Mail Call

Mail Call is a documentary television program appearing on The History Channel and hosted by R. Lee Ermey, a retired Gunnery Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps. The show debuted on August 4, 2002.

During each half-hour episode, Ermey reads and answers questions submitted by viewers regarding weapons and equipment used by all branches of the U.S. military now or in the past, as well as by other armed forces in history. Ermey often takes his viewers on location to military training areas to film demonstrations.

Comic relief is provided as Ermey inflicts DI-style verbal abuse on his listeners or tests the effects of various weapons on watermelons (the host's "sworn enemy") and paint cans. Ermey became famous through his true-to-life portrayal of the character "Gunnery Sergeant Hartman" in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, and makes an especially effective host for the program.

"Mail Call" also was the name of a popular World War II-era radio program. It was created by the Armed Forces Radio Service and debuted August 11, 1942. It featured celebrities of the day and was meant as entertainment for American overseas forces. In both cases, the title "Mail Call" is drawn from the military practice of the same name where soldiers assemble to receive mail from a designated person, who will call each soldier's name in turn to pick up their mail.

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