A Quakers letter to the Marines
A Quaker's Letter to Marines and Marine Snipers
>
> Below is a letter written by a Quaker lady familiar with Marines. It
is a
> very touching letter that makes me proud to be a Marine. The letter
was
> forwarded to me by Andy Tucker. Semper Fi, Bill
>
>
> Dear Marines,
>
> I worked nights as a waitress, paying my way through college, in
Honolulu
> during the early 80s. Between work and school, I didn't have much
time to
> meet other people, and my family was thousands of miles away. Several
> Marines frequented the bar, and one GySgt. of a Marine sniper
platoon, Larry
> Hatfield, sensed my shyness and invited me to participate in a lot of
Marine
> recreational events. We became close friends, but I could never
understand
> how a person could look through a scope and willingly kill another
human
> being. As a Quaker, the very concept of a sniper troubled me. I was
raised
> that killing is always wrong - period. I often told him, and the
other guys
> in the sniper platoon, my opinion on this. They usually remained
silent on
> the subject.
>
> As time went by, I lost contact with the Marines I knew from that
sniper
> platoon, but I was privileged, later on, to be invited to produce
tours as a
> volunteer (USO/AFE) for Marines on various bases overseas. Those of
you who
> have met USO/AFE entertainers know that we are nowhere near the
combat
> zones, and are in fact well-insulated from the horrors of war. We
have fun
> entertaining you; we love eating with you at the mess halls or
sitting out
> in the dirt and hearing your crazy jokes; we do our handshake tours
of
> hospitals and PR tents and feel good and then are lucky enough to go
home
> while you stay behind.
>
> But Iraq was different. For the first time I found myself weeping at
night
> after I came back from doing handshake tours. I couldn't adopt the
USO maxim
> of looking the Marines in the eyes and shaking hands on the hospital
tours,
> because there were teenage Marines with no hands and no eyes. A bomb
at a
> well while I was there on my last tour left 200 women and children
dead or
> injured at the hands of their own countrymen. The image of a Marine,
badly
> wounded, struggling to carry a small 3 yr old girl to safety is
forever
> seared in my mind.
>
> I wondered - a lot - about the kind of sacrifice that it takes for a
person
> to volunteer in the Corps and experience this kind of tragedy on a
regular
> basis.
>
> Iraqi women refugees would tell me, through translators, about how
the
> Kurdish women would throw their infants from trucks on their way to
being
> executed by Saddam Hussein in the hope that strangers would raise the
> soon-to-be-orphaned children, and how often it was only the U.S.
Marines and
> military units who would help them get medical care if they did
survive the
> terrors inflicted upon them.
>
> This is what I have learned about war and the Marines: that I have
never
> seen a U.S. senator cry while telling me about holding a dying friend
in his
> arms, and there's precious few senators who come home from work
missing a
> leg or two.
>
> That I have never heard a U.S. congressman tell me what it's like to
pass
> out soccer balls and writing paper to children who have been denied
an
> education since birth.
>
> That I have never heard any politician or corporate leader describe
to me,
> as one Marine did after a show, that she wanted a better life for her
child
> back home but wanted better lives for the children of Iraq, too.
>
> Marines are living - and sometimes dying - for democracy, not just
talking
> about it for the CNN cameras. They do their jobs, and come home,
quietly, to
> go back to farming in Iowa or driving trucks in Kentucky, and, for
the most
> part, don't talk about it. And God knows we civilians don't get an
accurate
> picture back home of what is going on.
>
> I still think killing is wrong, but I have come to understand that
sometimes
> it is necessary and that lack of intervention, especially in
humanitarian
> missions in oppressed nations, is tantamount to pulling the trigger
on
> innocent civilians who only want what we want: a safe home for their
> children and food on the table and the right to be who they are.
>
> I'm not naive enough to think that most of our political leaders go
to war
> for compassion (I think most of them want to protect corporate
interests),
> but I do believe, from knowing the Marines I have been lucky enough
to know,
> that Marines act from compassion, decency, and with hearts bigger
than most
> people will ever experience.
>
> I understand now that a sniper - or any Marine, in any job supporting
the
> ideals of the Corps - does what he or she does because the
Constitution of
> the United States is not some remote piece of paper; the idea of
freedom is
> real to a Marine.
>
> As one young lance corporal told me, as he guarded us during a show
set-up
> in a particularly volatile area (after our show had been cancelled
the day
> before because terrorists had blown up another 27 children nearby),
"Don't
> worry - we got your back."
>
> It shames me to think that I had to leave my country on these tours
in order
> to understand what precious gifts I have as an American, that every
day,
> somewhere in the world, a Marine is watching my back. I never
considered
> that a sniper, or any Marine, may be asked to kill in order to save
innocent
> lives but now I understand.
>
> So to all of you Marines out there, please accept this heartfelt
thanks for
> what you do. To the guys from the sniper platoon in Kaneohe - this is
a late
> apology for questioning you, and a thank you for what you have taught
me,
> but I hope some of you read this. In our American culture, we don't
talk
> much about being noble, decent, loyal and honorable. I have yet to
meet a
> Marine who did not possess all of those qualities. You are the big
kids in
> high school who didn't let the bullies hurt the little kids. If you
are
> reading this from Afghanistan or Iraq or Camp Lejeune; if you are
reading
> this from a V.A. facility; if you are reading this from your home,
know
> this: that what you do is important. When you are feeling weary and
> discouraged, remember that there are people in the world living in
freedom
> because of you. Not only the refugees from war - but me, too.
>
> Sincerely, Laura Minor
>
