Those Goddamn Marines…

Another one from the Mil-email chain… And this one goes out to Heath and all those others who are current and former Marines…


Although this was written back in 2003, it holds true even today 🙂

Written by a Marine Reserve, he pretty much nails the whole Marine ethos…


I wonder how many times during Operation Iraqi Freedom that the phrase “Goddamn Marines” was uttered? Even in the best of times, Army and Air Force officers have been heard muttering some epithet about Marines, invoking either heaven or hell. Interestingly enough, we Marines find it all rather reassuring and, at times, amusing.

Most of the time, Marines do not go out of our way to be obnoxious; we are just doing what Marines have done for over 200 years. A good example is the fact that Marines always raise the American flag over mountains or cities they ! have conquered. From Mt. Suribachi to the City of Hue, to Kuwait City to Baghdad, U.S. Marines have raised the Stars and Stripes — in the latter
examples, much to the chagrin of higher headquarters. You don’t get these kinds of problems with the army.

So what is it about the U.S. Marines that they stick U.S. flags on
everything and do more with less, a less that is either old or an army hand-me-down? We call it Esprit de Corps , but it goes deeper than that. We learn and maintain myths of the past, which also means living up to those historical examples. Marine Corps boot camp is the longest of the services; it is where we mold young men and women into the mythical image called a Marine. You can be in the Army, you can join the Air Force, but you become a Marine. All of the other uniformed services have songs; the U.S. Marines
have a hymn. The basic pattern of Marine Corps uniforms comes from the late nineteenth century; our emblem “the Eagle, Globe and Anchor” has remained largely unchanged since 1868. The buttons on our dress blues, whites and greens date back to the founding of our corps. The Marine Corps is the only service that requires its officers to carry a sword, whose pattern dates back to 1805.

I think that the path of being a Marine was established long ago. On the 10th of November 1775, the Marine Corps was first established…in a tavern.


To this day, no matter where in the world, Marines celebrate the founding of our beloved Corps, much to the confusion of the other services.

A few years ago, a congresswoman from ado felt that the Marine Corps was radical and extreme. She contended that the Marine Corps was not politically correct, nor did we seem to be part of the Department of Defense’s transition to a “kinder and gentler” military. She was correct, and the Marine Corps took it as a compliment.

But the proof is in the doing, and during Iraqi Freedom the Marines
demonstrated what Marines can do. I watched with some amusement as a reporter asked a young lance corporal about being in Iraq and under rifle fire. “Love it, sir!” was his response. The reporter was taken aback and asked, “No, really.” The Marine then tried to explain that this is what he was trained to do, he looked forward to doing it and was now happy to be doing it. No doubt in boot camp he was told that he was “a minister of death praying for war.” Contrast that with the poor U.S. Army Apache pilots who
said that if they had to take life, they would do so reluctantly. You are either a warrior or you are not.

Marines are mission oriented. Live or die, the most important thing to a Marine is accomplishing the mission. Whether taking the bridge, river or town, accomplishing the mission is the Holy Grail of being a Marine. How the mission is accomplished is not so important, as it is expected of all Marines to accomplish the mission with the tools available. This is probably why we heard that Marines in one engagement were fighting with knives and
bayonets. This was hardly high tech, but it was effective. These Marines now have bragging rights, for they have proven that they talk-the-talk and walk-the-walk. I doubt there is a single Marine who is not envious.

Marines are practical, as well. I enjoyed hearing two reporters interviewing each other, one embedded with the army, the other with the Marines. The reporter with the army noted that the sandstorm had blown down many of the soldiers’ cots. The other reporter countered that the Marines did not have this problem because they slept on the ground. The Marine learns to live
with what he can carry on his back. He expects to be moved around on the battlefield via his two black Cadillacs (boots). If he is lucky and gets a ride on an amtrack, so much the better — but it is not expected! . At the end of a mission, the priority for cleaning is weapon, then equipment, and finally, body. When the other services talk about “quality of life,” they are referring to housing, clubs and food. Marines are talking about better weapons, equipment and training, winning the battle and coming home alive is considered “quality of life.”

All of this translates into combat power. In comparison to the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, the Marines of I Marine Expeditionary Force were lightly equipped. Yet, they battled through the heart of Iraq, fought to the center of Baghdad and then moved off to Tikrit, taking that city as well. The press was so enamored with the Marines that in the final days of the war they even credited the Marines with deeds actually accomplished by the army.

