The United States Marine Corps

[vor033]

US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo looks on during a patrol operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo have a rest after a patrol in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 22, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo prepare at their camp, before an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 22, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo look on during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 22, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo look on during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo watch the field during an operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 24, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo look on as they sit on the ground during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo watch the field with binoculars during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 22, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo walk in line during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 24, 2011. A 140,000-strong force of NATO-led international troops stationed in Afghanistan currently fighting Taliban-led insurgency is now entering its tenth year.



US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines walks during a foot patrol outside Musa Qala District Center base on January 28, 2011 in Musa Qala. Taliban militants are waging a nine-year insurgency against 140,000 international troops stationed in Afghanistan.



US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines walk during a foot patrol outside Musa Qala District Center base on January 28, 2011 in Musa Qala. Taliban militants are waging a nine-year insurgency against 140,000 international troops stationed in Afghanistan.



US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines walk during a foot patrol outside Musa Qala District Center base on January 28, 2011 in Musa Qala. Taliban militants are waging a nine-year insurgency against 140,000 international troops stationed in Afghanistan.



A US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines shakes hands with children during a patrol outside Musa Qala District Center base on January 28, 2011. Taliban militants are waging a nine-year insurgency against 140,000 international troops stationed in Afghanistan.



A US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines on a foot patrol interacts with Afghan children outside Musa Qala District Center base on January 28, 2011 in Musa Qala.



US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines walk on a foot patrol in Musa Qala on January 28, 2011. Taliban militants are waging a nine-year insurgency against 140,000 international troops stationed in Afghanistan.

[vor033]

US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo keeps watching a field during an operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo patrol during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo patrol during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo patrol during an operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo look on during a patrol operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo patrol during an operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo patrol during an operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo patrol during an operation near Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.



A US Marines from 1st Battalion 8th, Bravo knees on the ground during an operation in Zalmabad village in Musa Qala district of Helmand province on January 23, 2011.

[vor033]

US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines prepare for a patrol in the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.



US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines prepare for a patrol in the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.



A US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines takes a rest during a patrol around the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.



A US Marine from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines smiles as he returns from patrol around the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.



US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines walk down a street during a patrol around the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.



US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines patrol around the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.



US Marines from 1st Battalion, 8th Marines patrol around the town of Musa Qala on January 18, 2011. The top US military officer said January 12 he sees an increase in bloodshed in Afghanistan as allied forces step up their offensive against the Taliban.

[Ratamacue]

^My old stomping grounds.^ It's strange to see these places that you spent seven months living and operating in show up in news articles and photos.

[vor033]

First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez of the U.S. Marine Corps leads the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines over the seawall on the northern side of Red Beach as the second assault wave lands on Inchon September 15, 1950. Lt. Lopez was killed in action a few minutes later while assaulting a North Korean bunker. Picture taken September 15, 1950.



U.S. Marines engage in street fighting during the liberation of Seoul, September 1950. Picture taken September 1950.




U.S. Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, try to contact the temporarily cut-off Fox Company to permit the 5th and 7th Marines to withdraw from the Yudam-ni area during the Chosin Reservoir Campaign November 27, 1950. Picture taken November 27, 1950.

[Lord Helmet]

I've never seen real mountains in Helmand until those 1/8 pics with a few lil ones in the background. I operated down in the Marjah District. Never really left the city limits except for this one op down south in the open desert. It was completely flat down in that AO, aside from the small slope you see once you go all the way to the western side of the city. I wish we could have gone beyond the city limits, to places like Sistani, it was just a few miles away. Taliban were coming from there and it was up to a diff battalion to watch over that area.

[vor033]

SANGIN, Afghanistan (Jan. 13, 2011) Hospitalman Rashad Collins, assigned to 1st Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, conducts a security patrol. The Marines conduct daily security patrols to decrease enemy presence in the surrounding area. The 5th Marine Regiment is deployed in Helmand Province to support the International Security Assistance Force.



SANGIN, Afghanistan (Jan. 13, 2011) Hospitalman Rashad Collins, assigned to 1st Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, conducts a security patrol. The Marines conduct daily security patrols to decrease enemy presence in the surrounding area. The 5th Marine Regiment is deployed in Helmand Province to support the International Security Assistance Force.



SANGIN, Afghanistan (Jan. 13, 2011) Hospitalman Rashad Collins, assigned to 1st Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, conducts a security patrol. The Marines conduct daily security patrols to decrease enemy presence in the surrounding area. The 5th Marine Regiment is deployed in Helmand Province to support the International Security Assistance Force.



HELMAND PROVINCE (Jan. 16, 2011) Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Joshua N. Pumroy, assigned to Personal Security Detail, Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, looks through his optics during a security patrol. Command elements of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and Regimental Combat Team 2 travel to the upper Sangin Valley to validate the peace agreements by Afghan tribal elders. The Battalion is one of the combat elements of Regimental Combat Team 2 conducting counterinsurgency operations with the International Security Assistance Forces.



SANGIN, Afghanistan (Dec. 6, 2010) Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jeffery R. Bowman, assigned to Police Advisor Team 1, Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines Regiment, goes down the stairs of a Afghan uniformed police checkpoint during a security patrol through the Bazaar in Sangin District, Afghanistan. The battalion is one of the combat elements of Regimental Combat Team 2, conducting counterinsurgency operations in partnership with the International Security Assistance Force.

