thedrifter
07-12-03, 08:19 AM
Our HILARIOUS HEROES: THEM U.S. MARINES!
>
> by CMDR. WILLIAM J. LEDERER, USN
>
> Cocky, tough, and unpredictable, they're
> professional soldiers-and proud of it!
>
> EVERYONE ASKS, "How the heck
> do the Marines get that way?
> What is it that makes them such
> good troops?"
>
> I tried to find the answer in mili-
> tary textbooks. No luck there. So I
> went into the field and started ask-
> ing around.
>
> When the 1st Provisional Marine
> Brigade was getting ready to em-
> bark for Korea, I put the question
> bluntly to a group of them in front
> of a recruiting station. "Hey, how
> come you guys've got such a good
> reputation?"
>
> The veterans in the crowd didn't
> answer. But a beardless kid without
> any ribbons spoke up. "Mister," he
> said crisply, "we're respected be-
> cause we're professionals."
>
> "What do you mean?"
>
> "I'll show you," he said, leading
> me inside.
>
> On the Army bulletin board
> hung a clipping from a recent mag-
> azine, "Join the New U. S. Army
> and Be Treated Like a Gentleman."
>
> "So?" I asked. "What's that got
> to do with the Marines?"
>
> The kid winked and dragged me
> to the Navy section. Here a poster
> showed a destroyer cutting the
> waves. It said: "Join the Navy and
> See the World."
>
> Next he took me to an Air Force
> recruiting ad. A handsome aviator
> with gleaming medals smiled from
> the wall. The caption said some-
> thing about joining the Air Force
> for a career and promotion.
>
> "Now," said the young Marine,
> "look at our poster."
>
> At the Marine office there hung
> no printed matter at all. But there
> was a crudely painted picture of a
> red, hairy, doubled-up fist. Under
> it were splattered these words:
>
> "You're not good enough to be a
> Marine!"
>
> "See?" said the fuzzy-faced pri-
> vate. "We don't fool around with
> mama's boys or kids who need
> their noses wiped or guys looking
> for a home or a cheap vacation.
> The Marines are professional fight-
> ers. If the recruit can't 'take it and
> dish it out,' he isn't going to make
> the grade."
>
> I've heard this talk of "being
> pros" on posts all over the world.
> And the longer a Marine stays in
> service, the more firmly he seems to
> believe that either you're a pro-
> fessional fighter or a dead one.
> There's no place for amateurs.
>
> After World War II, the Marines-
> came into the debate about how-
> Germany should be occupied. Duty
> in a conquered country offers many
> temptations to troops; the unsettled
> conditions often taint men and
> make them soft.
>
> John McCloy suggested to Con-
> gressman Vinson that it might be a
> good idea to expand the Marines
> and have them act as occupation
> troops. Vinson, in turn, sent for
> General Vandegrift, then comman-
> dant of the Marine Corps.
>
> "Well, General," said Congress-
> man Vinson, explaining the propo-
> sition, "how would the Corps like
> to be expanded to 750,000 men?"
>
> "Sir," replied the General, "that's
> impossible."
>
> "Oh, I believe Congress would
> enact the legislation."
>
> "But, sir," said General Vande-
> grift, "that has nothing to do with
> it. There aren't 750,000 men in the
> United States who are good enough
> to be Marines!"
>
> The Marines don't advertise how
> unique is their breed, or how tough
> and well-trained they are. Still,
> they have an uncanny way of dem-
> onstrating it to anyone who may
> have doubts.
>
> In Korea, some British Com-
> mandos, who aren't exactly sissies,
> joined up with the Marines. There
> had been a lot of talk about which
> group was the most rugged.
>
> One night, two Commandos and
> two Marines were isolated in a fox-
> hole forward of the main lines. At
> dawn one Commando said: "We're
> surrounded by a couple of hundred
> enemy in the hills. Are you blokes
> ready to attack?"
>
> The other Commando replied,
> "I'm ready, matey, but what about
> these Yankee Marines? Think they
> can keep up the pace?"
>
> One of the Marines stuck his
> head out of the foxhole to look
> around. An enemy bullet at the
> end of its trajectory landed in his
> mouth, knocking out two teeth.
>
> "Blimey!" said a Commando,
> "you caught it with your teeth!"
>
> The Marine casually removed
> the bullet from his mouth. "I don't
> make a practice of it," he said,
> "but it's a quick way of estimating
> range. The gooks are about 500
> yards off. Let's wait till they get
> closer before attacking. Then we
> can use bayonets."