Little wonder we heard “Goddamn Marines!” so often.

So we need to give the Marines some slack when they do something politically incorrect, such as raising the flag or appearing insensitive when killing the enemy. In the field, they look sloppy compared to the army, but are aggressive in the attack and generally unhappy in the defense. Marines take pride in their work, even if that work is war.

We are just Marines and that is what we do.

Lt. Col. David W. Szelowski USMCR (ret.)


And they do a damn good job of it too! 🙂

Comments

Those Goddamn Marines… — 23 Comments

  1. I’ve said it a few times. Every time with a little love connected though!!
    When 6 of them, with gear, get on the bow of a 41 foot Coast Guard small boat, it tends to plow the bow deeper in the water. When asked to move to the stern, they politely told me to “F off, puddle pirate”.
    So I said to my seaman over the hailer to tell “Those Goddamn Marines” to please step to the stern or I would deep six their asses into the icey cold water.
    They laughed, and proceeded to stern. One was my Best Man 10 years later!

    It was a complete LoveFest!

  2. Ah yes … reminds me of the time the Bn supply god had to reprimand a Battery CO when some of his Marines mis-appropriated an Army M198 howitzer during Desert Storm!

    I guess they shouldn’t have left their howitzer unattended!

  3. That s**t right there is exactly why nobody has ever understood why I enlisted. You just CANNOT understand unless you’ve done it.

  4. The only reason I would ever want to be a politician is to tell pansy a$$ other politicians to stick it up their flower pots. War is hard and we need hard people.

  5. My partner at work is a former Marine pilot and a Cajun. No one nicer, or tougher have I ever met. There’s good reason his wife adores him and his boy will soon be off to the Academy himself.

  6. “On the 10th of November 1775, the Marine Corps was first established…in a tavern.”

    And legend has it that the first man signed his name on the roll, handed the pen to the second man in line and commented “Ya know, things were DIFFERENT in the Old Corps!”

  7. age aviewsfI love the Marines, and Desert Storm I was told not to display the American Flag in Iraq. I was a paratrooper. Displayed and pictures taken, who was that fool that didn’t want our flag flying high?

  8. I loaned a battery charger to those guys once.

    Turns out it was “lost in combat” and I had to do a mountain of paperwork.
    How the hell do you lose a battery charger in combat?

    Surrender! Or we start trickle-charging you!

  9. MSgt B, there’s only one thief in the Marine Corps. The rest are just trying to get their s**t back.

  10. Us technically-oriented former WMs have our moments, too – when my Dad left for VIetNam, I kinda became the ‘fix-it’ child by default {my brother was only 7 or 8}. My Dad’s tools were put away, so I had to ‘make do’ {ie, butter knives in lieu of common screwdrivers} ……………… 40+ years later, the FodGuy is fighting with his CPAP, which has a split O-ring that needs removal to access a bad bearing; of course, his O-ring pliers are in storage, so I asked if hemostats/forceps would suffice – turns out, they DO, even sending the O-ring flying to God-knows-where, just like regular O-ring pliers ……………… 😉

    Semper Fi’
    DM

  11. You can always tell a Marine.
    You just can’t tell him much …
    Uncle Jim (USA, Corps of Engineers) came out of Chosin along side Marines. Always had good things to say about “the other corps.”
    Dad (also USACE) had a Marine aviation unit of OV-10s next to his battalion in ‘Nam. Navy CeeBees wouldn’t pave the Marine runway. Dad did. From then on Dad’s unit ALWAYS had air cover. Loyal bastards.

  12. Suz- Yep, that too 🙂

    Danny- Yep, they DO have a bit of attitude…

    WSF- Yep and yep 🙂

    Packetman- The ones I knew ‘only’ stole an airplane…

    Tango/Rev/45- ALL true!!!

    Brigid- And he can probably cook pretty well too! :-0

    Rick- Heard that! 🙂

    Earl- Three Guesses… 🙁

    Msgt- Yep!

    Tango- TRUE!!!!!

    DM- Yep, ‘some’ things don’t change regardless of what tool is used…sigh

    Stretch- True too!

    Keads- Yep!!!

  13. Some Marines saved my ass once in a land far away.

    My father-in-law was a Marine during WWII in the South Pacific and a member of the original Raider Battalion. A finer man there never was.

    Semper Fidelis, indeed.

    –AOA

  14. I call bs on the army looking more squared away than us! (Written as i field day every goddamn molecule of dirt in the room. For the 2md night in a row)