Editing Full Metal Jacket (section)

==Plot==
During the [[Vietnam War]], a group of [[United States Marine Corps|USMC recruits]] arrive for the 8-week [[United States Marine Corps Recruit Training|basic training]] at [[Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island|Parris Island]]. [[Drill instructor]] Gunnery Sergeant Hartman uses harsh methods to train them for combat. Among the recruits are the wisecracking J. T. Davis, who receives the name "Joker" after interrupting Hartman's introductory speech with an impression of [[John Wayne]], and the overweight and dim-witted Leonard Lawrence, whom Hartman nicknames "[[Gomer Pyle]]."

During boot camp, Hartman names Joker as squad leader and puts him in charge of helping Pyle improve. One evening while doing a hygiene inspection, Hartman notices that Pyle's [[Footlocker (luggage)|footlocker]] is unlocked. As he inspects it for signs of theft, he notices a [[jelly doughnut]] inside, blames the platoon for Pyle's infractions and adopts a [[collective punishment]] policy by which any infraction committed by Pyle will earn a punishment for everyone else in the platoon. The next night, the recruits [[Hazing|haze]] Pyle with a [[blanket party]] in which Joker reluctantly participates. Following this, Pyle appears to reinvent himself as a model recruit, showing particular expertise in marksmanship. This pleases Hartman but worries Joker, who believes Pyle may be suffering a [[mental breakdown]] after seeing Pyle talking to his rifle. The recruits graduate, but the night before they leave Parris Island, Joker, who is on fire watch duty, discovers Pyle in the barracks [[latrine]]{{efn|[[Marines]] being naval infantry, the latrine in a USMC barracks would properly be referred to in [[military terminology]] as a "[[head (watercraft)|head]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrom.marines.mil/New-Employees/About-the-Marine-Corps/Jargon/|title=USMC Jargon|publisher=United States Marine Corps|date=n.d.|accessdate=April 2, 2025}}</ref>}} loading his [[M14 Rifle|service rifle]] with live ammunition, executing drill commands, and loudly reciting the [[Rifleman's Creed]]. Hartman is awakened by the commotion and attempts to intervene by ordering Pyle to give the rifle to him, but Pyle fatally shoots Hartman and then [[suicide|commits suicide]] in front of Joker.

Following Hartman's death, in January 1968, Joker is a [[sergeant]] based in [[Da Nang]] for the newspaper ''[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]'' alongside his colleague [[Private First Class]] "Rafterman," a combat photographer. The [[Tet Offensive]] begins and the base is attacked, but holds. The following morning, Joker and Rafterman are sent to [[Phu Bai Combat Base|Phu Bai]], where Joker searches for and reunites with Sergeant "Cowboy" Evans, a friend he met at Parris Island who now serves in a unit dubbed the "Lusthog Squad". While reporting at a site where civilians were massacred, Joker is shouted to attention by a Marine Corps colonel who challenges Joker on the inconsistency of the peace symbol on his uniform's lapel, and the words "Born to Kill" on his helmet. Joker explains this was intended as commentary on the [[Carl Jung|duality of man]].

During the [[Battle of Huế]], platoon leader Lieutenant Walter J. "Touchdown" Schinoski and a fellow Marine are killed by the [[People's Army of Vietnam|NVA]], who are eliminated soon after. Later, a [[booby trap]] kills the squad leader, Sergeant "Crazy Earl", leaving Cowboy in command. Becoming lost in the city, the squad is ambushed by a [[Viet Cong]] sniper who kills two members, "Eightball" and "Doc Jay". As the squad approaches the sniper's location, Cowboy is killed.

Assuming command, squad machine gunner "Animal Mother" leads an attack on the sniper. Joker locates her first, but his [[M16 rifle]] jams, alerting the sniper to his presence. As the sniper opens fire, she is revealed to be a teenage girl. Rafterman shoots and mortally wounds her. As the squad converges on the sniper, she begs for death, leading to an argument over whether to kill her or leave her to die in pain. Animal Mother agrees to a [[coup de grâce|mercy killing]] but only if Joker will handle it, and after some hesitation, Joker shoots her. As night falls, the Marines march to the [[Hương River|Perfume River]] singing the "[[Mickey Mouse March]]". A narration of Joker's thoughts conveys that, despite being "in a world of shit", he is glad to be alive and no longer afraid.