The other Marine looked disgust-
> ed. "You clumsy dope," he growled,
> "if you'd rolled with it like they
> taught us at Parris Island, you
> wouldn't have lost those teeth."
>
> When I was in Pusan, I asked a
> Marine major, "Why are the Ma-
> rines so good?"
>
> "We get along okay," he replied,
> "because we've got discipline."
>
> "What do you mean, discipline?"
>
> "Well," he said," there's the apoc-
> ryphal story of the Marine lieu-
> tenant who operates a rest camp. A
> company of battle-weary Marines a
> came down from up north for a
> couple of days of relaxing.
>
> "That night, about 2 A.M., it was
> cold, and the lieutenant sat in his
> jeep smoking and just keeping his
> eyes on things. Suddenly he was
> startled by a woman's scream. A
> girl with no clothes on ran from
> one of the houses with a Marine in
> pursuit. He wasn't in full uniform.
>
> "The girl raced past the jeep.
> The Marine was gaining on her,
> but when he reached the lieuten-
> ant's jeep, he stopped and saluted.
>
> "That," said the major, "is dis-
> cipline."
>
> When I stopped laughing, I said,
> "What did the lieutenant do?"
>
> "Do?" said the Major, surprised.
> "I don't know. But my guess is he
> did what any self-respecting officer
> would do. He returned the salute
> and said, 'Hey, Marine, that babe's
> got a head start on you. You better
> take the jeep!' "
>
> IN SPITE OF their hilarious antics,
> the Marines sometimes try to give
> the impression of being a mousy lit-
> tle outfit, devoid of color and famous
> "characters."
>
> One of their greats was Gunnery
> Sergeant Dan Daly. As an enlisted
> man he won two Medals of Honor,
> the Navy Cross, the Distinguished
> Service Cross, and three French
> decorations. And all these while he
> was still alive!
Daly was the firebrand who led
> his platoon into a hazardous posi-
> tion in Belleau Wood, shouting,
> "C'mon, you SOBs! Do you want
> to live forever!"
>
> This battle cry became known all
> over the world, and when Daly ar-
> rived in Paris the press besieged
> him with interviews. "How," asked
> a reporter, "did you think up your
> wonderful command?"
>
> "What command?" said Daly.
>
> "C'mon, you SOBs! Do you want
> to live forever!"
>
> Daly's face lighted with what is
> known as baby-faced disdain. Then
> very earnestly he said: "Do you
> think that a Marine noncommis-
> sioned officer would use such bad
> language to the men under him?
> What I really said was, 'For good-
> ness sake, you chaps, let us advance
> against the foe!' "
>
> Being an organization of indi-
> vidualists, the Marines have an in-
> ternal loyalty unknown to other
> normal units. But loyalty is some-
> thing they never discuss. In fact,
> Marines speak of other Marines in
> terms of cynical contempt.
I heard two sergeants discussing
> a colonel who was on the staff of
> the Secretary of the Navy.
>
> "Him?" said one of the sergeants
> upon hearing the colonel's name.
> "I know that slopehead."
>
> "Yeh?"
>
> "We were at Peleliu together."
>
> "What'd he do?"
>
> "Oh, the joker got the idea that
> a wounded guy laying in front of a
> Nip cave should be rescued. And
> the dumb buzzard felt that he was
> the only guy in the outfit to do the
> job. They just don't come any stu-
> pider than the colonel."
>
> "What happened?"
>
> "The knucklehead runs out to
> rescue the wounded guy. About ev-
> ery Jap in the island was shooting
> at him. But he made it by luck.
> After dark he dragged me back."
> "It was you he rescued?"
> "Yeh, the dumb cluck!"
The one thing all Marines accept
> is that their only function is to fight
> for the United States and the Ma-
> rine Corps. Even the lady Marines
> catch the spirit. (Don't mention
> "lady Marine" to their face. "Don't
> call me that," one told me. "I'm
> just a plain ornery Marine!")
>
> After the normal indoctrination,
> a group of Marines (female) were
> sent out to watch combat troops in
> maneuvers. After this, one of the
> Leathernecks (female) was handed
> a flame thrower. She strapped it on
> and let loose an arc of flame. Then
> she said, "Isn't there any place on
> this gadget to fix a bayonet?"
>
> MARINE OFFICERS generally are re-
> garded as guys who have had
> more experience and know more
> soldiering than enlisted men. As of
> this day, 87.5 per cent of the officers
> on active duty in the Corps have
> served as enlisted men.
continued......
