REASONS TO LOVE YOUR CORPS:
- Best haircut. Hands down. You can't have a bad hair day with a high and
tight. And you spend less on shampoo.
- Dress blues. They're the coolest uniforms in any military worldwide.
- Bloused trousers. Another distinctive Marine look that sets the proudest
service members apart.
- The rest of the Marine sea bag. From the Alphas to the camouflage
utilities, uniforms just look better on a Marine than any other service
member.
- Marines don't wear dungarees.
- Most respect I. When the Marines pulled out of Haiti and Somalia, the
media reported the U.S. military was pulling out -- as if tens of thousands
of Armytroops weren't still in the country. Now that's respect.
- Most respect II. When the Corps came back to Haiti after 60 years, an
old man on the Cap-Haitien beach said ``Welcome back!''
- Toughest mascot. The Marine Corps' is a bull dog. The Navy's: a goat.
- Esprit de Corps. Even if you can't spell it or pronounce it, the Marine
Corps has it in spades. One example: When sailors get tattoos, they do it
toexpress their individuality, and their choices range from Betty Boop and
Mickey Mouse to raging sea serpents. When Marines get tattoos, they do it to
express their solidarity, and choose bull dogs, ``death before dishonor,''
and ``USMC.''
- Best war monument: Iwo Jima
- The Marines invade, then go home. The Army has to do the occupying.
- The silent drill platoon. Just watching them ply their trade makes you
want to wear dress blues.
- Status. Sailors live and work on ships. Marines go for cruises -- then
hit the shore.
- Best fast attack vehicles: LAVs.
- Best fighting knife: Ka-Bar.
- Best duty assignments: Okinawa, Kaneohe Bay, Camp Pendleton, Diego
Garcia, Moscow, North Carolina. Plus any ship at sea.
- Worst duty assignments: Okinawa, Kaneohe Bay, Camp Pendleton, Diego
Garcia, Moscow, North Carolina. Plus any ship at sea.
- Most exotic duty assignments: Kuala Lumpur, The White House.
- Best phone number. Call 1-800-MARINES and you've got the Corps. And if
you're a civilian with the mettle to be a Marine, a recruiter there will be
happy to sign you up.
- Toughest DIs. They're so tough that when the Navy wants to train its
officers, who do they call? 1-800-MARINES.
- Toughest boot camp. When San Diego was still training Navy recruits,
legend has it that recruits occasionally would jump the fence and
accidentally land in Marine boot camp. The Marines would keep them a couple
of days, and when the recruits were sent back, they were ready to be
sailors!
- Best motivational cry: Ooh-rah!
- Best emblem: Eagle, globe and anchor.
- Best campaign covers: The Smokey Bear hat.
- Separate heads for enlisted and officers. Everywhere else, officers and
enlisted use the same pot.
- The only official, congressionally sanctioned hymn for any of the
services: ``The Marines' Hymn.''
- Best slogan I: ``Once a Marine, always a Marine''
- Best slogan II: ``Tell that to the Marines''
- Best slogan III: ``Send in the Marines.''
- Best nicknames I: Jarhead
- Best nicknames II: Leatherneck
- Best nicknames III: Devil Dog. Trivia question: Where did this term come
from? Answer: The German Army in World War I, whose soldiers' greatest fear
was running up against the toughest American fighting men, the Marines. They
called them ``teufelhunden,'' or Devil Dog.
- Most remarkable airplane: The Harrier. No other service's jets can take
off and land on a dime.
- Most dangerous airplane: The Harrier. Not a simple science, but luckily
more of a danger to the enemy than to Marine fliers.
- You're a Marine. Not a soldier or a troop.
- That's Marines, with a capital M.
- Tradition! The Corps is older than the republic itself!
- Marines symbolize: Discipline, courage, honor, commitment, valor,
patriotism, military virtue.
- Best recruiting gimmick I: Those darn Knights-in-Shining-Armor
commercials.
- Best recruiting gimmick II: ``We're looking for a few good men.'' OK,
they left out women. The Corps is looking for a few good women, too.
