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But as an American soldier I gotta say the Marines sure know how to get the maximum amount of press adoration -- maybe it wouldn't kill them to give a little credit to other services once in awhile.

Harry Truman once said somthing along the lines of, "the Marines have a propaganda apparatus greater than that of Stalin." As a Marine I understand why they do it. The Marines have been on the permanent chopping block of history many times. We have to do it better and let the American public know it to keep ourselves around. The late former Commandant General Alexander Vandergrift and his staff had to fight like hell after WWII to get the Marine Corps permanent status, parity within the DON and a seat on the JCS (See National Security Act of 1947). Its a constant sell and the Marine Corps takes the PR effort very seriously. As far as utilizing the services of the other branches, read the MC website. There are always articles posted talking about joint exercises and how the other services help us out. Additionally, I don't think I've read one book about the Marines' experiences in the Gulf War without hearing about the great support of the Tiger Brigade. In fact, I've heard that members of the Brigade wore the 1st Marine Division patch on their shoulder after the war. My .02

SIC
Captain of Marines

Thanks for the great note, Sir -- it's very articulate, and you make good points. I have always been a huge admirer of the battlefield accomplishments of the USMC. And the Marine officers I trained with at Ft. Sill always seemed outstanding.

Seems to me that whenver the Army (especially the 82d Airborne) wins a battle, a couple of know-nothing reporters will say something like "U. S. Marines scored an important victory today when they . . . " I shouldn't let that bother me, but it drives me nuts! I guess my real complaint about that sort of thing lies with the reporters, not the Marines.