Does America Still Deserve The Marines?

Weekly column posted at Gunny Bob's 850am KOA webpage ^ | Friday November 11th, 2005 | Gunny Bob Newman

[ajolympian2004]

Does America Still Deserve The Marines? (by Gunny Bob Newman, retired 20-year veteran of the Marine Corps)

Not that I know what one is, but I do know what one looks like. A parabolic wave is a thing that looks like a wave when viewed from the side. Parabolic waves appear on screens that are part of certain machines and computers and other technical devices. I suspect they are useless, really, but scientists and technicians like them because they look cool and by turning just about any dial, one can change the height and frequency of the wave.

The war on terror can be viewed as a parabolic wave, with crests and troughs. The topographic equivalent would be peaks and valleys. In the last two days or so, as is so frequently the case, we have seen peaks and valleys in the war on terror. First there was a peak, with the death of Azahari Husin in a fight with Indonesian security forces. Who was that? He was the Malaysian who built the bombs used in the Bali nightclub attacks of 2002. Then we had the valley yesterday, when three al Qaeda suicide bombers detonated their deadly wares at three US-flagged hotels in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s capital of Amman.

Sadly, American hotel corporations knowingly and willingly live in an especially dangerous valley.

Even more troubling is how more and more Americans are simply unwilling to get serious about the war on terror. A recent MSNBC/Wall Street Journal poll revealed 57% of Americans agree with the Kerry Plan: begin surrender proceedings to the terrorists in Iraq as soon as possible and abandon the people of Iraq to whatever grim fate awaits the poor schmucks.

The same poll said a mere 39% agree with the way we are fighting the war on terror.

Beginning in the late 1960s, America, for a variety of reasons, began seeing retreat and surrender as a viable option when dealing with tyrannical regimes. In 1973 we retreated from Vietnam and left the people of South Vietnam, whom we had promised to defend, to be vanquished by the invading hoards from the communist north.

In 1979 and 1980, Jimmy Carter allowed a terrorist regime to seize our embassy in Tehran, with dozens of Americans held hostage for 444 days. Carter did nothing to punish the terrorists.

In 1984, we fled Beirut on Ronald Reagan’s orders. The terrorists who killed hundreds of Marines were never held accountable.

After quick victories in Grenada, Panama and Kuwait, we retreated from Somalia on Bill Clinton’s orders, leaving that stricken nation in the hands of terrorists and warlords. In 1993, Bubba warmed up for that move by doing nothing about the World Trade Center attack.

Clinton followed that stunt up by allowing terrorists to destroy a US military barracks and two of our embassies, and nearly sink one of our ships with no repercussions.

Then 9-11 came and we got mad. We swore to fight the terrorists everywhere and anywhere we could find them with everything we could fight them with. A paltry four years later, we are shaking and trembling as most Americans call for surrender.

Why? Because America remembered that bullets and shrapnel can fly not only toward the enemy, but toward our troops. Stunned with this revelation, we quickly decided that cowardice is the best way to get terrorists to stop killing us.

If only that were true.

Reality, on the other hand, has told humans for millennia that cowardice just leads to more of people being killed more quickly. But Americans have no interest in history, which is a tedious lesson plan that, if studied and heeded, cuts into our golf time.

At this very moment, Marines I led in the Gulf War are now the battlefield leaders. I dream of them often and think of them many times daily. I fear for their well-being because the majority of the people they swore an oath to defend now want them to surrender.

Surrender to a Marine is anathema. It is unthinkable. It is a concept so foreign that the very suggestion of it being an option brings Marines to a rolling boil.

Sometimes I wake up sweating and shouting orders in some distant dream scape, my Marines, with fixed bayonets, assaulting a burning trench line in the desert.

"Johnson! Get me some Mark 19 fire on the right end of that trench!" "Washington! Get your squad to cover 2nd squad as they clear from left to right! Make sure your SAW gunners are tight on target!"

"Nishimoto! Pop that clown behind the burning APC! Shoot him in the shins!"

Surrender is never in my dreams.

