Posted on 02/10/2012 4:37:35 AM PST by KantianBurke
SAN DIEGO The Marine Corps on Thursday once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS -- a special unit that murdered millions of Jews, gypsies and others. The Corps said in a statement that using the symbol was not acceptable, but the Marines in the photograph taken in September 2010 will not be disciplined because investigators determined it was a naive mistake. The Marines believed the SS symbol was meant to represent sniper scouts and never intended to be associated with a racist organization, said Maj. Gabrielle Chapin, a spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton, where the Marines were based.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, headquartered in Los Angeles, said he does not buy the explanation that posing with the flag was an innocent mistake and insisted the American public has a right to know what happened.
"If you look at any book on the Nazi period, this is the dreaded symbol of the SS, and to have a Marine Corps unit adopt it and put it beside the American flag when 200,000 Americans died to free the world of that dreaded symbol is just beyond the pale," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Oh good gravy.
These inconceivably brave men put their lives on the line and daily bear stresses and hardships beyond our dreams.
We civilians sleep securely because they do their dangerous and difficult job a half a world away from their families and loved ones.
But, God forbid, they commit a thoughtcrime.
“But, God forbid, they commit a thoughtcrime.”
Pathetic how your argument basically boils down to excusing or minimilizing away the celebration of Nazi imagery. You know - the goons who murdered millions of unarmed men, women and children. Showcasing their standard is inherently wrong and inexcusable. Meanwhile countless service men and women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan without resorting to such filth. What’s your explanation for that?
nope not banned.
I just saw an article that mentioned that Panetta is calling for a probe. This is way outside of the realm of a commander now.
I know all about the “rough men” thing, and that’s why you need to keep those kinds of things internal to your particular AOI.
When I first saw the pic, I knew there was some double-meaning behind it. You’d be far more likely to find a Soviet flag in a Joe’s room than a Nazi flag, but it was still poor judgment to take that pic and post it on the internet.
You have a link to the thread?
Thanks for the history lesson.
Maybe you choose to see this as a “celebration of Nazi imagery.” I don’t.
Maybe every one of these brave men should be extensively analyzed to make sure that every thought they have is pure and acceptable to the US media.
Those who fail the test will be publicly pilloried and become non-persons for daring to have improper thoughts.
We can, of course agree to disagree. I meant the Sanscrit swastika was Indian style. Without wishing to naysay, Members of the Nazi party were Nazis. The German soldier was just that- soldier. I read the uniform was the likeness of the Africa Corps. It does not look like that though.
Perhaps the dreaded SS were Nazis - this I will concede. I worked with ex-German army people in a Steel Plant in Canada. Did not fit with Nazi.
(Cordially)
Telling the truth, no matter what the consequences are, is never out of fashion. The Marine Corps for its part doesn’t have to defend: just tell the truth in the right context.
First, it isn’t an official logo. So the Marine Corps didn’t adopt it. The sniper community did; and maintained it for a lengthy period through multiple presidents and commandants.
2nd, there is no evidence that the common usage of the SS in every single STA platoon (all 18 of them), over (at least) two decades, tied it to the Nazis. So for someone to get an a$$ burn over it: that’s on them.
3rd, the Waffen SS is just that: history. The men that pull these triggers are not historians. They study military history in the context of tactics, weaponry, and battles, not of uniforms that have no consequence to the present.
4th, to suggest that it was “mind-boggling stupid” just impuned every single battalion commander, battalion Sergeant Major, battalion staff, inspector generals, AND every single Marine, sailor that has served within STA commmunity for 20 years. That is A LOT of people. Really smart and talented people. A competing hypothesis is: perhaps there is nothing there (in terms of intent to use the symbol) because the users of the symbol never could have anticipated a society so hypersensitive about irrelevant issues, and so focused on their collective vanity.
Lastly, if folks are going to get uprooted by a symbol that has no connection to our current military (as the evidence suggests), perhaps they need to spend more time in being offended by the constant erosion of the U.S. Constitution.
But keep excusing such obnoxious acts. It's illuminating for the rest of us.
One of the rare times I agree to disagree. I must concede I thought your post was onside with the gentlemen, who face a cruel and treacherous enemy. No rules of war hampers them. Yet soldiers are court martialed for some infringement of the rules of engagement.
Maybe your criticism might be further on the mark. In Germany one can get six months imprisonment for playing the soldiers song. Called the Nazi anthem, is the "Horst Wessel Lied". If one accesses youtube, there is an apology and warning in case it offends. I have played it.
I sometimes take pleasure in translating the word Nazi. Something about Socialist- spelt with a Z. (Chuckle).
Of course there will be a probe. But he’s a knee-jerk pu$$y anyway, carrying Barky’s water. It will go from him, to SECNAV, to the Commandant (General Amos). Gen Amos, being an air-winger, will be informed by his staff about the sniper culture.
And once they evidence comes crashing in like a Tsunami, this will go away. At worst, the STAs will be told to remove all forms of the symbol, and that will be that.
Then the STAs will “turn to” and come up with another symbol.
the untold basis of WHY Hitler and the Germans felt they had to one protect their Nation and to also ensure its survival by eliminating the threat. First they took the Jews property, whether banks, factories or homes and then they got rid of hungry mouths to feed...
Systematic, institutionalized, governmental murder of millions is defined by the poster as...'getting rid of hungry mouths to feed..."
He spends the rest of the thread digging himself a deeper hole.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2844321/posts
Wow. Just wow. Since the post was made in the smoky backroom section, that explains the free pass. A few months ago someone started having some verbal diarrhea on a religion thread in the smoky backroom. I contacted the mods and was told there are different rules for the smoky backroom threads. Why its FR’s policy to let sicko posters post and remain up for all the world to see is beyond me.
Symbolism doesn’t matter to you? History doesn’t matter? You say that these soldiers are not historians, which is I’m sure factual, but how can they be so ignorant of recent (20th Century) history? I guess you wouldn’t care if they wore swastika armbands, or a single red star on their hats...
The Waffen SS *absolutely were* Nazi party members, no possibly about it...they were part of the Nazy Party, as the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel. You would be foolish to assert otherwise.
I’m sure that the Israelis and concentration camp survivors are VERY impressed with the USMC using this flag...
Given that the flag of these great United States is considered a living thing, it is more than a symbol. If my children come home donning certain symbols I will consider it an opportunity to ask what it means to them and if they understand what the symbol may communicate to others. Why should I get upset about what they think? When their actions are inconsistent with the rules of this household, then we will have something to be concerned about.
The swastika has a 6000 year history, why should it be avoided just because Hitler was evil? And why should we run away from a star or a crescent?
If the Corps had some security, this picture would never see the light of day. Someone snitched. That shows no security.
Second, there is an unbroken chain of perfumed princes and PC officers who will see to it that this unit is punished to the full, and that the most stink possible will be made by the press.
Again, a sign of no security at all.
The communist enemy has completely overrun our military from within.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.