thedrifter
05-28-09, 06:14 AM
Friendship has no boundaries
5/27/2009 By Pfc. Jahn R. Kuiper , Marine Corps Base Quantico
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. —The lights go out and the movie begins. The audience does not understand the language but their eyes are locked on the screen in anticipation. These misplaced men are in the dark, left to guess what these uniformed men on the screen are saying. Surrounded by unfamiliarity they find common ground in the truth of the eyes, the sincerity in the voice and the broken-but-pride-filled body posture of a military veteran.
They didn’t know English but they understood every word that was said.
Sixteen foreign officers from the Inter-American Defense Board visited Quantico May 19 to help further their understanding of the Marine Corps and strengthen the bond of friendship between all countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Senior officers from Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Canada, Barbados, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama and Peru toured the National Museum of the Marine Corps and had lunch at the Globe and Laurel restaurant.
"These guys don’t have a strong understanding of the Marine Corps," said Lt. Col. Clay Fisher, an action officer for International Strategy and Plans at Headquarters Marine Corps. "The Marine Corps has a huge reputation in Latin America. We brought them here to show them what the Marine Corps is all about. Each country has their own version of a Marine Corps but they are very small and not quite like our Corps. We do this to build bonds and dialogue that helps us understand each other and what we represent."
The officers were very impressed by the museum.
"Blown away – each one came up to me and said they have to have one of these for their own country," said Fisher.
Though most of the officers spoke Spanish and Portuguese, they found a lot of common ground to be shared.
"When they watched the introductory video at the museum they could feel the importance of the words spoken by the Marines," said Fisher.
"A Mexican officer was amazed how we had an area set aside for the battle of Chapultepec," said Fisher. "He knew the battle from his own history but he couldn’t believe that the battle had so much weight with the Marine Corps. In a strange way he took pride in that fact."
"We were looking a gun exhibit in the Vietnam section," said Fisher. "Someone pointed out the 81 mortar and I mentioned I used that. Well everyone jumped in saying they had used it too. They all said how bad it was to carry the base plate so then the big joke came ‘who was going to carry the base plate?’"
"We have shared experiences," said Fisher. "There is much more in common than you realize. It is refreshing to know that. Some people think it’s ‘us’ and then there is ‘them.’ No, it is ‘we’."
There were a few things the foreign offices just couldn’t get their heads around.
"There is a sense of a massive culture in the Marine Corps and it is so institutionalized and they can’t understand that," said Fisher. "Many countries have a difficult relationship between the civilians and the military. The military is something to be feared. The officers were amazed how the Marine Corps is embraced by the public."
Brig. Gen. Mark Clark, the director of the International Strategy and Plans at Headquarters Marine Corps, invited the members of the IADB.
IADB is the world’s oldest regional military and defense organization since its conception March 30, 1945.
"We are here to strengthen our friendship," said Clark, addressing the foreign offices. "We are bringing together a group that wants to better the hemisphere. You all together and collectively do that. It’s like a swan moving smoothly above the water but working hard paddling underneath. We are moving forward as friends."
- Correspondent: jahn.kuiper@usmc.mil
Ellie
5/27/2009 By Pfc. Jahn R. Kuiper , Marine Corps Base Quantico
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. —The lights go out and the movie begins. The audience does not understand the language but their eyes are locked on the screen in anticipation. These misplaced men are in the dark, left to guess what these uniformed men on the screen are saying. Surrounded by unfamiliarity they find common ground in the truth of the eyes, the sincerity in the voice and the broken-but-pride-filled body posture of a military veteran.
They didn’t know English but they understood every word that was said.
Sixteen foreign officers from the Inter-American Defense Board visited Quantico May 19 to help further their understanding of the Marine Corps and strengthen the bond of friendship between all countries in the Western Hemisphere.
Senior officers from Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Canada, Barbados, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama and Peru toured the National Museum of the Marine Corps and had lunch at the Globe and Laurel restaurant.
"These guys don’t have a strong understanding of the Marine Corps," said Lt. Col. Clay Fisher, an action officer for International Strategy and Plans at Headquarters Marine Corps. "The Marine Corps has a huge reputation in Latin America. We brought them here to show them what the Marine Corps is all about. Each country has their own version of a Marine Corps but they are very small and not quite like our Corps. We do this to build bonds and dialogue that helps us understand each other and what we represent."
The officers were very impressed by the museum.
"Blown away – each one came up to me and said they have to have one of these for their own country," said Fisher.
Though most of the officers spoke Spanish and Portuguese, they found a lot of common ground to be shared.
"When they watched the introductory video at the museum they could feel the importance of the words spoken by the Marines," said Fisher.
"A Mexican officer was amazed how we had an area set aside for the battle of Chapultepec," said Fisher. "He knew the battle from his own history but he couldn’t believe that the battle had so much weight with the Marine Corps. In a strange way he took pride in that fact."
"We were looking a gun exhibit in the Vietnam section," said Fisher. "Someone pointed out the 81 mortar and I mentioned I used that. Well everyone jumped in saying they had used it too. They all said how bad it was to carry the base plate so then the big joke came ‘who was going to carry the base plate?’"
"We have shared experiences," said Fisher. "There is much more in common than you realize. It is refreshing to know that. Some people think it’s ‘us’ and then there is ‘them.’ No, it is ‘we’."
There were a few things the foreign offices just couldn’t get their heads around.
"There is a sense of a massive culture in the Marine Corps and it is so institutionalized and they can’t understand that," said Fisher. "Many countries have a difficult relationship between the civilians and the military. The military is something to be feared. The officers were amazed how the Marine Corps is embraced by the public."
Brig. Gen. Mark Clark, the director of the International Strategy and Plans at Headquarters Marine Corps, invited the members of the IADB.
IADB is the world’s oldest regional military and defense organization since its conception March 30, 1945.
"We are here to strengthen our friendship," said Clark, addressing the foreign offices. "We are bringing together a group that wants to better the hemisphere. You all together and collectively do that. It’s like a swan moving smoothly above the water but working hard paddling underneath. We are moving forward as friends."
- Correspondent: jahn.kuiper@usmc.mil
Ellie