>
> by CMDR. WILLIAM J. LEDERER, USN
>
> Cocky, tough, and unpredictable, they're
> professional soldiers-and proud of it!
>
> EVERYONE ASKS, "How the heck
> do the Marines get that way?
> What is it that makes them such
> good troops?"
>
> I tried to find the answer in mili-
> tary textbooks. No luck there. So I
> went into the field and started ask-
> ing around.
>
> When the 1st Provisional Marine
> Brigade was getting ready to em-
> bark for Korea, I put the question
> bluntly to a group of them in front
> of a recruiting station. "Hey, how
> come you guys've got such a good
> reputation?"
>
> The veterans in the crowd didn't
> answer. But a beardless kid without
> any ribbons spoke up. "Mister," he
> said crisply, "we're respected be-
> cause we're professionals."
>
> "What do you mean?"
>
> "I'll show you," he said, leading
> me inside.
>
> On the Army bulletin board
> hung a clipping from a recent mag-
> azine, "Join the New U. S. Army
> and Be Treated Like a Gentleman."
>
> "So?" I asked. "What's that got
> to do with the Marines?"
>
> The kid winked and dragged me
> to the Navy section. Here a poster
> showed a destroyer cutting the
> waves. It said: "Join the Navy and
> See the World."
>
> Next he took me to an Air Force
> recruiting ad. A handsome aviator
> with gleaming medals smiled from
> the wall. The caption said some-
> thing about joining the Air Force
> for a career and promotion.
>
> "Now," said the young Marine,
> "look at our poster."
>
> At the Marine office there hung
> no printed matter at all. But there
> was a crudely painted picture of a
> red, hairy, doubled-up fist. Under
> it were splattered these words:
>
> "You're not good enough to be a
> Marine!"
>
> "See?" said the fuzzy-faced pri-
> vate. "We don't fool around with
> mama's boys or kids who need
> their noses wiped or guys looking
> for a home or a cheap vacation.
> The Marines are professional fight-
> ers. If the recruit can't 'take it and
> dish it out,' he isn't going to make
> the grade."
>
> I've heard this talk of "being
> pros" on posts all over the world.
> And the longer a Marine stays in
> service, the more firmly he seems to
> believe that either you're a pro-
> fessional fighter or a dead one.
> There's no place for amateurs.
>
> After World War II, the Marines-
> came into the debate about how-
> Germany should be occupied. Duty
> in a conquered country offers many
> temptations to troops; the unsettled
> conditions often taint men and
> make them soft.
>
> John McCloy suggested to Con-
> gressman Vinson that it might be a
> good idea to expand the Marines
> and have them act as occupation
> troops. Vinson, in turn, sent for
> General Vandegrift, then comman-
> dant of the Marine Corps.
>
> "Well, General," said Congress-
> man Vinson, explaining the propo-
> sition, "how would the Corps like
> to be expanded to 750,000 men?"
>
> "Sir," replied the General, "that's
> impossible."
>
> "Oh, I believe Congress would
> enact the legislation."
>
> "But, sir," said General Vande-
> grift, "that has nothing to do with
> it. There aren't 750,000 men in the
> United States who are good enough
> to be Marines!"
>
> The Marines don't advertise how
> unique is their breed, or how tough
> and well-trained they are. Still,
> they have an uncanny way of dem-
> onstrating it to anyone who may
> have doubts.
>
> In Korea, some British Com-
> mandos, who aren't exactly sissies,
> joined up with the Marines. There
> had been a lot of talk about which
> group was the most rugged.
>
> One night, two Commandos and
> two Marines were isolated in a fox-
> hole forward of the main lines. At
> dawn one Commando said: "We're
> surrounded by a couple of hundred
> enemy in the hills. Are you blokes
> ready to attack?"
>
> The other Commando replied,
> "I'm ready, matey, but what about
> these Yankee Marines? Think they
> can keep up the pace?"
>
> One of the Marines stuck his
> head out of the foxhole to look
> around. An enemy bullet at the
> end of its trajectory landed in his
> mouth, knocking out two teeth.
>
> "Blimey!" said a Commando,
> "you caught it with your teeth!"
>
> The Marine casually removed
> the bullet from his mouth. "I don't
> make a practice of it," he said,
> "but it's a quick way of estimating
> range. The gooks are about 500
> yards off. Let's wait till they get
> closer before attacking. Then we
> can use bayonets."
