Corrected entry: Gysgt. Highway has 6 service stripes on his uniform. Since each stripe is 4 years, that would indicate he's been in anywhere from 24 to 27 years (having not received his 7th one yet if this is the case). The movie takes place in 1983, yet he won the CMH for actions during Heartbreak Ridge in Korea in 1951, 32 years prior to the events of the movie. SgtMaj. Choozoo briefly states that their involvement in Heartbreak Ridge was before they joined the USMC ("We joined the Corps later") and that they were in the 23rd Infantry. The 23rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army (as is implied) was involved heavily in WWII and Vietnam, but not in the Korean War, so this is historically wrong.
Grunt527
10th Apr 2015
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
Correction: USMC hash marks are FOUR years. If Highway was in Korea, he may have got out for a number of years and has "broken time" before he went back in the service. He would have been awarded an Army MOH and it's highly unlikely in real life you'd ever see an MOH recipient attending recruit training which he would have had to do as a former Soldier.
Correction: Choozoo informs Stitch that He and Highway were in the Army during Korea then joined the Corps so it is possible for the stripes to depict the correct time in the service.
Correction: Service stripes or hash marks worn on a dress uniform indicate 3 years of military service not 4. I do remember the corps discussing making their hash mark indicate 2 years but I don't think it ever came about.
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Correction: They are not talking about the 23rd Infantry Division they are referencing the 23rd Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division.