thedrifter
03-05-08, 08:28 AM
IRAQ: Float like a Basilone
If you're going to be around Marines, you better learn some Marine history. Otherwise, things will fly over your head.
Like the sign at the base outside Haqlaniyah: "Float Like A Basilone. Sting Like A Bullet."
That's Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, the New Jersey truck driver who was awarded the Medal of Honor for Guadalcanal. He was killed at Iwo Jima and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Marine recruits learn the Basilone story at boot camp. Weeks later, the gut-check called The Crucible is halted long enough for recruits to discuss Basilone as an example of the legacy they have inherited.
— Tony Perry at Haqlaniyah
Photo: Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery at Guadalcanal and the Navy Cross, posthumously, for Iwo Jima. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/images/2008/03/04/basilone_j.jpg
Ellie
If you're going to be around Marines, you better learn some Marine history. Otherwise, things will fly over your head.
Like the sign at the base outside Haqlaniyah: "Float Like A Basilone. Sting Like A Bullet."
That's Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, the New Jersey truck driver who was awarded the Medal of Honor for Guadalcanal. He was killed at Iwo Jima and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
Marine recruits learn the Basilone story at boot camp. Weeks later, the gut-check called The Crucible is halted long enough for recruits to discuss Basilone as an example of the legacy they have inherited.
— Tony Perry at Haqlaniyah
Photo: Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery at Guadalcanal and the Navy Cross, posthumously, for Iwo Jima. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/images/2008/03/04/basilone_j.jpg
Ellie