- Best recruiting gimmick III: ``If you have the mettle to be a Marine.''
- The Commandant's House. It's the oldest occupied residence in
Washington, D.C.
- Chesty Puller. You gotta love a service that has heroes with names like
that.
- Former Commandant and Mud Marine Al Gray (Anecdote I): His official
portrait, in cammies.
- Former Commandant and Mud Marine Al Gray (Anecdote II): He drank from a
four-star canteen cup.
- Former Commandant and Mud Marine Al Gray (Anecdote III): Business
leaders are so impressed with his ethic and style, they're using his Fleet
Marine Force Manual 1, ``Warfighting,'' to hone their skills for boardroom
battles.
- Unity. Every Marine is a rifleman.
- The Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Marines attack by land, by air and
from sea -- simultaneously.
- The ``docs,'' -- Marines' corpsmen-in-arms. They're sailors, but they're
as tough as Marines.
- Mud. You wanna see pure joy? Look at a group of Marines after a mud
fight.
- Starch. Clean 'em up, put 'em in starched cammies, and they look sharp.
- Poetry in motion. They're weapons, not g-u-n-s. And if you don't know
the pithy verse that explains that, don't ask us. We blush to tell.
- Point of the spear, out in front, kicking down the door. What the
Marines do best.
- Marine spouses. God love 'em. They have it then worst of any of the
service spouses. They endure six-month deployments and one- and two-year
unaccompanied tours. The ones who survive a career are as tough as the
Marines they married.
- Marine kids. God loves them more. They know the meaning of duty, honor
and country at too young an age.
- The Air Force. Aren't you glad you're not an airman? They're pampered,
yet they still find time to whine.
- The Army. They get all the best equipment first and Marines still do it
better.
- The Navy. Give them credit. They have it almost as tough as Marines. But
who wants to be a limo service?
- The Coast Guard. Tell the truth: If you couldn't be a Marine, would you
be a Coastie? In those powder blue uniforms? Not on your life!
- CH-46. Say a Hail Mary and climb aboard. Nobody makes 'em anymore, but
Marine ingenuity keeps 'em flying. And with a safety record that's nothing
short of a miracle.
- The Close Combat Manual.
- Leadership I. In the Corps, E-3s and E-4s get to do more than most E-6s
in other branches.
- Leadership II. Every Marine above the rank of corporal can tell you what
it takes to be a leader. It's spelled out clearly and drilled in
relentlessly. And it pays off under fire.
- Leadership III. Corporate America could -- and does -- learn from the
Corps' leadership curriculum. All Marines who enter the private sector take
those lessons with them.
- Combat correspondents. They're journalists in the Navy, but in the
Corps, the job is combat correspondent, thank you very much.
- Marines do more with less, and they like it that way.
- Amphibians one and all. Like the Army, Marines have tanks and armored
vehicles. But theirs not only fight . . . they swim.
- Air power. When the grunts look to the sky for support, they see Marine
pilots, not zoomies.
- Style. Nothing beats the canopy of sabres during a full dress Marine
wedding.
- Wetting-down parties. No one celebrates promotions with more flair and
admiration.
- Mess etiquette. Enter covered and drinks are on you.
- Mess night I. Those who make the most pay the most.
- Mess night II. ``1775 Rum Punch'' -- four parts dark rum, two parts lime
juice, one part pure maple syrup. Grenadine to taste.
- Non-Comms rate their own ceremonial sword!
- Fighting style I. When the U.S. went into Haiti, Army soldiers sought
cover behind their rucksacks. Marines DUG IN!
- Fighting style II. When the Air Force deploys, they carry their
Samsonite bags on luggage carriers and stay in hotels. When Marines deploy,
it's two seabags and your weapons. And a tent in the bush.
- Fighting style III. Marines know how to use their bayonets. Army
bayonets may as well be paper weights.
- No smiling in official portraits. All business.
- Terminology. In the Corps it's a ``fighting'' hole not a ``fox'' hole.
