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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20380
From: Commandant of the Marine Corps
To: All General Officers and All Commanding OfficersActive and Reserve
Subj: Marines Don’t Do That
1. Early this month I received the following note from a distinguished friend:
The history of the United States Marines is nothing if not colorful. From the Mexican War to the Battle of France to the Chosin Reservoir, Marines have earned respect as fighting men. At times the mere presence of Marines has been enough to bring the peace.
Sgt. Grit:
In your April 15th Newsletter both you and Cpl Itchmo reminisced about the stories of John Wayne and several of his movies, particularly True Grit (where you got the "moniker" that has stood you in good stead all these years), Sands of Iwo Jima and Flying Leathernecks. I'm sure you two were among the many that were so "influenced" by the John Wayne Marine portrayals that became the "driving force" fulfilling your desires to become United States Marines.
“To err is human, to forgive is divine. Neither, however, is Marine Corps policy.” It is this tenacity that anchors the Corps and upsets the weaklings of the Clinton administration.
Sara Lister, assistant secretary of the Army, was forced into early retirement after characterizing US Marines as dangerous ‘extremists’ wearing bizarre uniforms. Laugh at the fashion reference thrown into an otherwise serious debate, but she was absolutely correct! In fact, it was this dangerous, patriotic extremism that powered the Marines at Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, Chosin Reservoir, and Hue City.
A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. “Your son is here,” she said to the old man. She had to repeat several times before the patient’s eyes opened. Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young man in the Marine Corps uniform standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man’s limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit alongside the bed. Nights are long in hospitalsbut all through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man’s hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. He refused.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was God. In the beginning was God and all else was darkness and void, and without form, so God created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun and the moon, and the stars, so that light might pierce the darkness. The Earth, God divided between the land and the sea and these He filled with many assorted creatures.
“Marines are about the most peculiar breed of human beings, I have ever witnessed. They treat their service as if it were some kind of cult, plastering their emblem on almost everything they own, making themselves up to look like insane fanatics with haircuts to ungentlemanly lengths, worshipping their Commandant almost as if he were a god, and making weird animal noises like a band of savages. They’ll fight like rabid dogs at the drop of a hat just for the sake of a little action, and are the cockiest sons of bitches I have ever known. Most have the foulest mouths and drink well beyond man’s normal limits, but their high spirits and sense of brotherhood set them apart and, generally speaking, the United States Marines I’ve come in contact with are the most professional soldiers and the finest men I have ever had the pleasure to meet.”
The USMC is over 219 years of romping, stomping, hell, death and destruction. The finest fighting machine the world has ever seen. We were born in a bomb crater, our mother was an M-16 and our father was the devil.
Each moment that I live is an additional threat upon your life. I am a rough looking, roving soldier of the sea. I am cocky, self-centered, overbearing, and I do not know the meaning of fear, for I am fear itself. I am a green, amphibious monster made of blood and guts who arose from the sea, festering on anti-Americans throughout the globe. Whenever it may arise, and when my time comes, I will die a glorious death on the battle field, giving my life to mom, the Corps, and the American flag.
In December of 1998, a Marine officer relayed a story told by Lt.Gen. Tommy R. Franks, who commands the 3rd U.S. Army and U.S. Army Forces Central Command:
“After all the briefs, the general ended the meeting relating a visit he made with the American ambassador to (Battalion Landing Team) 2/4 today, just hours after the accident,” the officer wrote. “The general reminded the assembled officers that Marines live in holes and don’t have a house to live in like ‘heavy forces.’ No tank or lots of tents to sleep in. They carry their ‘house’ on their back and they live in fighting holes. Although the Marines had just lost a buddy (in a humvee accident), their spirit was ‘uplifting’.
To the Mothers and the Fathers
Of United States Marines
Who have fought and bled and died
So that freedom?s bell still rings
From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
From the alleys of Fallujah
To the frozen Yudam-ni
From the sands of Iwo Jima
To the hills around Khe Sanh
From the smoky hell of Belleau Woods
Your Son fought and won