thedrifter
11-09-07, 07:10 AM
November 10 is a special day
By Charley Reese
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:34 PM CST
Nov. 10 is a special day. There will be celebrations literally in all the four corners of the world. It is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps, and Marines and their ladies will gather to mark it at formal Marine Corps balls, where circumstances permit.
While we non-Marines are not invited, all Americans ought to lift a glass on that date to toast the Marines. They are the finest military outfit in the world, and I say that as an Army guy.
No other service marks a person for life as the Marine Corps does. The old cliche “Once a Marine, always a Marine” is true.
The only other military outfit that I believe comes close to their professionalism and dedication as warriors is the French Foreign Legion.
As the war in Iraq grows more unpopular, I want to take this occasion to remind all Americans, especially those like me who oppose this war, not to repeat the mistake of the Vietnam War and blame the military.
The military only fights wars; it doesn't start them or choose them. The only villains in this war are the civilian politicians in Washington, D.C., and the civilian special-interest groups.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice makes it a court-martial offense for an active-duty member of the military to speak disrespectfully of the civilian superiors. That's in line with the American tradition, so valuable, that the civilian authority trumps the military.
That's one of the reasons that in our two centuries of existence, we've never had a military coup.
So don't blame the military men and women for not speaking out against the war. They can only do so, if they are so inclined, after they leave the service.
And don't confuse the political decisions to go to war, which is the subject of the debate here in the U.S., with the real war the military has to fight.
I've laughed sometimes when I hear pundits talk about the effect of criticism here on the troops over there. I don't think it has any effect at all. The troops engaged in combat are too busy trying to accomplish their mission and to stay alive to worry about what a bunch of chatter heads are saying in newspapers and on the radio and television.
Even a liberal society sometimes needs to be defended, and these young men and women are the ones who have volunteered to do that hard and difficult work. They have volunteered to face the filth, fatigue, fear, pain, blood and death of war, and in their minds, they are doing it for us and for each other.
We'd damn well better honor them. What a despicable people we would be if we failed in that duty.
At the same time, we have to realize that combat produces the most exclusive brotherhood in the human experience. Empathy, sympathy or intellectual understanding will not buy you a membership.
Everybody who has avoided combat is forever an outsider as far as the veterans who actually fought are concerned. That's because combat is the most intense, emotional and horrible experience a person can have.
If you weren't there, you will never really know what it's like. But just as it is the duty of the military to fight and win the wars the politicians send them to, it is our duty as civilians to make sure a bunch of civilian politicians do not waste the troops' lives in needless wars.
It is our responsibility to make sure the politicians don't send them into harm's way with inadequate or defective equipment.
It is our responsibility to make the politicians keep every single promise they make to these young people who raise their hands and take the oath.
To put it plainly, the military has never failed us. We have failed it by carelessly electing corrupt, stupid or ignorant politicians. We would be infinitely better off if only ex-Marines could run for public office.
It would be a novelty for this country to be run by men and women who are competent, honorable and always faithful. Happy birthday, Marines.
Write to Charley Reese at P.O. Box 2446, Orlando, FL 32802.
Ellie
By Charley Reese
Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:34 PM CST
Nov. 10 is a special day. There will be celebrations literally in all the four corners of the world. It is the birthday of the United States Marine Corps, and Marines and their ladies will gather to mark it at formal Marine Corps balls, where circumstances permit.
While we non-Marines are not invited, all Americans ought to lift a glass on that date to toast the Marines. They are the finest military outfit in the world, and I say that as an Army guy.
No other service marks a person for life as the Marine Corps does. The old cliche “Once a Marine, always a Marine” is true.
The only other military outfit that I believe comes close to their professionalism and dedication as warriors is the French Foreign Legion.
As the war in Iraq grows more unpopular, I want to take this occasion to remind all Americans, especially those like me who oppose this war, not to repeat the mistake of the Vietnam War and blame the military.
The military only fights wars; it doesn't start them or choose them. The only villains in this war are the civilian politicians in Washington, D.C., and the civilian special-interest groups.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice makes it a court-martial offense for an active-duty member of the military to speak disrespectfully of the civilian superiors. That's in line with the American tradition, so valuable, that the civilian authority trumps the military.
That's one of the reasons that in our two centuries of existence, we've never had a military coup.
So don't blame the military men and women for not speaking out against the war. They can only do so, if they are so inclined, after they leave the service.
And don't confuse the political decisions to go to war, which is the subject of the debate here in the U.S., with the real war the military has to fight.
I've laughed sometimes when I hear pundits talk about the effect of criticism here on the troops over there. I don't think it has any effect at all. The troops engaged in combat are too busy trying to accomplish their mission and to stay alive to worry about what a bunch of chatter heads are saying in newspapers and on the radio and television.
Even a liberal society sometimes needs to be defended, and these young men and women are the ones who have volunteered to do that hard and difficult work. They have volunteered to face the filth, fatigue, fear, pain, blood and death of war, and in their minds, they are doing it for us and for each other.
We'd damn well better honor them. What a despicable people we would be if we failed in that duty.
At the same time, we have to realize that combat produces the most exclusive brotherhood in the human experience. Empathy, sympathy or intellectual understanding will not buy you a membership.
Everybody who has avoided combat is forever an outsider as far as the veterans who actually fought are concerned. That's because combat is the most intense, emotional and horrible experience a person can have.
If you weren't there, you will never really know what it's like. But just as it is the duty of the military to fight and win the wars the politicians send them to, it is our duty as civilians to make sure a bunch of civilian politicians do not waste the troops' lives in needless wars.
It is our responsibility to make sure the politicians don't send them into harm's way with inadequate or defective equipment.
It is our responsibility to make the politicians keep every single promise they make to these young people who raise their hands and take the oath.
To put it plainly, the military has never failed us. We have failed it by carelessly electing corrupt, stupid or ignorant politicians. We would be infinitely better off if only ex-Marines could run for public office.
It would be a novelty for this country to be run by men and women who are competent, honorable and always faithful. Happy birthday, Marines.
Write to Charley Reese at P.O. Box 2446, Orlando, FL 32802.
Ellie