OUTSTANDING 'USMC Birthday'' TRIBUTE TO THE FIGHTING USMC (Film)

A little early, I know, but with all the troops deployed you might want to start sending "Your special Marines" their birthday greeting early so they will reach them afield by 11/10.

The USMC: Only branch of the military conceived, created, and, formed for battle ... in a Bar! (

For the Familes of Fallen Marines

There will never be anything anyone can do to mitigate the loss of a loved one. All we can do is to be there. One thing to keep in mind, as high brow and prideful as it might seem, is that as a Marine, they'll never be forgotten. Individual names will fade with time, people will all leave us in time, and their memories will go with them when they move on to better things. We often say of fallen Marines, that they have gone on "To guard Heaven's Gates" or they've been "transferred to Chesty's command". We know where Marines go when they leave us. We drink to their memory. We remember our Brothers and Sisters. In time we will be gone, and our memories with us. Take this comfort with you as you mourn your losses. The United States Marine Corps will never be forgotten. Your Brothers and Sisters will therefore never be forgotten. Your Sons and Daughters will never be forgotten. Your Fathers and Mothers will never be forgotten.They have passed into the legend and myth that is the United States Marine Corps. They will be remembered with the likes of Pharaoh's Army, The Hordes of the Khan's, Alexander's Armies, the Legions of Rome. Other armed forces across the length of time will be remembered as being less than our equals. Your loved ones have been a part of something special. Something that cannot be readily conveyed by mere words. It is scant comfort in this present time, but it is a source of quiet pride to those who understand. A Marine will live forever. God will not abandon those who have been willing to sacrifice so much for others. Your son, and the sons and daughters of so many others will certainly never be forgotten, here on earth or before the throne of God. They are only words, but they are all I presently have to offer. Be at peace, Mother. Be at peace Father. Be you all at peace, for your family member will most certainly be guarding Heaven's Gates upon your own arrival there in the fullness of time. Semper Fidelis, Marine family. Be Proud.

-Warren Bonesteel
SGT USMC 1976-1983

R 222000Z OCT 04 PSN 069865H34
FM CMC WASHINGTON DC
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1. TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS AGO, THE
SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS ESTABLISHED A CORPS OF MARINES TO FIGHT
FOR A DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S INDEPENDENCE. SINCE THEN COUNTLESS
MARINES HAVE RAISED THEIR HAND AND SWORN TO DEFEND OUR NATION'S
FREEDOMS AND PRESERVE ITS LIBERTIES. THIS YEAR'S ANNIVERSARY AGAIN
FINDS MARINES ENGAGED THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE FOR THE SAME NOBLE
PURPOSES. THE BRAVERY, HEROISM, AND SELFLESSNESS OF ALL MARINES -
WHEREVER THEY ARE SERVING - HAVE ADDED SIGNIFICANTLY TO OUR RICH
LEGACY AND MEASURED UP TO THE HIGH STANDARDS THAT HAVE COME TO
EPITOMIZE ALL WHO WEAR THE EAGLE, GLOBE, AND ANCHOR.

2. THE CURRENT BATTLEFIELDS OF THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR ARE LINKED
TO THE STORIED CAMPAIGNS OF OUR PAST BY AN UNBROKEN TRADITION OF
PROUD AND LOYAL SERVICE. AT NEW PROVIDENCE, CHAPULTEPEC, BELLEAU
WOOD, TARAWA, IWO JIMA, THE CHOSIN RESERVOIR, CON THIEN, KUWAIT, AND
NOW IN PLACES LIKE FALLUJAH, MARINES HAVE CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATED
A DEDICATION TO DUTY, A COMMITMENT TO WARFIGHTING EXCELLENCE, AND A
DEVOTION TO EACH OTHER THAT HAS INSTILLED A FIERCE DETERMINATION TO
OVERCOME SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGES. OUR WARRIOR ETHOS IS AND
WILL CONTINUE TO BE THE CORPS' HALLMARK.

3. THE FORTITUDE AND SACRIFICES OF MARINES AND THEIR FAMILIES HAVE
BEEN VITAL IN PROTECTING OUR NATION FROM THOSE WHO WOULD DO US HARM.
WHETHER PREPARING AND SUSTAINING OUR AGILE FORCE OR ENGAGED IN
BATTLE, THE ESPRIT DE CORPS, TIRELESS ENERGY, CALM COURAGE, AND
INSPIRED LEADERSHIP OF MARINES CONTINUE TO MAKE A MONUMENTAL
DIFFERENCE IN THIS WORLD. YOUR UNSELFISH DEDICATION AND SIGNIFICANT
ACCOMPLISHMENTS - DEMONSTRATED REPEATEDLY OVER THIS PAST YEAR IN
NUMEROUS PLACES SUCH AS THE ANBAR PROVINCE OF IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, THE
HORN OF AFRICA, HAITI, AND IN THE CRUCIAL JOB HERE AT HOME
SUPPORTING OUR DEPLOYED FORCES - ARE DEEPLY RESPECTED AND VALUED BY
YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS.

