Clayton Boone says he's a Marine, but later admits he never served in the Korean War, and he never made it to boot camp even ! Am I missing something here? fill me in pls ...
No, it's not a goof, you missed part of the movie. He says later that he was in the marines, but never got to service as his appendix burst the first day, and he spent the rest of the time in a hospital.
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Actually I got confused on that part too. When I watched "Full Metal Jacket" I remember that when the Marines entered boot camp, they were "maggots". Once they FINISHED boot camp, they were Marines. So the question is : Are you a Marine if you don't finish boot camp?
"Are you a Marine if you don't finish boot camp"
I was a Marine, so I'll give you an answer.
A person enlists, and serves a day; well, they could true-fully say they were a Marine.
But, if they DID say, they'd be no better than scumbags like Brian Dennehy and Ted Nugent.
I think it wasn't so much a goof as it was him not wanting to go into the truth. He was asked about his tattoo. I'm assuming he signed up and was all ready to serve. Went out and got his tattoo fully intending to wear it with pride.
Then the appendix burst and he gets a medical discharge.
So when asked about the tattoo by a complete stranger, instead of going into the whole story about wanting to be a marine because of his shaky relationship with his father but having it not work out for medical reasons, he just says, "I was a Marine." You'll notice that all other questioons asked about his service he either shrugged off or flat out said "I don't want to talk about it." I figured there was going to be a reveal that he never served (I actually thought he was going to break down and say he went AWOL or never joined or something) long before it was revealed.
Then, after he and Whale had developed a relationship, he felt comfortable telling the truth.