Released late last year as part of the Stanley Kubrick Director’s Series boxed set, the latest version of the Full Metal Jacket DVD boasts a commentary and interviews with various members of the film’s creative team, from actors Vincent D’Onofrio and Lee Ermey to executive producer Jan Harlan and steadicam operator John Ward. Several voices are conspicuously absent: I’m not sure what Matthew Modine’s excuse is, but Stanley Kubrick is dead, and so is Gustav Hasford.
If that last name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve probably never stumbled upon Private Joker’s Homepage. Compiled and maintained by Hasford’s cousin, comic book writer Jason Aaron, this massive site is dedicated to the memory of the man who wrote The Short-Timers, the 1978 novel upon which Kubrick’s Vietnam epic was based. If you’ve never read the book, you may be shocked by how much of Full Metal Jacket came directly from its pages; many the drill sergeant’s hilariously profane monologues are lifted intact from Hasford (despite the fact that Ermey has often claimed them as his own contribution), as are a number of Private Joker’s “John Wayne” musings. Hasford certainly noticed, and his battle to be recognized as one of the movie’s screenwriters is documented in a section of the site called Cast Iron Longjohns.
In the end, The Short-Timers is more extreme and surreal than the movie, and that goes double for the little-known sequel The Phantom Blooper, which finds Private Joker teaming up with the Viet Cong. Both books can be read in their entirety on the site, as can a number of short stories, nonfiction pieces, letters, reviews and interviews. You can also read the sad story of Hasford’s troubled later years, including his arrest on charges of stealing thousands of library books. Although Aaron’s site doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of Hasford’s life, it is truly a labor of love. As Aaron writes in a section called Remembrance, “I wish he could've written all those other books he wanted to. I wish he'd taken better care of himself. I wish his books were still in print. I wish it hadn't taken until now for me to get to know him pretty good.”