View Full Version : Happy Birthday, Marines!!!
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thedrifter
11-03-02, 12:56 PM
Here is another one.......
Created by Doug Kidd..................
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GyG'sMailbag: From (Ahoy Marines) Marine Richard Roberts
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thedrifter
11-07-02, 01:37 PM
"Spirit" of the Corps
The ambush came as darkness fell.
It gave me my first glimpse of hell.
When I arose and looked around,
All my squad was hit and down.
"The Sarge" and "Pete" and "Doc's" down too!
But I knew what I had to do.
With my buddies gone, I was alone.
Returning fire, I was on my own.
My fighting hole was good and deep.
Oh! How I wished that I could sleep.
Then a man dropped over the parapet,
A young Marine, all lean and fit.
His uniform was clean and neat.
He dropped a bandolier at my feet.
"We heard your ammo was running low
So I volunteered to go."
How does he keep so squared away?
We've been in the boonies 15 days.
"I didn't see you coming," I quietly said.
"if you were 'Charlie,' I'd be dead."
"It was darker than this on Peking's wall.
There we had no moon at all.
If you need anything else, just say a prayer."
Then he was gone; I knew not where.
Peking's wall? Was I being goaded?
The hell with him. I locked and loaded.
As the sun rose, my mouth went dry.
God! Give me a drink before I die.
He came again, from where, who knows?
And dropped a canteen at my toes.
"I got so dry on Peleliu,
I'd have sold my soul for a drop or two.
Now make yourself a cup of joe,
And keep to cover; I've got to go."
Peleliu? What did he mean?
He surely was an odd Marine.
In the heat of day, I unzipped my vest.
A sniper's round hit me in the chest.
He was there again by my side,
Stopping the blood to save my hide.
"I was hurt worse than you
At a place in Korea they called Chonju."
I looked at him. How could that be?
This Marine looks younger than me.
"Word has just come down; you'll be OK.
A relief platoon is on its way.
They're humpin' hard, be here by noon.
A corpsman should be with you soon.
Good luck, Mac. No need to stay.
I'll see you on a better day.
Come see me when your job is done.
I stand first watch: Post Number One."
As he rose to go, he looked so old.
That's when I saw his wings unfold...
Robert D. Wenger
Sempers,
Roger
Happy Birthday Marines........
thedrifter
11-07-02, 02:32 PM
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.(Oct. 28, 2002) -- "There's always one, especially when it comes to Marine Corps Birthday Balls," said Sgt. Jamie M. Gambill.
"There's always one Marine who shows up halfway through the ceremony disturbing the traditions and solemnity it represents. There's always one Marine who has a little too much liquid courage and starts the drunken brawl outside. There's always one who doesn't understand why the uniform he wears matters so much to the retired guest speaker, whose limp is a symbol of service to the Corps," Gambill continued.
So as preparations begin for the Corps' 227th birthday celebration, Gambill, a 26-year-old squad leader with K Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, is teaching his junior Marines about proper etiquette for this year's event.
Along with uniform inspections, he is tutoring his new privates in the history of the ball and what to expect from the ceremony.
"I don't want to tell them too much, because it is a personal thing. The cutting of the cake should be special when you see it for the first time," said the Orlando, Fla., native.
After 28 years of celebrating the birthday, Sgt. Maj. Brian K. Pensak, Marine Corps Base sergeant major, said he feels problems occur due to lack of understanding.
"The Marine Corps birthday ball is probably the most formal social occasion Marines celebrate. At the same time, it's an opportunity for Marines to relax and enjoy each other's company," said the Encino, Calif., native. "I think what causes most Marines a problem is not understanding when it is appropriate to do one or the other."
While Pensak said he knows there are portions of the ceremony where it is acceptable to express motivation and enthusiasm, he feels Marines should venerate the ceremony's traditions and pride they are witnessing.
"There is a point when we should be remembering all the Marines who have gone before us for 227 years. That is a time to reflect, and then there is our time to party," said Pensak.
The sergeant major said he has his share of humorous situations from previous balls he has attended. While inappropriate behavior should be frowned upon, he still chuckles when recollecting stories.
"I think the funniest thing I ever saw at a Marine Corps birthday ball was when a young lieutenant walked on to the dance floor right after the guest of honor's speech and impromptu proposed to his fiancée. Most of us found it rather humorous, but the commanding officer of the unit was a little bit annoyed because it wasn't in the script," he explained.
Sergeant Greg Thomas, A Company, MCB, knows all about inappropriate behavior during a ball. While attending one at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island he remembers an English bulldog named "Iron Mike." As the depot mascot, Mike participated in the ceremony before sitting underneath the table next to his handler. As the ceremony continued, Mike snuggled his hind quarters against the legs of Thomas's wife, Mary, and loudly "let one rip." The Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., Marine said he can never hear General John A. Lejeune's birthday message without chuckling and recollecting the moment.
Pensak said he encourages everyone to attend his or her birthday ball celebration.
"The Marine Corps ball is as fun as you make it," said Pensak. "This could be the only ball you get to go to, so don't let the opportunity pass you by."