[oak1999]

What gear did you like the most and which one would you chuck away? Also, r the insurgents getting good weapons or using old crap?

[HollywoodMarine]

Wow oak... I'm at a loss for words.

[Leaper]

This will be an MP.net classic!

[khalifah]

This will be an MP.net classic!

butter or salty Leaper?

hopefully he comes back to finish up.

[Leaper]

I'm gonna go with butter today, I have to try it sometime. Hey come to my place I got 5.1 sound and a new Ikea sofa. Awesome thread is Awesome

[Hollis]

What gear did you like the most and which one would you chuck away? Also, r the insurgents getting good weapons or using old crap?

Wrong thread, stay on topic

[Hollis]

Ask a Marine what's so special about the Marines and the answer would be "esprit de corps," an unhelpful French phrase that means exactly what it looks like - the spirit of the Corps. But what is that spirit? And where does it come from?

The Marine Corps is the only branch of the U. S. Armed Forces that recruits people specifically to fight. The Army emphasizes personal development (an Army of One), the Navy promises fun (let the journey begin), the Air Force offers security (it's a great way of life). Missing from all the advertisements is the hard fact that a soldier's life is to suffer and perhaps to die for his people and take lives at the risk of his/her own. Even the thematic music of the services reflects this evasion. The Army's Caisson Song describes a pleasant country outing; over hill and dale, lacking only a picnic basket. Anchors Aweigh, the Navy's celebration of the joys of sailing, could have been penned by Jimmy Buffet. The Air Force song is a lyric poem of blue skies and engine thrust. All is joyful, and invigorating, and safe. There are no land mines in the dales, nor snipers behind the hills, no submarines or cruise missiles threaten the ocean jaunt, no bandits are lurking in the wild blue yonder.

The Marines' Hymn, by contrast, is all combat: "We fight our Country's battles," "First to fight for right and freedom," "We have fought in every clime and place where we could take a gun," "In many a strife we have fought for life and never lost our nerve."

The choice is made clear. You may join the Army to go to adventure training, or join the Navy to go to Bangkok, or join the Air Force to go to computer school.

You join the Marine Corps to go to War! But the mere act of signing the enlistment contract confers no status in the Corps. The Army recruit is told from his first minute in uniform that "You're in the Army now, soldier." The Navy and Air Force enlistees are sailors or airmen as soon as they get off the bus at the training center. The new arrival at Marine Corps boot camp is called a recruit, or worse (a lot worse), but never a MARINE. Not yet, maybe never. He or she must earn the right to claim the title of UNITED STATES MARINE, and failure returns you to civilian life without hesitation or ceremony.

Recruit Platoon 2210 at San Diego, California trained from October through December of 1968. In Viet Nam the Marines were taking two hundred casualties a week and the major rainy season and Operation Meade River had not even begun. Yet Drill Instructors had no qualms about winnowing out almost a quarter of their 112 recruits, graduating only 81. Note that this was post-enlistment attrition. Every one of those 31 who were dropped had been passed by the recruiters as fit for service. But they failed the test of Marine Corps Boot Camp! Not necessarily for physical reasons. At least two were outstanding high school athletes for whom the calisthenics and running were child's play. The cause of their failure was not in the biceps nor the legs, but in the spirit. They had lacked the will to endure the mental and emotional strain so they would not be Marines. Heavy commitments and high casualties not withstanding, the Corps reserves the right to pick and choose whether you are seeing a truck driver, a computer programmer or a machine gunner or a cook or a baker. The Marine is amorphous, even anonymous, by conscious design. The Marine is a Marine. Every Marine is a rifleman first and foremost, a Marine ... First, Last and Always! You may serve a four-year enlistment or even a twenty-plus-year career without seeing action, but if the word is given you'll charge across that Wheatfield! Whether a Marine has been schooled in automated supply or automotive mechanics or aviation electronics or whatever is immaterial.

Those things are secondary - the Corps does them because it must. The modern battle requires the technical appliances and since the enemy has them, so do we. But no Marine boasts mastery of them. Our pride is in our marksmanship, our discipline, and our membership in a fraternity of courage and sacrifice. "For the honor of the fallen, for the glory of the dead," Edgar Guest wrote of Belleau Wood. "The living line of courage kept the faith and moved ahead."

They are all gone now, those Marines who made a French farmer's little Wheatfield into one of the most enduring of Marine Corps legends. Many of them did not survive the day and eight long decades have claimed the rest. But their actions are immortal. The Corps remembers them and honors what they did and so they live forever. Dan Daly's shouted challenge takes on its true meaning - if you lie in the trenches you may survive for now, but someday you may die and no one will care. If you charge the guns you may die in the next two minutes, but you will be one of the immortals.

All Marines die in either the red flash of battle or the white cold of the nursing home. In the vigor of youth or the infirmity of age all will eventually die, but the Marine Corps lives on. Every Marine who ever lived is living still, in the Marines who claim the title today.

It is that sense of belonging to something that will outlive our own mortality, which gives people a light to live by and a flame to mark their passing.

Passed on to a Marine from another Marine and to his friends!

SEMPER FIDELIS

[IMTT]

Semper Fi!