Fox holes are for people who want to hide. Fighting holes are for people who
want to fight.
- The ``people's own'' Marine Corps Marathon.
- When asked by the press, an overseas Marine doesn't say ``I don't know
what my mission is,'' ``I don't know why I'm here'' and ``I don't like it
here.'' He knows. It's his calling.
- The ``Stumps.'' The combat center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., is a huge
sandbox in California's desert. It's where Marines go to play warrior any
time of the year.
- Best environmental motto: ``We're looking out for a few good species.''
They may be charging the beach, but Marines are taking care not to step on
endangered critters.
- Image. Marines get real network coverage, not the kind you need a
gridiron and an academy to get.
- AH-1W SuperCobra gunships. They are lean, mean fighting machines.
- The ONLY combined arms force. You want jointness? The Marine Corps has
been joint for decades, with its own air force, groundpounders and Navy in
one.
- When the President cares enough to order in the very best, who's he
gonna call? Not ghostbusters -- but Marines.
- First in, first out. Marines bust in first so the Army can do its job.
- When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, the number
may as well be 9-1-1. Send in the Marines!
- Boss' night. Every so often, the NCOs or staff NCOs buy the drinks for
their charges attheir club. Can't beat that!
- Physical fitness. You've seen portly chiefs, but there are no fat
Marines.
- Everyone's a Marine -- officer and enlisted.
- Actor who should have been a Marine: John Wayne.
- Former Marine who shouldn't be an actor: John Wayne Bobbitt.
- .50 caliber sniper rifles! OOOHRAH.
- Most stickers spotted on America's highways on car bumpers and windows.
- The summer evening parade.
- ``The President's Own,'' the Marine Corps Band. John Philip Sousa, the
world famous band master, was the first leader of the band.
- Value for your tax dollar. The Corps does it all for less -- just 6
cents of every dollar spent on defense goes to the Marines.
- Best motto, Semper Fidelis, always faithful. That's Latin, by the way.
- Best twist on the best motto. Semper Gumby, always flexible. Yeah, he
was green, too.
- Best slogan I. ``Nobody ever drowned in sweat.''
- Best slogan II. ``Marines go where others fear to tread.''
- Best self description. Gungy
- First in orbit. No, that's not another gunny losing his temper. John
Glenn, that clean Marine, was the first human to orbit Earth.
- Marines are first on foot and right of the line. Marines form at the
place of honor in any naval formation. Secretary of the Navy bestowed that
honor in 1876.
- When the President climbs into a helicopter, he flies Marine One.
- Most prestigious helo squadron. HMX-1, the president's fleet.
- When the Navy needed someone to guard its ships, sailors and nuclear
devices, they called on Marines.
- Best personalized license plate I: ``1775.'' It's on the commandant's
car.
- Best personalized license plate II: ``SM OF MC,'' Sergeant Major of the
Marine Corps Harold Overstreet's four-wheel drive Chevy Blazer truck.
- The Chief of Naval Operations rides in a Lincoln Town Car. Commandant
Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr. rides in a sporty Chrysler LHS sedan.
- When the nation goes to war, the press covers the Marine Corps. During
the Gulf War, there were more than 90,000 Marines in the region of a total
force of 650,000. But the Corps outpaced the Army, 293 to 271, on articles
about the ground war in four major newspapers. As journalist and author John
Fialka put it: ``If the PR rivalr y between th e t wo services . . . had
been a basketball game, the score would have been Marines 149, Army 10.''
- Best Heroes I: Smedley D. Butler. With a name l ike Smedley, he had to
be tough, in self-defense. The Army rejected him, but by lying about his
age, he got a commission from the Marine Corps in 1898, at age 16. From the
Philippines to Haiti, he was an expert in suppressing revolution. His blunt
style was pure Marine, and probably cost him a job as Philadelphia's public
safety director after his first retirement and a bid for the Senate after
his second.