Sempers,
Roger
Lock-n-Load
11-07-02, 02:59 PM
The Semper Fidelis Society of Boston will celebrate this annual event in the Hynes Convention Center in downtown Boston 11Nov02...over 2000+ Marines will be in attendance...Happy Birthday Marines...WE deserve it!!!:thumbup: :thumbup:
thedrifter
11-07-02, 06:07 PM
If you are interested in sending out any e cards for the Marines Corps Birthday....make sure you stop by the Photo Gallery to see our selection......................
http://www.leatherneck.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=514&thumb=1
Sempers,
Roger
firstsgtmike
11-07-02, 07:33 PM
'Borrowed" from Sgt. Grit's newsletter.
Sgt. Grit,
In your newsletter of 24OCT02 (short rounds), it is stated that you are a Marine until you are dead.
The Marine Corps Hymn tells us that the streets of Heaven are guarded by United States Marines.
My son, PFC Vernon Whitman, is one of those guards.
If you get to heaven - it would not be in your best interest to tell him that he is not a Marine.
A proud Marine parent,
Paul Whitman HM1 (FMF) USN Retired
MILINET: SEMPER FI AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
To: SEMPER FI AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Happy birthday, United States Marine Corps
by Jim Wright, Senior Columnist of The Dallas Morning News
Sunday will be the 227th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, celebrated with pomp and ceremony around the world by Marines of all ages. There are no "ex-Marines," you see, only old Marines. The pomp and ceremony may be just the raising of a glass by a couple of graying guys who served together at Guadalcanal or Chosin or Khe Sanh, but the Old Corps tie binds.
It counts. The birthplace of the Corps was, to the delight of all of us later arrivals, a tavern - Tun Tavern. The outfit being recruited there would be naval infantry, soldiers of the sea. The idea of serving in such a group was so appealing that the barkeeper himself signed up as one of the Corps' first captains. Ever since, Marines often gather in the nearest tavern, bar or base slop chute to renew this venerable link with the past.
Every Marine boot learns these vital historical facts early at San Diego or Paris Island. Or Quantico, where officer candidates are wrung out by DIs holding advanced degrees in applied discipline from those other two garden spots. The history and traditions of the corps are the base of every Marine's psychological arsenal, "as much a part of his equipment as his pack, his rifle or his ammunition," to quote that bible of the Corps, the Guidebook for Marines. It's not just a corps, you see, it's a culture. Even today, in these times of ethical chaos and quick-change loyalties, the effects of total immersion in this culture remain constant.
They are immutable - they no doubt will be there when Marines are armed with ray guns, unchanged form the days of muzzle-loading rifles. It is a culture that works, and once you are in it, it lasts for a lifetime. The generation that went through boot camp in the early 1940s had just come through a grinding, nationwide depression. They weren't spoiled darlings - they are the best generation of this century, I think - and even these tough kids found the Corps a hard school.
But its lessons paid off for them in the Wold War II combat for which they were trained an in their later life as well. For one thing, the Corps demands that Marines tell the truth. Not some version of the truth that depends on what your definition of it is, or the politically correct truth in vogue today, or the truth that will make the listener happy, but the real truth as the Marine knows it.
This isn't trendy in this slick age, but when things get down and dirty, other Marines may have to bet their lives on what any Marine declares to be true. We aren't talking yarns, sea stories or bar talk but serious declarations of facts. A friend of mine, taking over a rifle platoon in Vietnam, reminded his people that he required the absolute truth from every man: "If you tell me the sky is brown, I'll believe you, but if you ever lie to me, you're dead meat." This Marine, Jim Webb, was secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration.
Campaign promises had been made to restore the 500-ship fleet, and when that promise wasn't kept, Jim Webb stood up and resigned in public protest. More recently, Scott Ritter, another old Marine heading the arms inspection team in Iraq, did the same thing - planted his feet, resigned in protest to Washington's corner-cutting and told Congress and the world why.
Marines, young or old, do that. Which may not make them popular in a society given to going along to get along, but it does mean when a Marine tells you the sky is brown, you pretty well can count on its being brown. T
o Marines, that matters. Another currently unfashionable attitude is embodied in the Marines' motto, "Semper Fidelis," always faithful. To their country and to other Marines. Marines know they can count on one another, know that no other Marine will sell them out, know that if they are wounded or surrounded, other Marines will strive, to the death if necessary, to come to their aid. Marines' bedrock principle of never abandoning their wounded has been demonstrated thousands of times in combat. And never more spectacularly than at Chosin in Korea.
Two regiments of the 1st Marine Division were cut off by a Red Chinese army in November 1950. Mao had ordered this army to wipe out the famed division. But the 5th and 7th Marines clenched rifle companies like a fist and punched through, as the 1st Marines fought their way in from the east.
A division against an army, but the army got shredded. The Marines marched to the sea, bringing all their wounded and equipment, plus thousands of survivors from units they rescued coming out. The Marines had destroyed four Chinese divisions and driven four more from combat. Many of these men still suffer pains every chilly day from frostbite suffered on the Chosin road. But then, now and for life, they are "proud to claim the title of United States Marine." As are we all.
Happy birthday, Marines. ==========
Semper Fidelis R.W. "Dick" Gaines GySgt USMC (Ret.) (1952-1972) *************** Gunny G's Old Salt Marines Tavern (Sites & Forums) http://www.angelfire.com/ca/dickg/gunny.html *************** Gunny G's Old Salt Marines Tavern (Forum) http://network54.com/Forum/135069 **************** The Best Way To Find Old Marine Corps Buddies! http://expage.com/friendsusmc
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