MMA Hall of Fame: Dale Dye ’62

MMA Hall of Fame: Dale Dye ’62

Dale Dye graduated from Missouri Military Academy in 1962. In his four years at MMA, Dale was active in baseball, wrestling, Fusileers, The Eagle newspaper, Taps yearbook, chorus and Glee Club. As a senior, he won the W. Wallace Fry Public Speaking Contest. His combat service as a Marine led him into a civilian career as the top military consultant to Hollywood. For his accomplishments, he is inducted into the 2022 MMA Hall of Fame for Distinguished Military Service.

Dale joined the Marine Corps in 1964. His unit was one of the first to deploy to Vietnam in 1965. A talented writer, he served as a combat correspondent through three tours of duty in Vietnam, exhibiting heroism under fire despite injuries. He survived 31 major combat operations and earned the Bronze Star with Combat V for heroism, three Purple Hearts, a Meritorious Service Medal and numerous other commendations. He rose to the rank of captain, earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland, and in 1982 deployed to Beirut, Lebanon, with the Multinational Peacekeeping Force.

Dale retired from the Marine Corps in 1984 and became a correspondent for Soldier of Fortune magazine, providing guerrilla warfare training to troops in El Salvador and Nicaragua while reporting on conflicts in the region.

When Dale returned to the United States, he was dismayed to see unrealistic depictions of the military in television and film. He made it his mission to make Hollywood’s military portrayals more accurate. As technical adviser for the movie Platoon, Dale created a mock boot camp for the actors, an immersive 30-day military-style training regimen. He also acted in the movie, cast as Captain Harris. As the consulting and acting roles multiplied, Dale founded Warriors Inc., a company that specializes in training actors in war films to portray their roles realistically and provides technical consultations for film productions. His company has worked on such critically acclaimed films as Forrest Gump, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Wag the Dog, Last of the Mohicans, Outbreak and Saving Private Ryan, plus the TV series Band of Brothers and The Pacific. As an actor, Dale has appeared in more than 70 film and TV roles.

Author of 11 books — including Run Between the Raindrops, Conduct Unbecoming, Platoon and Code Word: Geronimo — Dale has also consulted on the development of the Medal of Honor video games series. His work has transformed the image of the military in popular media. It is our honor to recognize his accomplishments with his induction into the MMA Hall of Fame.

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