Happy Birthday, Flying Leatherneck Edition

That is all.

Semper Fi

A Marine presents arms during the Rolling Thunder XXIII

Of Interest to Every Marine

A letter to Marines from a Marine on the USMC in Iraq.

Click to enlarge.

H/T, Theo Spark

2 Presidents, One Marine Corps

I think the departure is the bigger 'tell'. And unlike the video caption, I don't think the Marines are any different...

12 Days of Christmas - USMC Style

Via Mudville Gazette comes this best ever rendition of the familiar 12 Days of Christmas from Falujah, Iraq. This was put together and posted to YouTube by a Marine named Nick Hesselgrave. Here are his notes from YouTube. Check out the rest of his stuff.

1st Battallion 4th Marines, Bravo Company 3rd Platoon. Out of ECP1 in Fallujah, Iraq. We would like to thank everyone who has supported us through the first half of our deployment. This project was a challenge for me but in the end quite worth it. Merry Christmas everyone! -Nick Hesselgrave

1- full resupply of TP
2- megafones
3- crappy humvees
4- portajohns
5- hours of sleep
6- rusty dumbells
7- months deployment
8- IPs(iraqi police) dancing
9- sentries standing
10- hours posting
11- bags of trash
12- freakin' flies!

23 October, 1983

The Reagans pay final respect to US Marines from Beirut

I am a day late in observing the 25th anniversary of the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut.

The global war on terror started, in my opinion, when the Iranians occupied our embassy in Tehran. The Iranians continued their war against us - including this attack in 1983. We cut and run. Reagan should have gone after the Hezbos then and there. Instead we reinforced the lessons the terrorists learned when they took our diplomats hostage: Terrorism works, or at least is low risk. The list of subsequent terror attacks in Lebanon and around the world culminated with 9-11.

25 years ago today I was in Air Force basic training at Lackland AFB. I was near the end of basic, and allowed the minor freedom of going to a recreation center for Coke and junk food. Several Marines where there. And a television. And idiot talking heads. I was mad. As I commented elsewhere:

...and for the first time in my life I saw barely contained Righteous Fury. It wouldn't be too long before I really understood the combination of anger (at the attacker and "higher ups") and the twinge of 'survivor guilt' (an unreasonable emotion if you've done your duty, but if you do your duty you're more likely to feel it, in my opinion).

We continue to honor their memory, even as many have forgotten, and would treat with their murderers "without pre-condition".

We cut and run then, and it brought us 18 years of grief. Soon our nation will elect Barack Obama president. You do the math.