Semper Fi: The Ex Marines Files Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. He was a man of few words but was loyal to his colleagues, saw them as his family, and inspired loyalty from them. Which former Marine sniper led a team of Navy sleuths?

Answer: Leroy Jethro Gibbs

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was a former gunnery sergeant in the US Marines, specialising as a marksman. Overseas duties included service in Operation Desert Storm. After discharge, he joined the (then) Naval Investigative Service.

Brought up in a small town in Pennsylvania, most people called him Gibbs and a few special friends called him Jethro. His family had called him Leroy. Gibbs was married four times and divorced on three occasions. His first wife was killed by Mexican drugs dealers and he extracted revenge by shooting dead the man he held culpable.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was played by Mark Harmon throughout the run of "NCIS".

2. While the scientists beavered away to find the evidence among Nevada crime investigations, which former Marine led the detectives?

Answer: Jim Brass

Jim Brass was a detective who liaised with one of the Crime Scene Investigation teams in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a Marine, he had served two tours of duty in Vietnam.

Brass had a reputation of being generally fair but at times turned to alcohol when stressed. He also had a difficult relationship with his estranged daughter.

Jim Brass was played by Paul Guilfoyle in the first 14 seasons of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" from 2000. He won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2005.

3. As a cop he had a heart of gold, but struggled to stay ahead of the demon drink, finally giving it up after being shot six times and nearly killed in the line of duty. Which former Marine may have had the blues in the big apple, but still managed to marry three times?

Answer: Andy Sipowicz

Brooklyn-born Andy Sipowicz had a tough upbringing and joined the US Marine Corps, serving for 18 months in Vietnam. From the Marines, he joined the New York Police Department.

Initially, Sipowicz was not am easy man to like, apart from his drinking he was, in early years, a racial bigot. He married three times and suffered personal tragedies, including the murder of his son and the death of one of his wives.

Dennis Franz played the role through the "NYPD Blues" 12-season run from 1993. In a 2018 interview with "Variety" magazine, Franz said Sipowicz had been the 28th cop he had played during his career.

4. Which former Marine became a sheriff and had to tackle the bad boys in the badlands of Wyoming?

Answer: Walt Longmire

Before appearing on television, Walt Longmire had been the subject of a series of books by Craig Johnston. The television show "Longmire" was first broadcast in 2012.

Longmire had been a military police officer attached to the 1st US Marines Division and served in Vietnam. He spent a period working on oil rigs before becoming sheriff of Absaroka County.

Robert Taylor played Longmire through the show's run on A&E from 2012 to2014 and Netflix from 2015 to 2017.

5. After serving in the Marines, who had a varied career as a college lecturer, CIA operative, and president of the USA?

Answer: Jack Ryan

The character Jack Ryan was created by Tom Clancy and appeared in a number of novels before getting the movie and television treatment. When we first met Ryan he was a university professor, and had served in the Marine Corps.

Various adventures took him to the Central Intelligence Agency and onwards and upwards to become president of the USA. One Clancy scenario is said to have predicted a 9/11 type attack. In "Debt Of Honour" (1994) he had a plane crashed into the Capitol building.

On the big screen, Ryan has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine. John Krasinski played Ryan in two television seasons.

6. There must be something about Marine boot camp that gives a person ambition; which naval aviator served in the Gulf War and then the Marines Reserves before eventually becoming president of the USA?

Answer: Matt Santos

Matt Santos was a House representative from Texas who was chosen to be the Democratic Party runner to succeed Jed Bartlett as president in TV's "The West Wing". There was some ambiguity in his back story; he was said to have been a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, but he also attended the United States Naval Academy. He did, though serve as a naval aviator in the first Gulf War and also served as a member of the US Marines Reserve.

Matt Santos was played by Jimmy Smits in seasons six and seven of "The West Wing".

7. As a Vietnam veteran he was used to getting in some tight scrapes, but which former Marine had an ambiguous relationship as a police chief with a gang of motorcycle anarchists?

Answer: Wayne Unser

Wayne Unser was Chief of the Charming, California, Police Department in the television series "Sons of Anarchy". The show featured a gang of motorcycle gangsters running drugs and guns across the border. Despite owing allegiance to the law, he was a known associate of the gang.

Unser had served in the United States Marne Corps in Vietnam. Dayton Callie played Unser in seven seasons from 2008.

8. In a city that never sleeps, murder never lays its head down. Which ex-Marine was the detective who led a team investigating the scenes of those crimes?

Answer: Mac Taylor

Mac Taylor was the leader of the crime lab in New York City and worked hand in (nitrile) glove with the investigators. His father served in the Marines in WW2 and Mac served in peacekeeping roles in Lebanon and during the Gulf War.

He was seen as a stickler for the rules: something that brought him into conflict with others in his team. He also believed that crime should not pay and no one could break the rules.

Gary Sinise played Taylor in "CSI New York" between 2004 and 2013.

9. A veteran of Operation Desert Storm, which former Marine turned cop to investigate some of the most heinous crimes while keeping law and order in the Big Apple?

Answer: Elliott Stabler

Elliott Stabler was one of the detectives in the TV show "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit". Stabler had a difficult family life as a child, and later joined the Marines, serving in Operation Desert Storm.

As a cop he was often obsessed with the cases and took many of them too personally. He also sustained a number of injuries on the job and was recorded in a number of 'officer-involved' shootings.

Stabler was played by Christopher Meloni in seasons one to 12 and returned as a guest star in season 22 in advance of a planned spin off.

10. It may have been things he witnessed on the battlefield that enabled him to see into the minds of other people. Which former Marine went on to lead an FBI team that focused on the behaviour and patterns created by serial killers?

Answer: David Rossi

David Rossi was a native of Long Island before joining the Marine Corps and serving in Vietnam, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. On leaving the service he was recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He became a supervisory special agent and a leader of the the Behavioral Analysis Unit based at Quantico, Virginia. Their task was to get inside the heads of serial killers and serious sexual offenders. By analysing how they carried out their crimes, they sought to catch and put them away.

David Rossi was played by Joe Mantegna in "Criminal Minds" between 2007 and 2020.

Source: Author darksplash

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ladymacb29 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Maybe it is because they are the among the toughest in the US military that television writers have chosen to give many of their characters a back story of service in the Marine Corps. Say "oorah" to these 10.

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