Noteworthy Alumni in the Field of Entertainment: Dale Dye '62

After graduating from MMA in 1962, Dale Dye enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served during the Vietnam War. He survived 31 major combat operations and earned the Bronze Star with “V” Device and three Purple Hearts. By 1982, Dye was a captain with the Multinational Peacekeeping Force.

When Dye returned from war, he found his country was divided and opinionated about the Vietnam War, with few realistic representations of what the war was like in the media. Dye made it his mission to more realistically represent soldiers and their experiences in Hollywood film – his goal being to simultaneously honor those who risked or gave their lives for their country, and to change the publics’ inaccurate perceptions about the war.

He accomplished this by creating an exhaustive mock boot camp program for actors – a program that would later grow into a business known as Warriors Inc. – that helps actors more accurately reflect the situation they are portraying. Actors are pushed to the limit and forced to understand the discomfort of the environment, true and pure exhaustion, legitimate fear and more. Famous actors Johnny Depp, Forrest Whitaker, Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Tom Hanks and Tom Sizemore are among those who have received Dye’s specialized training.

In an interview with Paul Rogers with The VVA Veteran, Dye said, “It takes certain insight into how soldiers think, how we feel, how we relate to each other. And if you can get there, then an actor can’t make a mistake. An actor is going to reflect accurately who we are, what we are, and how we act.”

As an actor and film advisor, some of Dye’s greatest filmography successes include movies like Forest Gump, JFK Mission: Impossible and Saving Private Ryan, TV series such as Band of Brothers, and video game series such as Medal of Honor.