As promised I'm doing a little blog about the Marine Corps' 236th Birthday and I figured I'd throw in the Veterans Day shit as well. Let's start with the Marine Corps thing.
"The wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
The love of a staunch true man,
The love of a baby, unafraid,
Have existed since time began.
But the greatest of loves,
The quintessence of loves.
Even greater than that of a mother,
Is the tender, passionate, infinite love,
Of one drunken Marine for another.
Semper Fidelis"
General Louis H. Wilson 1978
That quote means a lot. It says a lot. Marines are a very peculiar breed of individuals. We make up the smallest branch of the military and provide over 30% of the Nations ground combat power on only 8% of the Defense budget. That is a lot of bang for your buck. Because of that we endure greater hardship than most military members and we signed up with the understanding that our lives, for however long we stayed on Active Duty, would not be easy. Our boot camp is the longest of any service, it's grueling, and it is the only one that is still segregates men and women. Following that, each Marine, man and woman, is trained as a basic rifleman. Most of us infantry consider the "Marine Combat Training" POG's (Person Other-than Grunt) go through an absolute joke. However, they are getting basic training for combat operations and to understand simple tactics as well as weapons use which is much better than the other services. This post isn't about POG bashing though, even though that is one of my favorite past times. It's about the Marine Corps in general. I really want to point something out to the people not in the Marine Corps loop.
The Marine Corps is an amphibious fighting force. We're "America's 911". We are designed and equipped to respond to incidents world wide in less than 72 hours. We float around on ship's while the Navy gets pissed off because we treat that ship like it's ours. Because, well, it is. If it weren't for us there would be no need for it. When the call comes we answer with an enthusiasm rivaled only by Iraqi kids and their cravings for Chocolate. It's important to understand that we don't just kick in doors and blast people into oblivion although that's what we love to do. We respond to Humanitarian Crisis, Evacuations, Recovery of Personnel, Security Missions. You name it and we'll probably do it. We are America's ambassadors to the world. Around the world U.S. Marines are either revered or feared, often times both. We are the tip of the spear in combat. We go anywhere, any time, for any reason that the President deems necessary. We don't need an act of Congress to do our job. We need a phone call to release the dogs of war. Many relate Marines to pure breed dogs like the English Bulldog, the Doberman, the Rottweiler, or the infamous Devil Dog of German lore. We are none of these. Marines are that mangled mutt that is a mix of every breed of dog you can thing of. We come from so many backgrounds that it's impossible to list. But we all share one thing in common. We're that mutt that guards your home with a ferocity that cannot be rivaled.
"I have three new heroes now. They are...
New York's bravest, the fire fighters,
New York's finest, the cops,
and the United States Marine Corps.
Because, as you know, before this thing is finished, it will be the Marine Corps that goes in and settles the score."
David Letterman 9-18-01
Let me touch on that just a little. The Marines are not meant to be an Army. The mission we have been serving in Afghanistan and Iraq is the mission of the U.S. Army. However, for some reason the Army can't handle it. So, send in the Marines. It's worked throughout history and it works now. In Afghanistan they sent us in to the most remote and desolate places to fuck shit up and settle shit down. When we were done, they sent in the Army. The Army immediately got fucked up. In Iraq they put us in Baghdad. We had that place on fucking lock down like a priest protecting his little boy toy. Then Al Anbar province, which was under Army control, went bat shit crazy. So again, send in the Marines. We squashed that shit quick as fuck. We ran those fuckers straight up the Euphrates from Baghdad to the Syrian border. The ones who made it out alive did so by pure luck. Let me explain tactics as I witnessed them in Iraq. If an Army convoy was attacked they opened fire in all directions and pushed through without stopping. This tactic resulted in the deaths of countless innocent civilians who just happened to be in the area. This tactic kicked our "Winning the hearts and minds" counter-insurgency mission right in the dick. The Marines were left to clean up this fucking mess, and we did. When a Marine convoy was attacked the response was something along the lines of a woman in the ghetto who just had some hoodlum call her a whore, "OH NO YOU DIDN'T JUST DO THAT SHIT." If we were attacked we stopped, got the fuck outta the trucks, and went after those fuckers with everything we had. We hunted them down like it was our last fucking meal at stake. This tactic was amazingly effective. We did this shit in Afghanistan too. In Afghan we were relieved by an Army unit, the 10th Mountain Division. They had triple our man power. Unfortunately, they were getting fucked up so bad because the enemy saw them in green uniforms and knew they weren't Marines cause we wore brown. So they attacked them instead of us. If we were with them, they let the sleeping dogs lie. They knew that if they attacked the Marines they were opening a can of whoop ass on themselves.