America spits in the Corps’ face when the majority say the Marines should surrender, and that is precisely what withdrawal before total victory is. Perhaps the majority of this country feel surrender is honorable, but as it has been to the Marines since their creation, it is the most vile of notions, not to mention incredibly stupid given how the terrorists stand no chance of defeating the Corps. Only 21st Century Americans would suggest surrender when victory is assured.

Fortunately for the United States, you can rest assured that on this 230th birthday of the Corps, the Marines will press on ‘til victory, with or without the respect and support of our employers.

[ajolympian2004]

Gunny Bob Newman hosts the 'Gunny Bob' show on 850am KOA from 7:00pm - 10:00pm M-F.

Listen Live at http://www.850koa.com/ (link at top left - no registration required)

Gunny Bob's webpage at KOA: http://www.850koa.com/shows/newman.html

Gunny Bob Newman profile at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Newman

----

Before signing off the air each night since Gunny Bob has been on the air he always ends the program with, "Goodnight Chesty wherever you may be."

Below you will see that the United States Post Office has just released a new issue of "Distinguished Marine Stamps". One of those honored is Lieutenant General Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC.

----

Distinguished Marines commemorative 37-cent U.S. Postage stamps. The stamps immortalize four heroic legendary Marines: John Basilone, Daniel "Dan" Joseph Daly, John A. Lejeune and Lewis "Chesty" Puller.

Order info here: USPS Order info here
---

Semper Fi to all of our men and women who have served, are serving and in the future will serve in the Marine Corps.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Americanwolf]

Man Gunny writes a good piece!

[ajolympian2004]

Man Gunny writes a good piece!

You should hear him on talk radio.

[MNJohnnie]

Fortunately Gunny you have a Commander in Chief worthy of your Marines. No matter how nuts it drives the Moveon.org "news media", GW Bush will be President until Jan 2009. Doesn't matter what the polls think, what matters is what W thinks.

[MizSterious]

This one will have to be emailed to a lot of people. Many in this country absolutely do not deserve the Marines, and for the life of me, I don't know what brought us to this point. Had WWII occurred in this time, we'd be under either a Japanese or German flag by now.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Chesty Puller is surrounded...that simplifies the problem!

[kimosabe31]

Semper Fi to all of our men and women who have served, are serving and in the future will serve in the Marine Corps.

Will serve unless american libs decide it would be in the best interest of world peace to eliminate the Corps.

[Let's Roll]

The America of our Founding Fathers does ... most Americans do not deserve the Marines or our other brave young people. God Bless Them.

[ajolympian2004]

Your link is outdated or been moved.

[vpintheak]

A former Force recon Marine told me once, "If you tell the Army to take an Airstrip, you'll get it but it'll take 3 days. You tell the Marines and you'll have the airstrip in 3 hours. You may have a thousand dead Marines, but you'll hav ethat airstrip." It gives a whole new meaning to "Git 'er done!"

[Paleo Conservative]

San Francisco does. When can they start the invasion?

[Republic of Texas]

I agree. Most of this country doesn't deserve the Marines, or any of our armed forces. But they serve anyway, and thank God for them.

[G.Mason]

" ... I fear for their well-being because the majority of the people they swore an oath to defend now want them to surrender."

Absolutely untrue!

I trust the old "Gunny", Bob Newman will get over this obvious and understandable depressive state soon.

I think I'll send him a letter and cheer him up.

[ajolympian2004]

Gunny Bob's email address:

gunnybob@850koa.com

[Old Seadog]

[daybreakcoming]

I disagree to a point. Generally speaking, what have we done to deserve the sacrifices of all kinds made by Marines and the rest of our armed forces?? But to think/believe that "most of the country" does not support and love our guys/gals is merely falling into the media/pollster trap.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Final Salute

[Eighth Square]

Thanks Gunny! A great piece and timely too! Sadly, the trouble with America is Americans and what we have become. I hate what we have become far more than I hate the terrorists, at least they have BALLS!

Semper Fi!
1st Recon Bn, 1 Mar Div., '58

[MizSterious]

Ok, then, let's just say "far too many" don't deserve the Marines or the military or this President for that matter. The number SHOULD be so small that it doesn't show up as significant in any of the polls. I would guess the number is approximately the same amount that voted for Kerry--which would be slightly less than half. Maybe less than that, considering voter fraud. Even so, it's an alarming number of people who, either because they're out and out communists or because they're ignorant (or both?), would be happy if we surrendered.

