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thedrifter
08-19-04, 07:53 AM
Forged in the Crucible of Combat

Have you ever wondered why people join organizations? A simplistic answer might be for the bonding. You see bonding in families—especially older ones where elderly parents have passed on and the children and grandchildren get together at family reunions. You see it in college fraternities and—for most high schools and colleges—in class reunions. And some of us still remain close to our childhood friends.


But what makes an organization special for Marines—since Marines belong to a special fraternity by our own definition? I submit that the real test is combat, and once you have tasted it, the Marines you were with when the fighting was at its fiercest are the Marines you want to stay connected to until your breath draws to a close.


Let’s look at a few examples. The Marine Raiders Association is an active group of our true heroes from World War II who fought with Red Mike Edson and Evans Carlson in the early years of the war. Do the math. The survivors are mostly now in their 80s. They meet every year, and they are one of the proudest organizations I have had the privilege of knowing. Recently here at Quantico, they formally presented large sums of money to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to ensure that the memory of the Raiders, to include the museum artifacts and the Jacob Vouza Scholarship, would continue long after the last Raider leaves this earth.


From Korea we see The Chosin Few. This is another outstanding group of Marines with some soldiers, sailors, and even more than a few of our British friends from 41 Independent Commando Royal Marines. Like the Raiders, this group of heroes gathers once a year to further cement the bond forever formed in the frozen wastes of North Korea in that terrible winter of 1950. Our friends from this noble organization are also a bit long in the tooth.


From the Vietnam era there are many organizations that have formed lasting bonds and meet every year. The 26th Marines fought at Khe Sanh, among other places along the northern I Corps front. This organization maintains a rich web site and pays tribute to its fallen comrades, and many of the units inclusive in the regiment have their own major part in the web site. Units within units form special bonds and meet each year. As of this writing, the 3d Battalion, 26th Marines (Vietnam) is conducting their annual reunion on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. A once-young Marine from the North Country in New York is attending. Mike Norcross was featured in last month’s “Sting of Battle” for his saving a fellow Marine’s life. This battalion and its parent regiment fought bravely throughout the Vietnam War, and they have remained close and are justifiably proud of their accomplishments when the call came to serve. For everyone who served at Khe Sanh, regardless of Service affiliation, there is a newsletter, called Red Clay, that further binds the Khe Sanh veterans together.


Another Vietnam and IRAQI FREEDOM unit that is justifiably proud of its heritage in combat is HMM–364, the Purple Foxes. This squadron has been featured in a “Sting of Battle” entry (MCG, May03) and has had two articles authored by Vietnam veterans and current IRAQI FREEDOM members of the illustrious squadron (MCG, May04). Their reunion took place last month in Reno, NV.


Sometimes the bonding may go as low as a rifle company. LtCol David B. Brown, USMC(Ret) and his daughter, Tiffany, are writing a book about his rifle company’s exploits in Vietnam. This fictionalized book about Company F, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, entitled Battlelines, is due out in February 2005.


I’ve mentioned only a few of the many organizations that have formed through the crucible of combat. No doubt such bonds are already forming among the Marines who have served so admirably in Iraq the past year and a half, and among those who will follow suit next month. We salute all those Marines who have stood up and been counted worthy when our Nation came to call. In their own ways they have proven themselves to be Marines’ Marines.

http://www.mca-marines.org/Gazette/edt.html


Ellie