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Happy Birthday, Marines


I must confess, this seeming traditional post is more for Neighbor Tim than any particular fondness for this branch of the military.  I am not a Marine, although I play one at Papa's Daycare.  My father was Navy, my son, son-in-law, and nephew were Army.

I was a 70's hippy still convinced that the student protests ended the Vietnam war, not Nixon.  When my time came for the draft, luckily, I didn't have to decide between dying in Khe-san or living in Saskatchewan.  My number came up 186, and so, I could continue being a student, hippy, and protester.  I always wonder what I would have done.  Either choice would ahev een courageous and potentially tragic. 

 Today is the birthday for the Marine Corps.  If memory serves I only know one, I'm sorry to say.  But if all are as gentlemanly, polite, raucous, funny, and loyal as he, then it is, indeed, an admirable branch.  

 For over 221 years our Corps has done two things for this great Nation. We make Marines, and we win battles. Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC (CMC); 5 May 1997

 Do not attack the First Marine Division. Leave the yellowlegs alone. Strike the American Army. Orders given to Communist troops in the Korean War;
shortly afterward, the Marines were ordered
to not wear their khaki leggings. 

 I am convinced that there is no smarter, handier, or more adaptable body of troops in the world. Prime Minister of Britain, Sir Winston Churchhill

 You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth- and the amusing thing about it is that they are. Father Kevin Keaney
1st Marine Division Chaplain
Korean War 

 Courage is endurance for one moment more… Unknown Marine Second Lieutenant in Vietnam 

 I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold. 1stLt. Clifton B. Cates, USMC
in Belleau Wood, 19 July 1918 

 There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion. Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army 

 Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?
GySgt. Daniel J. "Dan" Daly, USMC
near Lucy-`le-Bocage as he led the 5th Marines' attack into Belleau Wood, 6 June 1918 

 They told (us) to open up the Embassy, or "we'll blow you away." And then they looked up and saw the Marines on the roof with these really big guns, and they said in Somali, "Igaralli ahow," which means "Excuse me, I didn't mean it, my mistake". Karen Aquilar, in the U.S. Embassy; Mogadishu, Somalia, 1991 

 The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps! Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, 1945   

 I'm going to do my best to meet up with that Marine soon, and maybe have a beer, toast the Corps and say thanks.  

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