Here's What They're Saying About Gung Ho Marines - U.S. Marine ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Commandant’s Birthday Message For ten years now, our Corps has been engaged in continuous combat operations against those who threaten the security of America and our allies. We turned the tide in the Anbar Province of Iraq and continue to see success today in Southwest Afghanistan. While it has come at a cost, we have much to be proud of. This past year in operations around the world including Humanitarian Disaster Relief, Counter-Piracy, Theater Security cooperation, Special Operations, Counter-Insurgency and many more, you continued to solidify our place as America’s expeditionary force in readiness. Since the Continental Congress created two battalions of Marines 236 years ago, our legacy as an ever-ready, ever-capable, victory producing organization remains intact. Our rich heritage of selfless service and fidelity to nation and to one another lives on in all who currently wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor—those who have answered the clarion call to duty with remarkable courage, dedication and unshakable resolve that Marines are so well known for. To all Marines—past and present—and especially to our families. . .I extend my deep gratitude for all you have done and all you continue to do. As we celebrate our 236 th birthday, let us look forward to future challenges, whatever they may be, and reaffirm our pledge to be America’s premier crisis response force; to be the first to fight. . . always ready for the toughest and most challenging assignments. Happy Birthday Marines and Semper Fidelis. James F. Amos, General U.S. Marine Corps Commandant of the Marine Corps Marines, As we celebrate this day, please pause and remember the ones from the oldest of battles to the most recent that gave the ultimate sacrifice that created and added to the legacy of the Finest Fighting Force this world has ever seen; the United States Marine Corps! It is an honor to call you all my Marine Brothers and Sisters and may God continue to bless you, your family, Our Corps, and the Greatest Nation on this earth, the United States of America! Semper Fidelis Joe Marine Marine Always Do You Want to Share Your Memories, Pictures, and Stories? MAIL CALL We are always interested in your stories and news items. Send, or preferably e-mail your Word document or .jpg picture to the Patch Editor: Jack Miller, 102 Colonial Drive, Meridianville, AL 35759 or jack.miller@smdc.army.mil. We’ll use as space permits and as appropriate. Pictures and original documents will be returned to sender upon request. “The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” General Douglas MacArthur 5
Thou Shalt Not Liberate By L.W. Hoke It is not an unheard of thing that men will steal, given the universal corruption of humanity and the irradiating toxicity of want without work. It was with great relief that I learned from the Marine who introduced me to the Corps that Marines don’t steal. But very soon I learned the further truth that, though stealing is definitely wrong, liberation is an honorable thing. Therefore, the things that I relate to you in this story are tales of the liberation of the things that we wanted and/or needed or that we liberated just for the hell of it. What spurred this activity to a fever pitch was our officers telling us that, in the process of carrying out our mission, stealing was urged as our mission was the all important consideration. Therefore we all took a latitudinarian interpretation of this erroneous order and began to pillage freely, but not from each other as this could result in fisticuffs which none but the Irish really wanted. Just out of boot camp and in Raider training at the infamous camp three, we tested this command when my friend lost his helmet and he went to the sergeant asking what could be done about it. The sergeant answered that query by reminding my friend that the liberation order was still in force and he should go and liberate another helmet. This comment brought his Irish blood up and he stole . . . that is liberated the sergeant’s own helmet and lined up the next day fully equipped. The sergeant, of course, had on a new helmet that morning and on the back of it was written, and this is a word for word quote: ―Whoever steals this helmet has my ass to whip, large or small‖. He did not, however contest my friend’s new helmet. This innocent start into the evils of liberation finally reached its climax several months later aboard the President Polk anchored in the channel just off Espirito Santo, New Hebrides, where we had our first South Pacific camp. The Polk, being a President Line ship, had lost most of the accouterments of peacetime cruising, but even in war paint she still had a few of the vestiges of refinement. One that immediately caught our eye was a small piano in the ship’s recreation room. Along with many other unusual characters in our battalion, there was a jazz piano player of some renown and he lusted strongly after 6 the piano. The thought, the lust for music, and the presence of a liberatable piano occurred at the same time and plans were laid to bring this prize to our camp. Soon a group of honorable men were assembled, including, I am told our Chaplain. The operation began in the dark of the tropic night. First the piano would have to be removed from its moorings, carried down the gangway, deposited aboard a landing craft, landed on a coral beach and carried into camp. The difficulty of this operation never entered our heads, but consider these factors: the distance from the deck to the water was about seventy feet; the gangway was narrow, steep and wobbly; the landing craft was hard to enter from a gangway even without a heavy piano. The water was deep in the channel and there were men aboard the ship on watch all the time. Four chosen men boarded the ship, uprooted the piano, carried it down the gangway amid rills of music when the keyboard was brushed, brought it into camp and soon jazz music wafted through the night. Aboard the ship the missing piano was soon noticed by the intrepid Merchant Marine sailors, and I can only imagine the fury of the Captain when this news reached him. The Merchant Marine Sailors were a brave lot and they suffered more casualties during the war than any of the other services, including the Marine Corps. They did, however, get home every few months, had very good food and worked under union rules and pay, so we respected, hated, and envied them at the same time. A captain on the high seas enjoys sovereignty more powerful than any other officer that I know of and his every whim constitutes an order. He ordered the piano returned at once in a testy communication with Jimmy Roosevelt, our commanding officer, who being the President’s son had considerable sovereignty of his own. Nevertheless, word rattled down the chain of command till it reached us demanding that we return the piano. Preparations were made at once to return the piano and this was carried out in the proud, haughty manner of Marines and the story went down in the annals of Marine Scuttlebutt never to be forgotten, as evidenced by this sixty year old memory. Jarhead
Page 2 and 3: President & Director Lynn Dix (Hon
Page 4 and 5: New Members ASHTON, Richard Sgt. Ma
Page 8 and 9: 2011 San Diego Raider Association R
Page 10 and 11: This past August a small group of A
Page 12 and 13: ROLL OF HONOR (As of Nov. 1, 2011)
Page 14 and 15: ROSEN, Richard A. (1B) 26 Dec 1995,
Page 16 and 17: Ralph Shaeffer WWII Marine Raider A
Page 18 and 19: Phone: 623-546-3335 • Fax: 623-54
Page 20: United States Marine Raider Associa

Here's What They're Saying About Gung Ho Marines - U.S. Marine ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?