Genius Forrest Gump Theory Reveals Lieutenant Dan’s Death Wish Was A Lie

A genius Forrest Gump theory suggests that Lieutenant Dan never actually had a death wish, adding an extra layer of depth to Gary Sinese’s iconic character. Forrest Gump tells the story of its eponymous protagonist as he navigates his way through practically every major event in American history throughout the latter half of the 20th century. Along the way, Forrest meets many people—including a number of very recognizable figures—but only a handful are considered his genuine friends.

One of these characters is Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise), who Forrest meets while serving in Vietnam. Dan is Forrest’s platoon leader during the Vietnam War and comes from a military family with a time-honored tradition of dying in combat. During a Vietcong ambush, Lieutenant Dan is badly wounded, but Forrest ignores the command to leave him behind and instead saves his life. Lieutenant Dan’s injuries result in the amputation of his legs, and he sees Forrest’s heroic act as him being robbed of fulfilling his destiny.

The idea that Lieutenant Dan has a death wish stems from what Forrest describes as a “long, great military tradition”, explaining that “somebody in his family had fought and died in every single American war“. Forrest explains that within the film’s history, Lieutenant Dan “had a lot to live up to“. However, a small part of his wardrobe seems to indicate that his death wish—both during the Vietnam War and after returning home—was always a lie. Throughout the film, Lieutenant Dan is seen wearing a rosary with a Saint Christopher medallion, which holds a hidden meaning that contradicts the character’s apparent death wish.

Why Lieutenant Dan Wants To Die At War In Forrest Gump

The best that Forrest Gump offers by way of an explicit detailing of Lieutenant Dan’s death wish is in the narration from Forrest himself. Forrest explains that Lieutenant Dan Taylor’s family has a long military history, dating back to the Revolutionary War in 1778, and that Dan is just the latest in the family tradition of military personnel. This paints Lieutenant Dan as a willing participant in that tradition, which is evidenced by his insistence that Forrest should leave him behind to die after he calls in an airstrike while wounded. Laying in the hospital after having his legs amputated, an emotional Dan drags Forrest from his bed, upset that he had been”cheated” out of his “destiny“. Hearing Dan describe the nature of the sacrifice he believes he should have made only furthers the idea that he wanted to die in combat in Vietnam.

1 Detail Disproves Lieutenant Dan’s War Death Wish

Despite not being able to save his best friend, Bubba, Forrest Gump is able to save Lieutenant Dan. While the platoon leader initially seems quite bitter about having his life saved, the rosary he wears seemingly indicates that he never actually wanted to die at all. Lieutenant Dan’s prominently worn rosary features a Saint Christopher medallion – a charm that is believed to provide protection for travelers. The idea that Lieutenant Dan went to war hoping to die is contradicted by his Saint Christopher, as the medallion indicates that he was hoping for a form of divine protection.

This actually calls into question the idea of Lieutenant Dan’s supposed death wish. As Lieutenant Dan’s wearing of the protective charm isn’t explained in Forrest Gump, it can only be assumed that it’s intended to serve its usual purpose of protection. This actually makes Lieutenant Dan’s Forrest Gump story very different, reframing his emotional outburst in the hospital as his attempt to reconcile his own will to live against the expectations put upon him by his family’s military history. With this idea in mind, Dan’s bitterness at his survival takes on an entirely different meaning. Also, Forrest saving his life has made him reevaluate the values he was seemingly raised upon, and he has to try to find himself a life outside of what he’d always perceived as his “destiny”. The expectation of his death alone doesn’t prove his death wish, but the Saint Christopher medallion indicates his hope for survival, seemingly proving Forrest’s assessment of Dan to be flawed.

Forrest Gump’s Storm Proves Dan Wants To Live

After narrowly surviving the horrors of the Vietnam War, Lieutenant Dan struggles to adjust to civilian life. However, he does support Forrest’s foray into the shrimping industry, serving as the first mate on his boat, the Jenny. After a slow and discouraging start, Forrest and Lieutenant Dan find themselves out sailing in the midst of a storm. Throughout the storm, Dan is sat screaming defiantly into the waves, and while this might seem to prove the character’s death wish, his specific words—as well as the Saint Christopher medallion he’s still wearing—actually indicate that he wants to live.

Screaming that the storm will “never sink this boat“, Dan hollers that it’s “time for a showdown” – laughing all the while. As the Saint Christopher is also often invoked for protection against storms, it adds a different context to Lieutenant Dan’s apparent lack of fear. As Forrest Gump sees death repeatedly miss Lieutenant Dan, there’s an argument that perhaps his protective charm works in some capacity. Interestingly, after the storm, when Lieutenant Dan is shown to have found peace, he’s no longer wearing the rosary, which further proves that Dan wore it specifically in times when he needed protection (at war or during storms, for example).

Lieutenant Dan’s Rosary Makes His Story Better

There’s also a behind-the-scenes reason that Lieutenant Dan’s rosary is significant. It actually belongs to Gary Sinise’s brother, who wore it while serving in the Vietnam War himself, which draws a parallel with Lieutenant Dan’s story. The idea of having a military-related family tradition is one of Lieutenant Dan’s defining characteristics, and the real-life significance of the rosary actually lends the Forrest Gump theory an added layer.

The idea that Lieutenant Dan may have been seeking some form of protection from his rosary in spite of the weight of his family’s “tradition” makes the character feel so much more human. The theory that he never truly had a death wish adds a depth to Lieutenant Dan that changes the entire nature of his relationship with Forrest. Instead of the unappreciative and bitter friend he appears to be, the Saint Christopher theory implies that Lieutenant Dan’s mixed feelings about Forrest Gump actually stem from his own internal conflict over his genuine fear of death.

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