- Best Heroes II: Chesty Puller. It's more than t he name. He started in
the Corps with a reserve commission and was released in the drawdown after
World War I. He then enlisted as a corporal, served in Haiti and received
his second commission in 1924. He retired in 1955 a lieutenant general, the
most decorated Marine in history, and probably the most colorful as well.
- Best Heroes III: Lewis Puller Jr., Chesty's son. He joined to follow in
his father's footsteps, lost both legs in battle, and went on to become a
Pulitzer Prizewinning author. He ended his own life this year, and he's
sorely missed.
- Best Heroes IV: ``Manila John'' Basilone. A true gunfighter from the
word go. The first enlisted Marine in World War II to be awarded the Medal
of Honor. Won it for his heroic efforts on Guadalcanal. Later killed on Iwo
Jima, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
- All the Marines who won the Congressional Medals of Honor. There are 293
in all.
- Best greeting. Semper Fi, Mac!
- Best show of pride. After the 1982 Beirut Bombing, Marine Corps
Commandant P.X. Kelly visited a wounded Marine in the hospital to present
his Purple Heart. Covered by tubes and unable to speak, the Marine simply
asked for pad and pen. On it he wrote: ``Semper Fi.''
- Best recruiting station: Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, 1775. It's a bar, no
less.
- Only armed force with a beer named in its honor: Tun Tavern Beer.
- Best description: Soldiers of the Sea.
- Best slang for a Navy ship: LHA -- Luxury Hotel Afloat.
- Best Marine quote from the Gulf War: ``I sure hope the Iraqis are good
lovers, because they sure can't fight.''
- Best acronyms I: The MEU (SOC). Say it out loud and it says what it
means. Sock it to 'em.
- Best acronyms II: SPIE rigging. It stands for Special Insertion,
Extraction. It's what they do when they're saving the day.
- Hollywood loves Marines. A few examples:
- ``Sands of Iwo Jima.''
- `` The Wind and the Lion.''
- ``Heartbreak Ridge.''
- ``The Flying Leathernecks.''
- ``The D.I.''
- ``Death Before Dishonor''
- And television loves Marines:
- ``Baa Baa Black Sheep''
- ``Gomer Pyle, USMC''
- ``Major Dad''
- Heroes. The 40,000 Marines who gave their lives on the fields of battle
since the Revolutionary War.
- Scarlet stripe on NCO and officer trousers. They're not just sharp, they
serve a point: The stripes represent blood shed in battle.
- The Book of Remembrance. Stored at the post chapel at Quantico, it lists
the n ame, rank and date of death of all Marine s and sailors who served
with Marines and who gave their life in Vietnam.
- Famous proverb. A young recruit asked the D.I., ``Sergeant, who carries
the flag in battl e ?'' The reply: ``Son, eve ry Marine carries the flag in
battle.''
- The highest-ranking active-duty woman in the services wears two stars.
She's Maj. Gen. Carol A. Mutter, USMC.
- Notable quotable I. ``A ship without Marines is like a coat without
buttons.'' -- Adm. David G. Farragut.
- Notable quotable II. When the Marines found themselves surrounded by
Chinese troops near the ``Frozen Chosin'' during the K orean War, a Marine
officer summed it up for his men. ``Good. Now I can shoot in all
directions.''
- Notable quotable III. ``Uncommon valor was a common virtue.'' -- Adm.
Chester Nimitz, leader of Pacific forces in World War II.
- Notable quotable IV. ``Retreat . . . Hell! We just got here.'' -- Col.
Wendell ``Whispering Buck'' Neville, fighting in France during World War I.
- Notable quotable V. ``Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live
forever?'' -- Sgt. Dan Daly, World War I.
- Notable quotable VI. ``The raising of the flag on Mount Surabachi means
a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.'' -- James Forrestal, who was then
secretary of the Navy.
- Fleet submission I. ``My 10-year-old is proud when he's teased about his
mother wearing combat boots'' -- anonymous Marine mother.
- Fleet submission II. ``Marine Corps spirit and purpose define American
resolve and intent.'' -- Carrol Childers, a civilian employee at Quantico's
Amphibious Warfare School.
