the 2010 filmKnight and Day withTom Cruise andCameron Diaz, and inLarry Crowne withTom Hanks the following year. He was the technical adviser for the 1994 Oliver Stone movieNatural Born Killers, making a brief appearance as a fictionalized, police-lieutenant version of himself. Dye played Col. Porter in theTNT science fiction seriesFalling Skies from 2011 to 2013. As of 2015^[update] he was preparing to direct two films,No Better Place to Die, which he wrote, andCitizen Soldiers.^[3] He had acameo appearance as New Founding Father Donald Talbott in the 2014 filmThe Purge: Anarchy.

Dye has written several novels, includingRun Between the Raindrops in 1985 (also published asCitadel) andConduct Unbecoming (1992), and the novelization of the filmPlatoon. Along with wife Julia and comic-book artist Gerry Kissell, Dye created the critically acclaimed and best-selling graphic novelCode Word: Geronimo (IDW Publishing, 2011), which tells the story of theNavy SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.^{[citation needed]}

During theIraq War, Dye was hired as a military commentator by radio stationKFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and given a two-hour radio show. He hosted theHistory Channel's documentary seriesThe Conquerors. He was featured in two tracks onHoobastank's CDEvery Man for Himself.^[7]

Dye consulted during development of theMedal of Honor video games series, and lent his voice and likeness to the character Gunnery Sergeant Jack Lauton inMedal of Honor: Rising Sun. He reprised his role as Colonel Robert Sink in theBrothers in Arms video game series, for which he also provided his likeness.

• Dye, Captain Dale & Dye, Dr. Julia (2011).Code Word: Geronimo. San Diego, California:IDW Publishing.ISBN 978-1613770979.
• Dye, Dale (1992).Conduct Unbecoming (paperback ed.). New York:Berkley Publishing Group.ISBN 0425132366.
• Dye, Dale A. (2013).Beirut File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0989798303.
• Dye, Dale A. (2012).Chosin File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0985338800.
• Dye, Dale A. (2014).Contra File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0989798341.
• Dye, Dale A. (2008).Laos File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0982167007.
• Dye, Dale A. (2013).Outrage: Author's Preferred Edition (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0985338855.
• Dye, Dale A. (2010).Peleliu File. Shake Davis Series (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0982167014.
• Dye, Dale A. (1986).Platoon. New York:Charter Books.ISBN 1121560644.
• Dye, Dale A. (1985).Run Between the Raindrops (paperback ed.). North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0989798372.
• Dye, Dale A. & Laemlein, Tom (2015).Small Arms of the Vietnam War: A Photographic Study. North Hills, California: Warriors Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0986195518.

Dye's military decorations and awards include:^[8]

	Bronze Star Medal w/Combat "V"
	Purple Heart w/ two5⁄16" Gold Stars
	Meritorious Service Medal
	Joint Service Commendation Medal
	Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal w/ Combat "V" and one5⁄16" Gold Star
	Air Force Commendation Medal
	Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal w/ Combat "V"
	Combat Action Ribbon w/ one5⁄16" Gold Star
	Navy Presidential Unit Citation w/ three3⁄16" bronze stars
	Navy Unit Commendation w/ one3⁄16" bronze star
	Meritorious Unit Commendation w/ one3⁄16" bronze star
	Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal w/ three3⁄16" bronze stars
	Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal
	National Defense Service Medal
	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
	Vietnam Service Medal w/ three3⁄16" bronze stars
	Humanitarian Service Medal
	Sea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ two3⁄16" 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

• List of notable people from Missouri
• List of notable United States Marines

• Herr, Michael (1977). "Chapter 2: Hell Sucks".Dispatches. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 70–85.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDale Dye.

• Official website
• Warriors, Inc.
• Dale Dye atIMDb
• Dale Dye at LeaderNetwork.org

• 1944 births
• 20th-century American writers
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• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
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• Living people
• Male actors from Missouri
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• People from Cape Girardeau, Missouri
• Radio personalities from Missouri
• Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
• Recipients of the Order of Saint Maurice
• United States Marine Corps officers
• United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War
• University of Maryland Global Campus alumni
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