A U.S. Marine from 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. runs to a new position on July 3, 2009 in Main Poshteh, Afghanistan. The Marines are part of Operation Khanjar which was launched to take areas in the Southern Helmand Province that Taliban fighters are using as a supply route and to help the local Afghan population prepare for the upcoming presidential elections. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
If I saw this, er, presidential election worker approaching my front door, I think I'd
a) Give up
b) Identify myself as a former member of 3rd Battalion 8th Marines and hope nobody in 3rd Battalion ever fucked this guy over, and
c) State loudly and clearly, "Your man's got my vote. Which one o' them sonsabitches is he?"
So far, the grunt outfits I can identify in this op are 1/5 ("Make Peace, Or Die" - you tell 'em they shouldn'ta used the comma!), and 2/8 ("America’s battalion").
Marines have tribal memories.
One-Five fought at places like Guadalcanal, the Chosin Reservoir, Hue City, and Fallujah.
Two-Eight fought at Tarawa, Saipan, Okinawa, and Grenada, and served in Lebanon in 1958 and mounted out for the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Marines are indoctrinated from birth not to let their forebears down. I'm sure these young Marines in Helmand Province will do 'em proud.
BTW, my old outfit's motto is "Fortuna Favet Fortibus", which I think translates as "Good Luck Not Pukin' On The Bus Back To Base".
No comments:
Post a Comment