About this season
Mail Call was a television program that appeared on the History Channel and hosted by R. Lee Ermey, a retired United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant,. The show debuted on August 4, 2002 as part of the 'Fighting Fridays' lineup. Most episodes were 30 minutes, but from 2007 through the show's end in 2009 some episodes were 60 minutes. During each episode, Ermey read and answered 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 took his viewers on location to military training areas to film demonstrations. When not on location, Ermey broadcast from a set resembling a military outpost, including a tent, a Jeep, and various other pieces of military gear which changed throughout the series. At times, he would also have a bulldog - usually symbolic of Marines, especially drill instructors - on his show as well. Comic relief was provided as Ermey inflicted DI-style verbal abuse on his viewers or tests the effects of various weapons on watermelons and paint cans, as well as occasional appearances of "Mini-Lee", an action figure styled in Ermey's likeness, often seen berating a luckless G.I. Joe figurine. His demeanor as host was similar to the character "Gunnery Sergeant Hartman" portrayed by Ermey in the Stanley Kubrick film Full Metal Jacket, though this attitude was shown only towards his viewers and not the military special guests. Older viewers might compare him to Sergeant Vincent Carter, a character in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. television program.
Episodes (14)
1. Live from the Gulf
Aired 6 July 2003 • 30 min
This episode was live in Kuwait. Gunnery Sgt. Ermey talked to the troops and answered questions.
2. Super Stallion Helicopter; Flying Banana; Navy Hazing; Seabees; GI Jargon; Tank Ammo
Aired 13 July 2003 • 30 min
Helicopters; hazing ritual; building runways in the Pacific; the G-2; battle tank
3. M-1 Garand Rifle; First Assault Rifle; JATO; Golden Knights Parachute Team; Barr
Aired 20 July 2003 • 30 min
Rifles; jet-assisted take-off; freefall parachute team; barrage balloons; military jargon.
4. Rocket-Assisted Projectile; WWII German Gustav; Tent Tech; Pup Tent; Tomahawk;
Aired 27 July 2003 • 30 min
Rocket-propelled artillery; artillery gun that fires the largest caliber shell; tents; tomahawks; slings.
5. M-16; Viet Cong Booby Traps; Super-Secret Ravens; Wild Weasels; Vietnam River Patrol Boats; Green Berets
Aired 10 August 2003 • 30 min
Military rifles in Vietnam; booby traps; the Ravens; the Wild Weasels; river-patrol boats; the Green Berets.
6. Marine Sniper Rifle; BlowGun; Mulberry Harbor; French Resistance; Frontline Medi
Aired 17 August 2003 • 30 min
Rifle; blowgun; floating concrete caissons bridge the English Channel; weapons of the French resistance; improvements in front-line medical care; origins of the word "berserk."
7. Marine Sniper School; Hand Signals; Ho Chi Minh Trail; Motorcycles; Loading Palettes; C-119
Aired 31 August 2003 • 30 min
Snipers; hand signals; Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Trail; motorcycles; tanks; the C-119 Flying Boxcar.
8. Armored Scout Car; Water-Cooled Machine Gun; Fart Sack; Shuteye; Nazi U-Boats; Stealth Ship
Aired 7 September 2003 • 30 min
Armored scout cars; water-cooled machine guns; sleeping bag; sleeping on the battlefield; German U-boats; Navy ship invisible to radar.
9. Claymore Mine; 1st U.S. Nuclear Sub; Resupply at Sea; Patriot Air Defense Missile; Jody Songs
Aired 14 September 2003 • 30 min
Anti-personnel mine; 16th-century Scottish sword; early nuclear-powered submarine; how naval vessels resupply at sea; the Patriot missile; cadence songs.
10. WWII Half Track; Arctic Vehicles; Weird Weapons; Navy Hydrofoils; Combat Controllers; Gunnery Sergeant
Aired 5 October 2003 • 30 min
World War II M2A2 half-track; Snow Train; strange weapons used by the Allies in World War II; Navy hydrofoils; Air Force combat controllers; Marine Corps gunnery sergeants.
11. Military Pilot Training; Flak; Doolittle Raid; One-Man Submarine; Military Radios
Aired 12 October 2003 • 30 min
Training of military pilots; flak; the Doolittle Raid; Sleeping Beauty submarine; radios; foxhole radio.
12. F-15 Eagle; Flying Platform; Atomic Annie; Army Missiles; Tommy Gun v. Burp Gun; Measuring Bullets
Aired 19 October 2003 • 30 min
F-15 Eagle; single-man vertical flight machine; howitzer firing both conventional and nuclear warheads; Army-controlled missile programs; submachine guns; measuring bullets.
13. Avenger; Stinger & Red-Eye Missiles; Military Firefighter & Smokejumper; Kiowa Helicopter; Kilroy
Aired 26 October 2003 • 30 min
Avenger Air Defense System; Stinger and Red Eye missiles; military firefighters; the Triple Nickels; Kiowa scout helicopter; "Kilroy Was Here."
14. Cobra Attack Helicopter; Sidewinder Missile; C-54 Skymaster; MPs; Flintlock Pistol
Aired 2 November 2003 • 30 min
Attack helicopter; AIM Sidewinders; transport plane; military police; flintlock pistols.