TaH/VG goes to the movies – Snake Eyes

I have every intention of making this a regular feature, but the road to hell is paved with the best intentions. As I watch old and new movies (mostly old because new shit sucks), I’d like to practice some stolen valor hunting, as we all do when we watch these. We’ll take a look at the awards and decorations worn by on-screen characters to see just how closely to the real world they get. First up is 1998’s Snake Eyes. 

Snake Eyes is a largely forgettable late-90s Nicholas Cage crime drama with a little action. Cage plays a crooked, philandering Atlantic City Police detective, and Gary Sinise his best friend, a US Navy Commander on the Secretary of Defense’s detail. Their paths cross at a boxing fight, where the SecDef gets a ringside seat, and Sinise brings his old pal Cage along for the show.

In the middle of Round 1, one of the boxers throws the fight, which signals a series of events that see the SecDef assassinated. What unfolds is Cage investigates the murder and eventually finds out that Sinise is even more crooked than he is, and coordinated the whole thing.

Throughout the whole movie Sinese is wearing his dress blue uniform with badges and ribbons. Not seen in the above photo is the proper Secretary of Defense Service Badge worn on his right. You also can’t see the sleeve insignia for a commander (O-5) with the line officer’s inverted star atop them. Would an O-5 be placed in charge of the SecDef’s security detail? Possibly. It certainly seems believable. Sinise’s real age of 44 at the time of the movie is also consistent with that rank, though at ~22 years of service, he’d be getting really anxious to be making O-6 and getting his wings.

Now let’s see what kind of look we can get at his awards and decorations. Unfortunately the cut of the blue’s coat covers some of the awards. I did find two close-up photos that can give us some insight into his career.

Screenshot 1 is probably the most clear. You can see at the top, Sinise’s Commander Dunne is a recipient of a gold warfare badge. It’s hard to tell, but it looks to me like a Surface Warfare Badge, which is entirely believable.

We’ll start at the bottom. His lowest is what looks like a pistol marksmanship ribbon, followed by the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, and the Saudi version of the Kuwaiti Liberation Medal.

The colors are a little clearer on this example, showing the Southwest Asia Service Medal with three campaign stars (the most permitted for the award), then the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, and a Navy Meritorious Unit Award. The next row (third from bottom) continues with some unit awards. First is the Navy Unit Commendation, and then a Presidential Unit Commendation. Lastly in that row is a Combat Action Ribbon (singular award).

We’ve established our fictional commander is a Gulf War vet and a SWO. Unfortunately for him, that means the PUC is wrong. During the timeframe of Dunne’s imaginary service, only submarines (SSNs to be exact) on top secret cable intercept missions earned any peacetime PUCs, and only a single unit (a Marine Aircraft Group) earned one during the Gulf War.

Next are some personal awards, a Navy Commendation Medal is a typical award for a junior officer. The middle one is a Meritorious Service Medal (with devices), again a reasonable expectation that a senior career officer could have at least one if not more than one at this point in his career. We can see that the devices indicating multiple awards is wrong. Dunne is wearing the Army/Air Force style oak leaf clusters (here and on the PH, discussed later) and not the proper gold stars of a Navy man. Rounding out this row it’s hard to tell exactly what it is, but it looks to my eye to be a Defense MSM. For an officer who’s working at the SecDef’s office, this is an expected award.

The second from top row of ribbons shows a Purple Heart (multiple awards), a Bronze Star Medal w/ “V”, and an unknown award. The unknown award looks like it’s red with a little white, so it could be a Legion of Merit, which is something a well-placed O-5 might have gotten. The Bronze Star Medal with “V” is not unheard of for an officer who saw combat in the Gulf War, but would probably be a bit unusual for a fleet officer. When it comes to the PH (again displaying the wrong device), it would only be odd to have had enough time during that short conflict to have been wounded in action twice.

The top row of ribbons show a partially concealed Navy Cross, and then a Navy Distinguished Service Medal. If we think that Dunne has been in the Navy for two decades, that time period didn’t give him a lot of chances for such valor awards. Since the end of Vietnam, and until 1998, only two Navy men received the Navy Cross. Both were SEALs and got the award for actions in Panama; Lieutenant, Junior Grade Thomas William Casey and Chief Engineman Donald Lewis McFaul (posthumously). So it stretches the imagination that the Navy Cross is an accurate award for Mr Dunne. Similarly, the Navy DSM is an award usually given to much higher ranked officers.

What’s Missing?

Right off the bat, the NDSM is missing. As any recipient knows, it’s not something you forget getting. I wear mine to bed every night, pinned to my sleeping gown like the war hero I am.

We’re also missing any Sea Service Deployment Ribbons. A surface warfare qualified officer on active duty at the rank of O-5 should have at least one, I would think (though I admit I’m no Swabbie).

Verdict

I rate this at 3.5 out of 5 stars for accuracy. It’s at least all in order, but there’s some fancy, rare awards sprinkled in. I think the military advisor on this production did a reasonably good job of getting it right.

Let me know what you think. Did I forget something? Is this something you want to see more of?

 

Category: Movie Magic