Trivia: While R. Lee Ermey has received high praise for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Ermey himself stated that Hartman is an inept drill instructor because Hartman not only physically abuses the recruits, which is never allowed, but also because any drill instructor would have noticed that Pyle was having a mental breakdown.
Factual error: When Pvt. Pyle commits suicide, he shoots himself through the skull at point-blank range with the tile wall of the bathroom only inches from the back of his head. The wall becomes splattered with blood and brain tissue but no hole in the wall is visible. Both the shot through Hartmann and the one through Pyle would have punched through the bathroom walls and quite possibly caused injury or death to anyone on the other side. (00:44:09)
Suggested correction: Not if the walls were made of bricks.
Character mistake: Hartman calls the "beds" bunks. Marines always refer to them as a rack.
Suggested correction: There's no evidence to support this claim. It's not a rule. In fact, marines use both "rack" and "bunk."
Continuity mistake: After Cowboy and company hook up with Mother, there are seven soldiers. When Cowboy gets shot, there are seven against the wall, not including Cowboy.
Suggested correction: Funny thing is, there are 8 whilst there should be 9. When they go to get Mother, Cowboy points out 5 to come with him, and then Joker and Rafterman volunteer to come along. That's 8. Including Mother that would be 9. But there are only 8 in later shots. I can count 8 at the 2:30 timestamp. What is even funnier is that at 2:02 there are only 6 running, not 8. And lastly, when they hook up with Mother, they are 6 in total against the wall (2:24). Maybe someone could confirm this for me so it can be edited.
Actually, he tells four to come with him: No-Doze, Scutter, Donlon, and Rock. Joker and Rafterman join, so that should be seven going to mother, but only six are shown. There was an entry for that here, but it is under corrections, saying that the viewer is one of the seven, which is totally incorrect.
Other mistake: Private Pyle seems to be just as large in the bathroom scene with Hartman as he is in the Jelly Donut scene. In reality, it's just the same actor, but in the film's plot it implies he went through 12-22 weeks of boot camp under Hartman without ever losing any weight, even though Hartman was specifically trying to get him to.
Suggested correction: There's a simple answer: Hartman failed to get Pyle to lose weight. Technically, Hartman was trying to get Pyle to graduate, regardless of his weight, which was achieved.
Suggested correction: They sure did punch you. Back in '69, I got punched just like that, and I wasn't the only one to get hit.
That does not address the point - Lee Ermey himself regards Hartman as an inept drill instructor. If he did assault cadets, it was strictly against the rules, and how could he not see that Pyle was having a breakdown?
To add, R. Lee Ermey himself was a DI, so he would know a Marine's code of conduct.