Yous are the best of the best. Everyone knows that… especially the girls, who turn out in droves to get a chance to kiss A Marine…

Lucky sons of guns lol.

What is it that makes the Corps itself so special? What sets it apart from the other branches of service?

It can only be the individual Marines and how they themselves hold their Corps so dearly. Marines join the Corps searching for something more. They seek a challenge that cannot be found in the Navy, nor the Army. They seek the chance to earn a title that is very nearly sacred. People have often made jokes and disparaging remarks about Marines and their fanaticism. But it is that very fanaticism, the dedication to the Corps, the pride in having earned the title “Marine” that binds fellow Marines together. It is that fierce dedication that makes the Corps so special.

A few years ago there was a young man walking across a parking lot with his father. This young man, who had just graduated Marine Corps boot camp, was filled with pride at having earned a title so few could lay claim to and was proudly wearing his uniform. Walking proud and tall beside his father, a Navy carrier veteran of Vietnam, the young man was stopped by an elderly gentleman. The old timer had to have been in his seventies, perhaps eighties, but there was fire in his eyes still. He took hold of this young Marines arm and squeezed tightly, telling him how proud he was to see that uniform. He talked to the young Marine for only a moment or two, letting the younger man know that the older man had worn the same uniform some fifty years earlier. As a veteran of the Pacific Campaign he wished the young Marine well in his travels. It was then that the young Marine realized just what it was to be bound to the honor of his predecessors. In a stunning moment of clarity the young Marine understood that the often talked about “brotherhood” was exactly that, and that he was bound to meet the expectations of those who had gone before him, just as those yet to come must be bound to meet the high expectations he holds for them. The bond Marines have to their Corps, the bond they have to each other is what makes Marines so special, what makes their Corps so special.

Through its long history, filled with battle honors and peace time traditions, the Marine Corps has yet to let down the nation she defends. It is this dedication to honor, courage and commitment along with history and heroics that we honor on November 10th.

To my fellow Marines past and present, I thank you for your dedication to Corps and country.

Semper Fidelis

I still check out where we first “met” – I don’t read comments, but check the news stories they post {of course, I DON’T post anything there myself – YOU know why! }

We’re doing OK – spousal unit is still working all the time – I’m looking @ TMJ surgery as soon as we can get insurance to get their heads out of their nether regions – click on my name, it’ll take you to my little blog …………………… you’re welcome to visit & comment ………………..

Semper Fi’
DM

I have posted about my feelings about Veteran’s day and the military.  This year, I offer this post, edited from a blog I wrote in 2005 before the advent of this site.
What Veteran’s day means to me.
I posted my daughter’s feeling…

On November 10th, 2008 at 12:50 pm, jwm said:
To my cousins, uncles, grandfathers and other family members, thank you again for serving our country as Marines. My apologies from my father and I for choosing the Navy. Thank you to all Marines, past and present.

I don’t know if you’ll read this jwm but no apologies please. Even as a Marine, I can’t think of anything that would scare the hell out of me more than being on a naval combat vessel in the middle of a large battle. Like the song says “no where to run to baby, no where to hide.” So no apologies, you squids got BIG BRASS ONES! Semper Fideilis.

Happy Birthday.

And on the eighth day God created the Marines.
When the World dials 911 at 3AM … the Marines answer the phone.

Semper Fi!
May God bless you one and all.

Image curtesy of NoBoddie’s Fool who by the way
has a most admirable Marine Corps BD post up. Up to and including a list of famous Marines. Go check it out.

“Some people spend an entire lifetime…

I want to be a Drill Instructor,
I want to wear that Smokey Bear!

Sound off…