[G.Mason]

Thanks ... I already emailed him. I also gave him the FR url to this post, in the case that he did not have it.

[MizSterious]

Not sure, but I think he's a freeper.

[Grampa Dave]

Hopefully this Gunny is reading this thread.

90% or the rats in congress and 99.9% of the rats who control the MSM hate America and our military.

A recent survey shows that most Americans respect our military.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1520424/posts

Rasmussen: 10% of Americans Detest the Troops, 12% Undecided(Likely Hate Troops), 78% Favorable
Rasmussen Reports ^ | November 11, 2005 | Scott Rasmussen


Posted on 11/11/2005 1:49:15 PM PST by new yorker 77


November 11, 2005--On Veterans Day 2005, 78% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the United States Military forces. A Rasmussen Reports survey found that just 10% have an unfavorable opinion.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans consider Veterans Day one of the nation's most important holidays. Six percent (6%) say it is one of the least important while 43% place it somewhere in between.

Thirty-nine percent (39%) will do something special to commemorate Veterans Day this year. Fifty-three percent (53%) will not.

Among Veterans, 64% consider this day one of the nation's most important holidays and 61% will do something special to commemorate it.

Among those with relatives and close friends serving in Iraq, 51% will do something special to commemorate the holiday.

While President Bush has tumbled in the polls, he still retains support among America's military veterans. Sixty-percent (60%) of Veterans approve of the way the President is performing his job, including 30% who Strongly Approve.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

Rasmussen Reports was the nation's most accurate polling firm during the Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.

During Election 2004, RasmussenReports.com was also the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade

[tutstar]

ping

[RaceBannon]

GySgt Newman was on the Okinawa with me in 1980

[RaceBannon]

Gunny Bob was RECON, too!

[A.A. Cunningham]

Yes, he is.

GunnyBob

[G.Mason]

"Not sure, but I think he's a freeper."

I hope you are correct.

We should find out in a few.

Here is the email. I see others have posted cheers for him also.

"Gunny:

Re: "A recent poll says most Americans believe we should surrender to the terrorists in Iraq. Marines surrendering? If this is really how Americans feel, if this is how little respect Americans have for the Corps, they no longer deserve us."

Try not to let it get you down Gunny.

There are over 60 million Americans that love the Marines. I am but one and Hell, I was a Sea Bee!

I have a son who is a Sergeant in the Marines, recently back in the States after his first tour in Iraq.

Polls, as you know, are for the pollsters. The facts are that the American public is like a teenage child. They only want their parents when they are in trouble.

The more savvy of us realize that the only thing keeping these United States living and breathing is the determination of our military men and women to lay it on the line.

I thank them each and every day and untold thousands of Americans silently do the same.

Happy birthday!

230? ... Why you don't look a day over 129!

My respects

Xxxxxxx Xxxxx Inverness, Florida

P/S Your article was posted on Free Republic. You may wish to take a look.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1520826/posts?page=1"

[G.Mason]

"Yes, he is."

See?

What do I know? ;)

[SergeantsLady]

America has probably never really deserved the Marines...thankfully, the Marines have always placed Duty, Honor, Country as their creed.

The polls and what's selectively reported from them, do no reflect the majority of Americans. I pulled up a recent WSJ/NBC poll...and after searching for the data...found Republicans under sampled by about 10%. Also, the internals show the ideals of the Republican Party (towards tax cuts, reduced spending, and even social security investment accounts) are favored by the MAJORITY of those polled. BUT, in responses further down the line, those polled think the DEMOCRATIC party best able to put the plans into place (even though 44% think the Democrats have "no clear plans for the future" and Republicans do).

All this tells me that Democrats are winning the MEDIA battle....and twisting public opinion to suit their flavor of the month. Even on the the pull out statistics from Iraq, where 57% favor "pulling out"...the key term NOT shown in the published poll is "Do you favor a TIMELINE for withdrawal of troops?". (I'm no military brain, but it seems to me that Bush has been working on a timeline...or perhaps time sequence of events to be resolved by necessity in 2007...and things are right on schedule).

