Happy 243rd Birthday, USMC!

Today marks the 243rd birthday of the founding of the United States Marine Corps at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia. Even though I come from an Army family, I recognize the role that the Marines have played in protecting our country here and abroad.

Below is the Commandant of the Marine Corp's birthday message. So to all my friends, new and old, who served wearing the globe and anchor, Semper Fi!




Mentioned in the Commandant's message is Gunny Sgt. John Canley who was recently awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery and leadership during the Battle of Hue'. If you'd like to know more about his actions as well as the actions of all the Marines who fought to retake Hue', I'd urge you to read Mark Bowden's book Hue' 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam. The hardback is available on Amazon at deep discount ($8.90 as of this posting) which is actually cheaper than the paperback.

Memorial Day 2018

This is the day that we honor those who died in service of our great country. It started out, if historians are to be believed, with Southern women decorating the graves of Confederate veterans in Warrenton, Virginia in 1861. It spread through the South during the Civil War and to the North after the war. Decoration Day, or Memorial Day as we now call it, did not become an official holiday until 1966 when LBJ signed a proclamation establishing it.

I am in the midst of reading Ian Toll's The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944. It is part of his trilogy on the war in the Pacific during WWII. I have just finished the part about the battle for Tarawa. The battle for the atoll was, to steal a line from Thomas Hobbes, nasty, brutish, and short. The Marines lost over 1,000 men killed in action over the space of about three days. Much of that was due to both geography and the fierce resistance of the well-fortified Japanese defenders who died almost to the man. At the battle's end, there were only 17 Japanese left to become POWs.

What struck me as I read about the assault on the atoll was the bravery of the Marines. Many of them had to wade in to the beach through neck deep water because their landing craft grounded on the coral reef. They kept going forward exposing more and more of their bodies as men were being killed all around them. Going forward into the battle while those all around you are falling is the very definition of bravery. These are the men who I will be remembering on this Memorial Day.

If you want to see actual footage from the battle, the National Archives put together this short film from pictures and film shot by the combat photographers of the 2nd Marine Division.

Happy 242nd Birthday, US Marines Corps

It has become a tradition on this blog to celebrate the birthday of the US Marine Corps. Even though I come from an Army family, I recognize their drive and dedication.

In years past, I've chosen old recruiting posters from the turn of the 20th century or the WWI or WWII era. This year's recruiting poster is much more modern and it was chosen due to its message in light of the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas.  Just like the poster above says, "Nobody likes to fight. But somebody has to know how." No one wants to imagine something like church shooting happening but it does and we need to be prepared. We need to know how to respond to unimaginable with lethal force and we need to know how to care for the injured. Get training and take a class in tactical first aid.

Now back to the Marines.

You can read the Commandant's Birthday Message here which celebrates among other things the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The video birthday message from the Commandant and the Sgt Major of the Marine Corps is below:

Happy 241st, USMC!

I want to wish a happy 241st birthday to the United State Marine Corps.

Since "virtue signaling" is all the rage with millennials, I want to recognize that group of millennials who get it done day after day in the harshest of conditions. If you think about the definition of millennial - those born after 1980 - then the bulk of the US Marine Corps, both enlisted and officers are indeed millennials. I just wish we had more like them.

Madison Rising's Birthday Wishes To The Marines

I met the members of Madison Rising at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Orlando a few years ago. Their lead singer, Dave Bray, was a Navy FMF Corpsman attached to the 2nd Marines which explains this birthday message to the USMC.

Happy 240th Birthday United States Marines
Please join us in wishing a happy 240th birthday (November 10, 2015) to the greatest fighting force in the world: The United States Marine Corps!Special thanks to The Young Marines national youth organization, R. Lee Ermey, the producers of The Hornet's Nest and the Dept. of Defense. Semper Fi!
Posted by Madison Rising on Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Happy 240th, USMC!

Today is the 240th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. I'd like to offer my sincere thanks to all Marines, past or present, for their service to our country. Semper Fi!

The official birthday message from Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Robert Neller and SgtMaj of the Marine Corps Ronald Green is embedded below:

Happy 239th Birthday, USMC

On this, the 239th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, I'd like to offer my thanks to all Marines, present or past, for their service. Semper Fi!

The Commandant's Birthday Message is here.

And below is the video birthday message. It centers around the battles for Pelilau and Fallujah.

Does Obama Know About This Place?

In yesterday's presidential debate on foreign policy issues, Barack Obama said in response to Mitt Romney's criticism of the downsized Navy being smaller than the 1916 US Navy, ""You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed."

I don't think any of the president's handlers ever bothered to inform him of the US Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Pickel Meadow, California. Established in 1951 to help train Marines for the cold weather conditions that they would have to fight in during the Korean War, the MWTC provides training in fighting in high altitude and cold weather conditions. The training it provides is being put to use daily in the "good war" in Afghanistan.

One of the more interesting courses that the MWTC provides is one on animal packing. It trains Marines as well as soldiers and airmen in the use of pack animals to deliver supplies and carry heavier equipment.

Lance Cpl. Tyler Langford, anti-tank missileman, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, leads his pack mule during a hike at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., Oct. 13, 2012. Photo by Lance Cpl Ali Azimi.

The MilitaryTimes just had a story on the pack animal training course a few days ago. They noted that the course had been taught for almost 30 years. The course lasts for two weeks and teaches the students how to pack and handle the animals in the mountainous terrain.

An official USMC public affairs story says of the training:

As the Marine Corps tries to solve the challenges of getting provisions to Marines in hard to reach battle spaces, they do not always look toward technology but rather apply solutions that were effective in the past.

The Animal Packers Course started as a concept course at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif., in 1983.

The course is still taught today after nearly 30 years, but the United States had been using this technique since the early 1980s.

“It’s been around since both World Wars and the last time they were utilized was in Korea,” said Sgt. Justin Head, staff noncommissioned officer in charge, Animal Packers Program. “It’s been around for thousands of years. It’s something that's worked for countless militaries.”

The 16-day course teaches Marines how to use animals in the region they find themselves in as a logistical tool to transport weapons, ammunition, food, supplies or wounded Marines through areas vehicles cannot reach.

“After coming through the course and learning the basic fundamentals they can pack any kind of animal, from llama, camel, anything,” Head said. “If you’re going to fight compartmentalized conventional war in the mountains, you’ve got to utilize animals. If you don’t, you’re not going to be able to get your logistics, your ammo, basically the five Bs, to your Marines.”

If you know anything about mules, you know they are a cross between the symbol of the Democrat Party - the donkey - and a horse. More specifically, between a jackass and a mare or female horse. While the nature of the military has changed, some aspects of warfighting haven't changed. Too bad Obama didn't realize that when he made his snarky, jackass of a comment last night.