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usmc4669
03-02-04, 04:54 PM
I have seen and heard many times Marines blaming or saying that the Marine Corps is the reason that they drink, raise hell and fight. When I went in, the Marine Corps they taught me to respect others and self-respect for myself, dedication to my Marine Corps and country, responsibility, honor and pride of the uniform that I wore, and to protect my country at all cost. It taught me how to be a good Marine, to become a man. Not how to get drunk[./b]

[b]Anyone who brags about all of the gooks that they have killed in battle should take a good look in the mirror to see who they really are. Most Marines that I have met, not all, never talk about the ones that they have killed; my Marine son while in Panama with the FAST Company on training, the Company was told to get their gear and then taken to a bridge to defend, they were issued live ammo, they didn't understand at the time why they were being issued live ammo, until they were told that this is not a drill it is the real thing, Panama will be invaded by the United States and to guard the bridge and not let anyone pass. When a bunch of Panamanians came towards them with weapons my son on reflex shot and killed one of them, the other turn and ran away; was he proud for killing this person? You better not ask him that he would lay your ass out in a flash, no he wasn't, he did what he had to do from his training and damn near got court marshaled over it. To this day he won't talk about what he did in Panama that day and he has to live with this for the rest of his life, I am proud of my son for doing his duty, not for having to kill another person.

The Handbook for Marines that I was issued never had instructions on how to drink, raise hell, attack others while on liberty, rape woman, destroy private property, belittle the other services, (yes we would any chance we got try to get their goat) and act as if we were God.

This is not to put anyone down, some of you may take offence please don't, it is not intended to offend anyone.

Semper Fi and OOHRAH to all Marines past and present.

HardJedi
03-02-04, 06:12 PM
very well written. I applaud your post. Although, to be fair, I did see more drinking and fighting in the Corps than anywhere else in my life. We just didn't glorify it.

tophor
03-02-04, 09:41 PM
OOORAH USMC4669!!! That was well written as already stated. I saw a few fights and a lot of drinking also, but the one's drinking always knew how to conduct themselves, even though they were pretty well gone, and if they started to get out of line there was always those of us that were not intoxicated, to keep them in line. The excuse that you are a Marine gives no one the right to act like a complete fool whether drunk or not.

greybeard
03-03-04, 06:33 AM
The GOD-Country-Corps trinity molded me as a young man , and I have followed it since I was 18. It has never failed me, tho I have at times failed it. We are Marine, but we are also human.

Lock-n-Load
03-03-04, 10:23 AM
:marine:Here's a look at the other side of these opinions...in 1991, through the Board of Directors of the 1st Marine Div Assoc led by [then] Chaplain, Dennis O'Brien, he petitioned all 14,000 members to start leaving written accounts, oral histories, etc of what their Marine Corps years meant to them...even if only to the family legacy...to bequeath expressed and supressed tales, seastories to live after they expire...99% of American servicemen take their unspoken military careers to the grave...our countrymen want to know how it was from the ground up in wartime or other armed conflicts...I applaud the visionary of our Board of Directors of the 1st Marine Division Association...not only is it historical...but also therapeutic to the contributor...try it, Marines...silence may be golden but you sail all alone...there is a new wind blowning in American history that is much needed....and long overdo from the silent type...spurred on by Chaplain, Dennis O'Brien, a plethora of new Marine authors have been published since 1991 and ushered front and center and God knows how many more Marine family members now realize what their Marine fathers, brothers/sisters had accomplished hitherto unexpressed...it has a salubratory and positive effect on the Marine families and there offsprings for generations to come...it is not bragging; moreso, just the unvarnished truth openly expressed... get off the couch...start joining your Marine Divisional Associations and get informed about how essential you were in your halycon days of yore...times are changing and time waits for no one. Semper Fi:marine: