Lieutenant Dan Taylor

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Lieutenant Dan Taylor is a fictional character featured prominently in both the novel and movie Forrest Gump. In the latter, he was portrayed by Gary Sinise, who was nominated for an Academy Award for the role.

[edit] Film biography

According to Forrest, Lieutenant Dan came from a long military tradition, with relatives having "fought and died in every single American war". The film showed a brief montage of his ancestors dying on battlefields in the Revolutionary War, the American Civil War, World War I, and World War II.

In the movie, viewers are first introduced to Lieutenant Dan when Forrest and his friend Bubba are assigned to his platoon in Vietnam in 1965. After he introduces himself to the two as "Lieutenant Dan Taylor", Forrest refers to him as "Lieutenant Dan", rather than "Lieutenant Taylor" for the rest of the movie.

Over the next several weeks, Lieutenant Dan would lead his men on patrols though the countryside, with Dan constantly wary of ambushes. Unfortunately, one day they were caught off guard and ambushed by Viet Cong. Lieutenant Dan, Bubba, and several others are badly wounded before Forrest carries them to safety. Bubba dies of his wounds soon after, and Lieutenant Dan's legs have to be amputated.

Rather than being grateful to Forrest for saving him, Lieutenant Dan is angry and resentful, believing it was his destiny to "die in the field, with honor" as is forefathers had, and blames Forrest for cheating him out of his destiny and leaving him to live as a cripple.

After Lieutenant Dan is sent home, now confined to a wheelchair, he is left bitter and loses his faith in God, taking refuge in alcohol and prostitutes. Forrest, meanwhile, is awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism, and later becomes even more famous when he joins the diplomatic envoy to China, where he plays ping-pong.

Lieutenant Dan and Forrest are reunited after Forrest returns. Despite Lieutenant Dan's initial resentment of Forrest and his situation, the two remain friends, with Dan remaining somewhat protective of Forrest (In one instance, he throws a hooker out of his apartment after she calls Forrest stupid).

As the two celebrate the New Year in 1972, Forrest tells Lieutenant Dan of his and Bubba's plan to buy a shrimping boat, which Forrest still intends to do. Dan laughs at this plan and jokingly tells Forrest, if he's ever a shrimping boat captain, Dan will be his first mate.

Sometime later, much to his surprise, Lieutenant Dan gets a letter from Forrest telling him he has acquired a shrimping boat. Dan travels to Bayou la Batre to see for himself, and, as a man of his word, he agrees to be Forrest's first mate.

Forrest and Lieutenant Dan initially have no luck catching shrimp until their boat, the Jenny, is caught in Hurricane Carmen. During the storm, Lieutenant Dan faces his demons, daring God to try and sink their boat. Not only do they survive, but being the only boat not to be wrecked in the storm, they have an instant monopoly on shrimp. Their company, the BubbaGump Shrimp Corporation, makes them both wealthy men.

Sometime after the storm, Lietenant Dan thanks Forrest for having saved his life in Vietnam, leading Forrest to believe Dan made his peace with God.

After Forrest goes home to Alabama to care for his dying mother, he leaves the business in Lieutenant Dan's hands. Dan later invests money in the fledgling Apple Computers, making them both even wealthier.

Lieutenant Dan and Forrest are reunited once again when he attends Forrest's wedding some years later. By this time, Lieutenant Dan has a fiancee, an Asian woman named Susan, and prosthetic titanium legs. He also appears much happier and at peace.

[edit] Differences from the novel

Lieutenant Dan in the film, like many other elements in the story, is quite different in his portrayal in the original novel.

In the novel Forrest does not meet Lieutenant Dan until he is in the hospital in Vietnam. Lieutenant Dan is also not a professional soldier but a drafted teacher. He has no wish to die in combat and is more of a philosopher.

[edit] Trivia

In 2003 Sinise co-founded the Lt. Dan Band, a rock band that performs in support of charities and non-profit organisations. Sinise has said in interviews that many people know him by sight as "Lieutenant Dan" rather than by his real name [1].