The Corps is 236 years old! Semper Fi,Oorah! The marines have survived another year.Numerous times in the past,people have lobbied for ending the Corps and delegating its mission to Army and Navy units. After Joe Rosenthal's famous Iwo Jima flag raising photo, someone was reputed to have said something to the effect of,this will insure the Corps existence. So far,thank God,with all the budget cutting frenzies going on,no one has raised the idea of abolishing the Marines. Marines have proven themselves in a variety of new missions since World War II. We have shown out skills in the cold of Korea,the paddies and jungles of Vietnam, the sands of Iraq twice and the mountains of Afghanistan. The Marine Corps considers itself an elite unit. Its training is more difficult and demanding and focuses on every Marine being a rifleman first,then his other occupational specialty. That strategy has proven itself effective time and time again. I don't want to belittle the missions of the other branches of the military, but I remember being at the PX on Governor's Island back when it was a Coast Guard facility and noticed all the Marine items for sale. T shirts,jackets,hats,statues and other such memorabilia. I asked the sales clerk.when purchasing a black leather vest embossed with Eagle,Globe and Anchor, why they didn't have other service gear. His answer was,"Only you guys buy all this shit" Once a Marine,always a Marine isn't just some hackneyed phrase,its the righteous truth. So as a former Marine(there are no ex Marines), i want to wish all my brother Marines a haMFy birthday. Semper Fidelis!
And Good Night Chesty,where ever you are