- Leadership. The Corps trains its leaders young and expects a lot out of
them. And, gosh darn it, they get what they ask for.
- Fleet submission III. ``Those hardcharging NCOs that have done so much
with so little for so long.'' -- Capt. James Lopez, Quantico, Va.
- Fleet submission IV. ``The smell of gunpowder in the morning on the
rifle range.'' -- Cpl. Bradley Cameron, Quantico.
- Fleet submission V. ``It's my life.'' -- GS-8 Diane Pierce.
- Fleet submission VI. ``The feeling of belonging. Whenever you go, there
will always be someone you know, someone with something in common and
someone willing to lend a hand'' -- anonymous Marine.
- Fleet submission VII. ``The Corps is the world's biggest fraternity. All
our present and past members are, and always be, members of the Semper Fi
fraternity. And unlike other fraternities, ours is open to women.'' -- CWO
Mark Roulette.
- Fleet submission VIII. ``Knowing when you're in need, a Marine will be
there.'' -- SSgt. Cheryl Oban, Quantico.
- Hollywood loves Marines. (Part II: Marines who went to Hollywood).
- Don Adams.
- Charlton Heston.
- Bob Keeshan (Capt. Kangaroo).
- Lee Marvin.
- Steve McQueen.
- Burt Reynolds.
- George C. Scott.
- Gene Hackman.
- Bea Arthur.
- Tax advantages I. VHA & BAQ -- your housing allowances -- are
tax-free.
- Tax advantages II. You don't pay tax at the exchange either.
- Marine wives. They put up with a lot but they have their limits. See No.
94.
- Fleet submission IX. ``It is a family.'' -- anonymous Marine.
- Fleet submission X. ``It teaches us to be strong people both mentally
and physically.'' -- Cpl. Maria Retan, Quantico, Va.
- Fleet submission XI. ``I love the Marine Corps for those intangible
possessions that cannot be issued: Pride, honor, integrity and being able to
carry on the traditions for generations of warriors past. After I have done
what I can for the Corps, I can say that I was a Marine'' -- Cpl. Jeff
Sornij.
- Fleet submission XII. ``The pride of going home on leave, putting on the
dress blues and everyone knowing you're a member of the world's finest
fighting force.'' -- Sgt. Chase Gilbert, Laurel Bay, S.C.
- Up-to-date fashions at overseas Exchanges.
- Congress loves the Corps. The congressional ``mafia'' of former Marines
now in positions of power or influence over the defense budget includes:
- Rep. Ronald Dellums (D-Calif.). The chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee is sometimes lampooned as a dovish cutter of defense budgets. But
he's a former Marine, too. And once a Marine, always a Marine, as the saying
goes.
- Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), chairman of the Senate Armed Services
subcommittee on military readiness and defense infrastructure.
- Sen. Chuck Robb (D-Va.) All right, he may not be reelected Nov. 8. But
if he loses, look who'll take his place: Republican nominee and retired
Marine, Oliver North.
- Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House defense appropriations
subcommittee.
- Sen. John Warner, R-Va., ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence
Committee and armed service committee member who is a former Navy secretary.
He served in the Navy in 1944-46, became a civilian, and then went back to
do it right: He joined the Marine Corps and served from 1950-52.
- Other former Marines in Congress include: Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill.; Sen.
Conrad Burns, R-Montana; Rep. Gerald Soloman, R-N.Y.; Rep. Paul McHale,
D-Pa.; Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., a former Navy secretary; Rep. Arthur
Ravenel, RS.C., a House Armed Services Committee member who is retiring;
Sen. Jim Sasser, DTenn.; Rep. Frank Tejeda, D-Texas; Sen. Howell Heflin,
D-Ala.; Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark.; Rep. Matthew Martinez, D-Calif.; Rep. Al
McCandless, R-Calif.; Rep. David Skaggs, DColo.; Rep. Dan Schaefer, R-Colo.;
Rep. Andy Jacobs, D-Ind.; Rep. Pat Roberts, R-Kan.; Rep. Wayne Gilchrest,
R-Md.; Rep. Thomas J. Manton, D-N.Y.; Rep. Amo Houghton, R-N.Y.; Rep. Austin
J. Murphy, D-Pa. (who is retiring); and Rep. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., a House
Government Operations Committee member.
