Oh, bless his heart, and yours. Loving hugs and continued prayers for you both.
What a beautiful tribute to our marines today Lori. I shared it with my marine father and it put a smile on his face.
Thank you and I am so happy it pleased him. Tell him we love and appreciate our veterans here.............and today, we salute our Marine veterans!
((((((((((((Dutchess and your dad)))))))))))))
May God be with you.
By Kathleen T. Rhem
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2004 -- Two hundred twenty-nine years ago, Marines came
ashore from sailing ships; today they come off large amphibious ships. But the
service's core values have remained the same, the top Marine general said.
"The young Marines today . are emulating the warrior ethic that the Marines who
went before established," Marine Commandant Gen. Michael W. Hagee said Nov. 5
in an interview with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.
Hagee, the Corps' 33rd commandant, explained that "Marines that have gone before
us really set the standard" in famous battles such as Belleau Wood, in France
in World War I; Iwo Jima, in Japan in World War II; and the Chosin Reservoir,
in the Korean War.
As the Corps celebrates its 229th birthday today, modern Marines have much in
common with those long-ago warriors, Hagee said. "We are a force in readiness,
and we've always been a force in readiness," he said. "We're an expeditionary
force, and by expeditionary I mean expeditionary in the fullest sense. In other
words, when we arrive, we can sustain ourselves. And finally, we are a
combined-arms team. That has remained the same for years and years."
Still, today's junior Marines shoulder much more responsibility than their
predecessors. Hagee said the war on terrorism is "essentially a war at the
squad-leader and platoon-leader level."
In 1999, then-Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak wrote of "the strategic corporal"
- young Marines "far from the flagpole without the direct supervision of senior
leadership."
Modern Marines "will be asked to deal with a bewildering array of challenges
and threats," Krulak wrote in Marines magazine. "In order to succeed under such
demanding conditions they will require unwavering maturity, judgment, and
strength of character."
Hagee said the emergence of "the strategic corporal" makes it much more vital
that Marines continue their education -- and that the Corps make education
opportunities available to Marines.
"We've got corporals and sergeants out there making very important decisions.
And they don't have time to get a 3x5 card out of their pocket, and they don't
have time to check with anyone," he said. "They need to make the decision
there. And in order to prepare them to do that, we have to properly educate
them."
The commandant said he'd like to see that every Marine has the opportunity to
earn at least a bachelor's degree over the course of a career.
In a wide-ranging interview about the past, present and future of the Marine
Corps, Hagee said he's often inspired when visiting Marines who have been
wounded in Iraq. He said it's "uplifting" to spend time with these young
Marines.
"They're very proud of what they have done. They're not thinking about
themselves," Hagee said of the wounded Marines he's visited. "They want to know
how their unit is doing, and they consistently tell me, 'I am ready to go
back.'"
The general also offered words on encouragement for those Marines who are
manning home stations and are not deployed to a war zone. "What I tell the
Marines who are back here in the United States is, 'Just think what you have
done over the past year,'" Hagee said.
He noted that Marines who are not deployed are a vital part of training and
equipping those who are deployed. "Without the support of Marines back here in
the United States, the force protection and the capabilities of the Marines in
theater would be much less," he said. "Everyone has an important job, whether
you're forward or whether you're back here."
Speaking before Operation Al Fajr began in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 8, Hagee
said the Marines preparing to carry out that operation were ready for what they
would face and were in good spirits. "I would argue that the reason they feel
so confident is that they're properly equipped, properly trained, properly led,
and they understand the importance of the mission," he said.
Looking to the future of the force, Hagee said the Corps would maintain its
character and its three core missions: to maintain the service's force-in-
readiness posture, to maintain a combined-arms team and to maintain the
Marines' expeditionary character.
In short, he said, the Marines will remain "most ready (to respond) when the
nation is least ready."