History Main / SouthernFriedPrivate

* Denver 'Bull' Randleman from ''BandOfBrothers'', to a certain degree. The other [=NCOs=] tease him for his "folksy wisdom," but when the replacements laugh along, they make it explicitly clear that he is one of the most intelligent men in the company.
** TruthInTelevision

->''Our captain has a handicap to cope with, sad to tell.''
->''He's from Georgia, and he doesn't speak the language very well.''

* Denver 'Bull' Randleman from ''BandOfBrothers'', to a certain degree. The other NCOs tease him for his "folksy wisdom," but when the replacements laugh along, they make it explicitly clear that he is one of the most intelligent men in the company.

* Corporal Dunn of ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: ModernWarfare 2'' has a southern accent, and is a bit less serious about the Rangers' situation than [[SergeantRock Foley]], at least when not under fire. He also has something of a sarcastic streak and displays some disdain towards General Shephard and his "prima donna unit".

How this stereotype arose is uncertain, but it is not merely trope but a {{cliche}}. {{Truth in Television}} in the sense that it is a RealLife stereotype, stemming from the fact that there are many military bases in the South, as well as the abundance of Southerners in the military and their penchant for firearms. Compared to fiction, however, it isn't as prevalent due to the fact that doing such behavior could get his squad captured or even killed or even worse, get him court-martialed for his antics.

How this stereotype arose is uncertain, but it is not merely trope but a {{cliche}}. {{Truth in Television}} in the sense that it is a RealLife stereotype, stemming from the fact that there are many military bases in the South, as well as the abundance of Southerners in the military and their penchant for firearms.

How this stereotype arose is uncertain, but it is not merely trope but a {{cliche}}. {{Truth in Television}} in the sense that it is a RealLife stereotype, stemming from the fact that there are many military bases in the South, as well as the abundance of Southerners in the military.

Even if this character is written as an officer, it is important to remember that this is a class-specific trope. A military officer with southern accent, a good education and a genteel matter is not usually a SouthernFriedPrivate, but an attempt by the writer to provide some variety among a group of characters who might otherwise speak and dress pretty much the same. Good examples of this type would be [[TheMcCoy "Bones" McCoy]] ([=DeForest=] Kelley) on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Surgeon Wilkins (Chill Wills) in the JohnWayne cavalry classic ''Rio Grande'', and Chief Engineer "Trip" Tucker on ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.

* ''BeetleBailey'' had one of these, named "Bammy", in its early years.

* A StarWars version is Smugglers' companion Corso Riggs from ''StarWarsTheOldRepublic.'' Complete with drawl (yes, "Yee-Haw" is one of his battle cries), old fashioned attitudes towards women, and cheerful enthusiam towards his collection of weaponry.
* Private O'Hanrahan, a minor character from ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', is one of these. Contrary to stereotypes, he's a GentleGiant who hates the notion of violence and thinks kindness to others is the best path. He's also one of the tallest characters in the game as well as one of the stronger minor named [=NPCs=] (at 8 Strength, just shy of Super Mutant levels).

* A subversion is Finn Abernathy of ''{{Bones}}'', who exhibits all of the traits above (especially colloquial speech), but is extremely brilliant, impressing even Brennan.

* Ripper from ''[[WorldWarIII The Zone]]'' novels, who drives everyone mad with his unbelievable stories of his family's misadventures back home in Hicksville.

* Corporal Opie Dalrymple in ''Rally Round the Flag, Boys!'' by Max Shulman. He was a country music star before he was drafted, but being in the Army doesn't stop him from writing new songs or weaken his drawl.

-->-- '''TomLehrer''', It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier

* From TomLehrer's "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier":
-->"Our captain has a handicap to cope with, sad to tell/"
-->"He's from Georgia and he doesn't speak the language very well."

* ''GomerPyleUSMC'', arguably a light-hearted take on the trope. Gomer was too nice to picture him as an "insular xenophobe" though he is certainly "insular".

->''"Our captain has a handicap to cope with, sad to tell.''
->''He's from Georgia, and he doesn't speak the language very well."''

* Private Robert 'Rebel' Ralston' from ''[[HowlingCommandos Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos]]'' in the MarvelUniverse. After the war, he became a senator for Texas.

* Pvt. L.Q. Jones from Alabama in the 1955 film ''Film/BattleCry. Full of folksy sayings and with the habit of launching into unflattering impersonations of the DrillSergeantNasty [[RightBehindMe just as said sergeant enters the room behind him]]. Tellingly, he never rises from the rank of private over the course of the film.

* Luther Rizzo from the later seasons of ''Series/{{Mash}}'' fits in here, although he's actually a sergeant and doesn't do a lot of shooting or bombing. He hails from Louisiana, is fond of cigars and folksy sayings, and when kids from the orphanage are reluctant to try his Cajun cooking at a Christmas feast, he blames it on them being from North Korea, and the way he says 'North' suggests he's not thinking of Communists.

* Denver 'Bull' Randleman from ''BandOfBrothers'', to a certain degree.

* Captain Duke Forrest in ''Film/{{Mash}}''.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision in the United States, where 20% of the US population lives in rural areas, but those same rural areas supply [[http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe70s/life_07.html nearly half of all military recruits]].
** And Texas A&M University supplies more commissioned military officers than any school in the United States, aside from the service academies.
[[/folder]]

** And Texas A&M University supplies more commissioned military officers than any school in the United States aside form the service academies.

* The Engineer from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' seems to be a subversion; he is referred to as a "good ol' boy" in his profile, but also has [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist 11 PhDs]] and tends to engage in SesquipedalianLoquaciousness. Also unlike most "good ol' boys," the Engie can't shoot his pistol to save his life. The most accurate pistoleer is actually the Frenchman!

-->--'''TomLehrer''', It Makes A Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier

* Averted in the film ''{{Jarhead}}'' where the character Kruger (Lucas Black) is a Texan with a very thick accent and displays some of the tendencies above, but is by far the most outspoken critic of the military operation (such as the lack of free speech for soldiers and possible health dangers of the anti-chemical weapon pills they're given).
* ''HamburgerHill'' Sgt. Dennis "''Dont mean Nuttin''" Worchester.

* Numerous characters in ''TheThinRedLine'', some of them needlessly aggressive, others prone to articulate philosophizing.
* [[InglouriousBasterds Lt. Aldo Raine]]. He's a Lieutenant, not a Private, but he's still a hick from Maynardville, Tennessee--he even brings up making moonshine at one point.
* Conrad in ''ThreeKings'' - "I rigged the football with C-4, sir.". Although possibly subverted, as he later gains respect for the Iraqi locals, [[spoiler: so much so that he requests to be interred by them]].
* PFC ''ForrestGump'' in the movie of the same name. Also his [[BlackBestFriend buddy]] Bubba Blue.

He's the foil for any minority or NewMeat soldiers in the unit, as he almost exclusively gets to play the role of the insular xenophobe.