It's this kind of fighting spirit that differentiates Marines from any other service. Something I've said continually that few people outside the Corps understand is that we fight for each other. It's not about our country at that point. It's not about some obscure intangible quality like patriotism. It's not about the "reasons" behind the war. Although many of those may be the inspiration behind the individual becoming a Marine, but that isn't why we fight. We fight for each other. We fight for our brothers. We fight for their lives. We normally disregard our own safety for the chance to save our brothers souls. We go into combat with the expectation of not coming home. We are dead men walking and you can't take anything away from someone who already considers themselves dead. With this understanding let me move onto my current feelings about Veterans Day, because frankly I'm torn and kind of disgruntled.
Veterans Day is about thanks for those who served this nation. Those who served in peace or war. Those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and those who continue to sacrifice. What has me disgruntled is not the outpouring of "Thank You's" that I've been receiving but of the actions of some of my fellow Veterans. I'm going to put it like this. If you are a veteran and you continually brag about what you did, go fuck yourself. The people that do this normally haven't done shit. Now, let me say that I'm not referring to the many people I know who only served in times of peace. They stood up and signed that check to the U.S. government and it was never cashed. They did their duty and served honorably. I'm talking about those veterans who have served in the Global War on Terrorism. You know, the ones who talk about being in combat all the fucking time and the crazy shit they did even though they aren't from the combat arms side. Many of you may not recognize this because you haven't served. Many people that are like that never actually saw combat. These people were in the rear with the gear doing support role work. Yes, we need them. I need someone making sure that I'm getting my beans, bullets, and band aids. I need someone making sure my Marines are getting paid. I need someone refueling the planes and helicopters. I need that shit. What I don't need is these fuckers coming back home and telling people their glorious war stories about the one time they were outside the wire and found an IED or some stupid shit. That's if they ever left the wire. I also don't need people blowing shit out of proportion. By the way, if you ever hear someone say shit like "I still can't talk about this cause it's classified", that means they are totally full of fucking shit and are lying to your face. They people that actually work those classified missions won't even bring that shit up. The ones who talk about it non stop, are probably also full of shit. There are very few people who talk about it to people outside their circles. Some of us choose to talk about certain aspects so people understand us. I bring up a little bit and so does a friend and former Marine, Garrett Phillip Anderson. Here is his blog, go read it, he speaks the truth in a gut wrenching, heart breaking kind of way: http://garrett-anderson.blogspot.com/ . It's worth the read. You have to realize that some of us choose to write like this and expose ourselves to others because we want more people to understand the reality of war, service, and sacrifice.
This is another reason I'm pissed off today. Our government isn't doing nearly enough for our Vets. Too many are jobless, homeless, hopeless. Too many are taking their lives. Too many are suffering needlessly because the VA is fucking broken. So for you, my faithful reader, I ask that on this Veterans day rather than giving thanks or some random act of kindness like buying a vet coffee, to please write your Congressman and Senators expressing your outrage on the VA systematic failure, the slashing of Military benefits, and the overall treatment of veterans in general. Actions speak louder than words. The thank you's are nice but so much more needs to be done.
And with that, I'm out for the moment.
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