Our character as Marines is forged by our training, history and adherence to our core values.  From time to time as Marines, we come across situations where taking care of a Marine and adhering to our values takes on a special meaning; this is one of those times...

I was the S4 at the Basic School (TBS) and was tasked with overseeing the dedication of the new Infantry Officer’s Course building (IOC) in honor of a Korean War Medal of Honor recipient 1^st Lt Frank Mitchell.  Up to this point, I didn’t know anything about Lt Mitchell or the process of getting a government building named in honor of a war hero.  I was just informed that Lt Mitchell’s name was selected and I was to take charge of the dedication ceremony; I was handed a file with Lt Mitchell’s picture and the documents authorizing that the Infantry Officer’ building be named in honor of him. 

Lucy demonstrated her memory of the wolf the other day.

Lucy came to us from the pound - unwanted, betrayed, beaten-down, disrespected, unloved. She was a tightly wound ball of nervous. She looks like a black fox, except that her tail curls over her back. Wiry and muscular, timid, and very bright, she had a look in her eyes that spoke volumes to me. If Lucy didn't represent PTSD, nothing ever would.

When she was on the leash she walked like a lady. When we got her home, though, it took mere seconds for her to escape the fence. For the first weeks we had to tie a long string to her collar in order to catch her to come back in the house. She eventually figured out that I had no intention of eating her, and would cower in the corner of the yard until I could slip a collar and leash over her head. Once the collar was on, she was under my control, and acted appropriately.

And I see them when I least expect it, one wear a cap saying Vietnam Veteran, another might have a patch on a jacket saying Veteran of World War II or Korea. Many will have a patch saying "veteran" of the war they were part of. Another might seem like he is older than his years.

I remember as a 6 year old awaking in the middle of the night to screams in Spanish by a Marine, "Those carbon's napponese have broken through our lines! Get that SOB!!!" Then one my uncles went to that Marine and told him, "It's all right brother, you’re in my house, safe."

"Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot." - Biloxi Blues

But it wasn’t Biloxi. It was high summer at the Fort Benning Georgia rifle range. Being that we had no range of our own in MCLB Albany, the Marine Corps bought us a week of training time on the Army Base.

“Leave a place cleaner that you found it,” is one of our Corps’ principals. Someone blabbed and told the Army this, so they assigned us the nastiest barracks on the base. Before we even pulled our gear off the bus, we spent 3 hours squaring away our new home for the week. We would spend another 3 hours on field day before we left. Their barracks had never looked so good in twenty years.

Yes, I know he wasn't in the military. He wasn't actually Sgt Stryker on Iwo Jima. But he was John By-God Wayne.

I also like Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. While we're at it, include Gene Autry, Hoppy, The Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, Red Ryder, Superman, and all the others of their breed. They taught us to shoot straight. Roy and Dale taught us The Cowboy's Prayer. They taught us the difference between right and wrong. They taught us that " Truth, Justice, and the American way " are ideals to emulate.