4. MARINES, AS WE CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILIES THE FOUNDING
OF OUR BELOVED CORPS, YOU SHOULD TAKE PRIDE IN OUR LONG HISTORY OF
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO THIS GREAT NATION AND ITS CITIZENS. I ASK
YOU TO REMEMBER ESPECIALLY THE SACRIFICES OF OUR FALLEN AND WOUNDED
COMRADES. FINALLY, REDEDICATE YOURSELVES TO TAKING CARE OF ONE
ANOTHER AND ENSURING WE REMAIN THE FINEST WARFIGHTING ORGANIZATION
IN THE WORLD.

5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINES, SEMPER FIDELIS, AND KEEP ATTACKING! M.W.
HAGEE, GENERAL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS.//
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"You earned the title 'Marine' upon graduation from recruit training. It wasn't willed to you; it isn't a gift; it isn't a government subsidy. Few can claim the title; no one may ever take it away. It is yours forever." - Master Sergeant Thomas Bartlett, USMC

"The Marine Corps has just been called by the New York Times, 'The elite of this country.' I think the Times is wrong. I think it is the elite of the world." - Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, U.S. Navy

"I am convinced that there is no smarter, handier, or more adaptable body of troops in the world." - Prime Minister of Great Britain Sir Winston Churchill

"The Marines fought almost solely on esprit de corps. It was inconceivable to most Marines that they should let another Marine down, or that they could be responsible for dimming the bright reputation of their Corps." - war correspondent Robert Sherrod at Tarawa

"I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world." - General Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army

"The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight." - Major General Frank Lowe, U.S. Army

"I can never see a United States Marine without experiencing a feeling of reverence." - General Lewis Johnson, U.S. Army

"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." - General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army

"The 1st Marine Division is the most efficient and courageous combat unit I have ever seen or heard of." - Major General Frank E. Lowe, U.S. Army

"The more Marines I have around, the better I like it." - General Mark Clark, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army

"You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced, to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth - and the amusing thing about it is that they really are." - Father Kevin Keaney, USNR, Chaplain, 1st Marine Division

"Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!" - Captain Henry P. "Jim" Crowe, USMC, Guadacanal, 1943

"I have only two survivors out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." - First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, USMC, Soissons, 1918; later Commandant, USMC

"Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?" - Sergeant Major Dan Daly, USMC, Belleau Wood

"Retreat, Hell! We just got here." - Captain Lloyd Williams, USMC, to the French at Battle of Belleau Wood

"Don't forget that you're the First Marines! Not all the Communists in Hell can overrun you!" - Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, with his forces outnumbered twenty to one and under human wave assaults by hordes of Chinese at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea

"Casualties many; percentage of dead not known; combat efficiency: we are winning." - Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, in the darkest hour at Tarawa, 1943

"They're on our right, they're on our left, they're in front of us, they're behind us; they can't get away from us this time." - Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, at the Chosin Reservoir

"Every Marine is, first and foremost, a rifleman. All other conditions are secondary." - General A.M. Gray, Commandant, USMC

"For the Marine Corps there is no peace." - Sergeant Edwin N. Demby, USMC; later Secretary of the Navy

"When an Army captain asked him for the direction of the line of retreat, Colonel Puller called his Marine artillerymen, gave them the Army position, and ordered, 'If they start to pull back from that line, even one foot, I want you to open fire on them.' Turning to the captain, he replied 'Does that answer your question? We're here to fight, not run.'" - account of Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, in Korea

"Do not attack the First Marine Division. Leave the yellowlegs alone. Strike the American Army instead." - orders given to Communist troops in the Korean War

"Remember, whatever you write, this was no retreat. All that happened was that we found more Chinese behind us than in front of us, so we about-faced and attacked." - Colonel Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC, speaking to reporters after the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, Korean War

"Panic sweeps my men when they are facing the American Marines!" - Captured North Korean officer

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference, and our Marines don't have that problem." - President Ronald Reagan

"I can't say enough about the two Marine divisions. If I use words like 'brilliant,' it would really be an under description of the absolutely superb job that they did." - General Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army, Commander, U.S. Central Command

"It's a funny thing, but, as years go by, I think you appreciate more and more what a great thing it is to be a United States Marine...I am a U.S. Marine and I'll be one till I die." - Ted Williams, Baseball Hall of Famer

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