The other Marine looked disgust-
> ed. "You clumsy dope," he growled,
> "if you'd rolled with it like they
> taught us at Parris Island, you
> wouldn't have lost those teeth."
>
> When I was in Pusan, I asked a
> Marine major, "Why are the Ma-
> rines so good?"
>
> "We get along okay," he replied,
> "because we've got discipline."
>
> "What do you mean, discipline?"
>
> "Well," he said," there's the apoc-
> ryphal story of the Marine lieu-
> tenant who operates a rest camp. A
> company of battle-weary Marines a
> came down from up north for a
> couple of days of relaxing.
>
> "That night, about 2 A.M., it was
> cold, and the lieutenant sat in his
> jeep smoking and just keeping his
> eyes on things. Suddenly he was
> startled by a woman's scream. A
> girl with no clothes on ran from
> one of the houses with a Marine in
> pursuit. He wasn't in full uniform.
>
> "The girl raced past the jeep.
> The Marine was gaining on her,
> but when he reached the lieuten-
> ant's jeep, he stopped and saluted.
>
> "That," said the major, "is dis-
> cipline."
>
> When I stopped laughing, I said,
> "What did the lieutenant do?"
>
> "Do?" said the Major, surprised.
> "I don't know. But my guess is he
> did what any self-respecting officer
> would do. He returned the salute
> and said, 'Hey, Marine, that babe's
> got a head start on you. You better
> take the jeep!' "
>
> IN SPITE OF their hilarious antics,
> the Marines sometimes try to give
> the impression of being a mousy lit-
> tle outfit, devoid of color and famous
> "characters."
>
> One of their greats was Gunnery
> Sergeant Dan Daly. As an enlisted
> man he won two Medals of Honor,
> the Navy Cross, the Distinguished
> Service Cross, and three French
> decorations. And all these while he
> was still alive!
Daly was the firebrand who led
> his platoon into a hazardous posi-
> tion in Belleau Wood, shouting,
> "C'mon, you SOBs! Do you want
> to live forever!"
>
> This battle cry became known all
> over the world, and when Daly ar-
> rived in Paris the press besieged
> him with interviews. "How," asked
> a reporter, "did you think up your
> wonderful command?"
>
> "What command?" said Daly.
>
> "C'mon, you SOBs! Do you want
> to live forever!"
>
> Daly's face lighted with what is
> known as baby-faced disdain. Then
> very earnestly he said: "Do you
> think that a Marine noncommis-
> sioned officer would use such bad
> language to the men under him?
> What I really said was, 'For good-
> ness sake, you chaps, let us advance
> against the foe!' "
>
> Being an organization of indi-
> vidualists, the Marines have an in-
> ternal loyalty unknown to other
> normal units. But loyalty is some-
> thing they never discuss. In fact,
> Marines speak of other Marines in
> terms of cynical contempt.
I heard two sergeants discussing
> a colonel who was on the staff of
> the Secretary of the Navy.
>
> "Him?" said one of the sergeants
> upon hearing the colonel's name.
> "I know that slopehead."
>
> "Yeh?"
>
> "We were at Peleliu together."
>
> "What'd he do?"
>
> "Oh, the joker got the idea that
> a wounded guy laying in front of a
> Nip cave should be rescued. And
> the dumb buzzard felt that he was
> the only guy in the outfit to do the
> job. They just don't come any stu-
> pider than the colonel."
>
> "What happened?"
>
> "The knucklehead runs out to
> rescue the wounded guy. About ev-
> ery Jap in the island was shooting
> at him. But he made it by luck.
> After dark he dragged me back."
> "It was you he rescued?"
> "Yeh, the dumb cluck!"
The one thing all Marines accept
> is that their only function is to fight
> for the United States and the Ma-
> rine Corps. Even the lady Marines
> catch the spirit. (Don't mention
> "lady Marine" to their face. "Don't
> call me that," one told me. "I'm
> just a plain ornery Marine!")
>
> After the normal indoctrination,
> a group of Marines (female) were
> sent out to watch combat troops in
> maneuvers. After this, one of the
> Leathernecks (female) was handed
> a flame thrower. She strapped it on
> and let loose an arc of flame. Then
> she said, "Isn't there any place on
> this gadget to fix a bayonet?"
>
> MARINE OFFICERS generally are re-
> garded as guys who have had
> more experience and know more
> soldiering than enlisted men. As of
> this day, 87.5 per cent of the officers
> on active duty in the Corps have
> served as enlisted men.
continued......