- And finally, pulling strings for Marines behind the scenes on Capitol
Hill are two Marine-friendly power brokers: Marine Corps Reserve Brig. Gen.
Arnold Punaro, staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee, and
retired Lt. Col. P.T. Henry, the staff director for the Senate Armed
Services subcommittee on force requirements and personnel.
- Global presence, global reach. As the Hymn notes, so spread out are
Marines around the globe that some can watch the sun set while others are
watching it rise.
- Despite their service to U.S. presidents, no Marine has ever been a
president. Now that's smart!
- Respect. The State Department chose Marines, not soldiers, to protect
our embassies.
- Good taste in gifts. Wanna know how much a Marine missed his family
during a deployment? Check out the china and toys in his seabag on the
return trip, and then look at his credit card bill.
- The 1st and 15th of each month. Gotta pay for those good gifts.
- Marines are winners. Consider, for example:
- Tarawa.
- Saipan.
- Guadalcanal.
- Tripoli.
- Belleau Wood.
- Chosin.
- Hue City.
- Peleliu.
- Leyte Gulf.
- Guam.
- Tinian.
- Iwo Jima.
- Okinawa.
- The Officer's Sam Browne Belt.
- Top Guns I: The Marine Corps Rifle Team. After a record-setting
performance at the interservice rifle championships in July, the Marine team
blew away the 1,200 civilian and military rivals at the U.S. Nationals in
August. No doubt about it, Marines are the best riflemen in the country.
- Top Guns II: MSgt. Donnie L. Heuman. After 17 years of competitive rifle
shooting, he took top individual honors at this year's Interservice Rifle
Championships, shooting a record-breaking 995 out of a possible 1,000 points
with 50 bull's-eyes. His nearest competitor was nine points and 10
bull's-eyes behind.
- Top Guns III: The Marine Corps Pistol Team. They won the U.S. National
trophy six years running, establishing themselves as the champion to be
beat. They were second this year, but don't expect the trophy to stay in
anyone else's hands for long.
- Top Guns IV: Marine snipers. Oneshot, one kill, one thousand yards.
- The 174,158 men and women in Marine Corps uniforms as of Oct. 1, 1994.
- Top Guns V: Marine Corps wrestlers and boxers. They don't use weapons,
and they don't need them, they are regular medalists at the Olympic Games.
- Navy chow. It's better on the ship than in the field.
- Navy chaplains. You gotta love a man of the cloth when the cloth is
camouflaged. One example: Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Rocheford, wounded twice in
Vietnam as a Marine infantryman, is now a Navy chaplain aboard the USS Wasp.
- MREs. You hate to love 'em, but when you're hot and sweaty and in the
field, nothing satisfies like the beef frankfurters and beans.
- The Marines take care of their own. On the battlefield, nobody's left
behind -- dead or alive -- and the homefront is always secure.
- Commitment and devotion. ``You gotta love it,'' says Col. Richard D.
Stearns, commanding officer, Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, S.C. ``Just
liking it won't get you through the day.''
- Image. ``I'm inspired by the integrity of Marines: uplifted by the
pride, focus, discipline, flexibility and motivation to do the right thing
in thebest way. I'm honored that, by service to the country, they are
serving citizens like me. All this, and they are fun colleagues and
co-workers.'' -- Jean Forrest, civilian instructional systems specialist,
Marine Corps Institute.
- The Birthday Ball I: The cake.
- The Birthday Ball II: Remembering all those Marines who gave their life
for their service and their country.
- The Birthday Ball III: Seeing who's the oldest and youngest Marine in
your unit.
- Ooh-rah!