Best Movie NCOs

By Raymond Lockley

They are not necessarily the star of the movie, but they are often the most memorable character, and play the role of key protagonist. In real life, they are the glue that holds a military unit together, and are the ones who both get things done and uphold the traditions of the battlefield. If you've served, you remember one just like him.

I'm talking about sergeants and chief petty officers. The non-commissioned officers have been portrayed by some of the all-time great movie actors, and can help make a movie feel more noble or add a touch of dark humor to a gruesome environment. And they deserve a list of their own.

For an NCO to be on this list, great acting is needed, of course, as well as an archetypal character in a significant role--a character who is memorable, tough, colorful, and an iconic leader of men. There is something about this character that, no matter how hard and cruel he might seem at times, you somehow can't not like him. Here's my list of the best American movie NCOs:

  1. Sgt. Major Basil Plumley*, We Were Soldiers (2002), portrayed by Sam Elliott
  2. Sgt. John Stryker, Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), portrayed by John Wayne
  3. Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Highway, Heartbreak Ridge (1986), portrayed by Clint Eastwood
  4. Gunnery Sgt. Emil Foley, An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), portrayed by Louis Gossett, Jr.
  5. Master Chief Billy Sunday, Men of Honor (2000), portrayed by Robert De Niro
  6. Sgt. Major Michael O'Rourke, Fort Apache (1948), portrayed by Ward Bond
  7. Staff Sgt. Eddie Dohun, A Bridge Too Far (1977), portrayed by James Caan
  8. Sgt. Dixie Smith, To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), portrayed by Randolph Scott
  9. Sgt. Major John Rawlins, Glory (1989), portrayed by Morgan Freeman
  10. CPO Henry Klough, U-571 (2000), portrayed by Harvey Keitel
  11. The Sergeant, The Big Red One (1980), portrayed by Lee Marvin
  12. Chief of the Boat (COB), Crimson Tide (1995), portrayed by George Dzundza
  13. Sgt. Joe Mooney, Eight Iron Men (1952), portrayed by Lee Marvin
* Command Sgt Major Basil L. Plumley was a real person, it should be noted, and a true American hero who saw combat in three wars. He passed away just recently at the age of 92. Click here to read one of his national obituaries. Plumley exemplifies the kind of guy I was raised to look up to.

Special mention

There's one other NCO character that I just must mention: Sgt. Schultz, from the TV show "Hogan's Heroes". Yes, I know, this is a movie list, and he is a TV character; and Schultz is anything but a tough, iconic leader of men. But let me tell you why I have to mention him. First, as portrayed by the great actor and Austria war refugee John Banner, Schultz truly was iconic. Second, there is something ironic about a Jewish actor who survived the Anschluss playing a German prison guard. But what makes Schultz significant to me is the reaction my Uncle Sepp had when he came to visit us in the U.S.

Sepp, like many German men his age, had been drafted into the German army; and in the war, as he did before and after it, he was a skilled tradesman, and not an officer or a member of the Nazi Party. We was a guy who (as my father, the sergeant, used to say) "worked for a living". When he came to visit, he knew almost no English. One day, he sat down next to me as I was watching "Hogan's Heroes", and just began howling with laughter. He had no idea what Schultz was saying, but with the way Schultz spoke and moved, Uncle Sepp swore that this was absolutely what his platoon's sergeant was like. Every time Schultz said, "I know noth-ing!", Sepp would roar and say, "Ja! Ja!"

Whenever I think of Sgt. Schultz, I think of my Uncle Sepp, and I think of how great comedy transcends language, and I think of all those guys (on both sides of the front) who fought, bled, and died, not because they belonged to a particular party or ascribed to a particular ideology, but because they "worked for a living". Thanks, Schultzie.

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