As usual the Marines will get the mission done with a little "help" from the Army. Before this conflict I'd say "The Army will get it done with a little help from the Marines". Profound gratitude to all the "Jarheads" who've had my husband's back. The task is somehow for the Republicans (and I suppose that's us) to get the JOB done on the home front better... Personally, I try yelling at the TV when accidentally viewing CNN or any of the old guys...but I think I need a new strategy, perhaps that's what President Bush decided yesterday, too.

[starfish923]

[Racehorse]

Does America Still Deserve The Marines?

Absolutely.

I'm not a Marine.  Never been one.  During the sixties while living on Okinawa, I spent more than a little time with some of them.  In later years in different places and different circumstances, I had the good fortune to spend some more time with some of them.

The Marines I knew would probably be doing the same thing I'm doing after reading this article for the third time.  They might be thinking, "What a silly assed question!"

[daybreakcoming]

I would guess the number is approximately the same amount that voted for Kerry--which would be slightly less than half.

No, not quite. I know far too many Democrats who voted for Kerry (party line thing) who support and love our troops. I know there are professional democrat politicians (state level) who are asking me - under the radar anonymously - what they can do regarding sending Christmas to the troops in Iraq. Their names will never be known to the troops or anyone else. That's why I think this poll in particular is bogus.

But MS, you are absolutely correct when you say "The number SHOULD be so small that it doesn't show up as significant in any of the polls. The fact that anything above 5% say this makes my skin crawl while setting my hair on fire at the same time.

[oh8eleven]

Try this

[Einherjar]

I would follow Gunny Bob, and any of the Marines featured on the stamps, through the gates of hell while carrying buckets of gasoline.

Semper Fi.........

Corporal Einherjar, Ret. 2361495

[oh8eleven]

Gunny's Hall of Heroes.
Semper Fi ...

[JudgemAll]

What brought us to this point is a confederation of American "social needs" above those of the Union.

We fought and won a Civil War but now its meaning and mandates are being rolled back.

Marines know the American liberal is in for some kind of a$$ kicking. They are getting irritated for seeing us supporting inherently terrorists' confederacies and our own. The fight a Civil War, or for its spirit, and its spirit and victories keep getting violated.

It started around the Wilson era and continued with Truman's firing of McArthur and went really fubar in Vietnam (Kennedy was about to unite America into a huge "tribe" but was assassinated for his nationalist attempts).

The Soviet communist is the archetype of Leninit confederate aspirant, with the world at the disposal of local "social needs" of the tyrant. Kennedy opposed that with nationalism, a form of further centralization into the American tribe.

[PokeyJoe]

The moveon.org and dummies once created a map of the blue and red states, about how much tax money comes from the blue and goes to the red states. I've been looking and I don't yet see a demographic breakdown of membership in the Military - is there such a beast. I would like to make a companion map.

[FReepaholic]

...Does America Still Deserve The Marines? ...

It doesn't matter. The Marines, and all the other men and women in the other services, will defend this country whether we deserve it or not.

So what's the point of wondering?

[PokeyJoe]

Never mind. I'm getting close to my answer.

Military manpower stats - but no demographic breakdown of recruits yet found

[Roses0508]

I received this from my sister this morning. It is so worth a visit from everyone.

This will make you proud. I don't know anything about this page other than I really wish the media would give these guys the coverage they deserve.

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/THISWILLMAKEYOUPROUD.HTML

[PokeyJoe]

Go it.

Answer found here Northeast Region = 14%
North Central = 20%
South = 42.9%
West = 22.8%

Does anybody have a good skills with photoshop? Red Blue state map... change it to a grey scale (or a blush scale) with red being much, and white being null.

[Conservative Canuck]

To me, it's not about whether America deserves the Marines, it's that we NEED them. Marines serve their Commander in Chief, and their country, no matter what. They've been the vanguard of freedom and an instrument of all that is good about American power in the world.

Who was first on the ground after the tsunami? The United States Marines. Who stormed blood-soaked beach after beach to push the imperialist Japanese back in the Pacific, and ultimatley to their own shores? The United States Marines. Who stood and died for freedom at Peking, Heartbreak Ridge, Khe Sanh, and a host of other unnamed places? The United States Marines.

Many may not be grateful or acknowledge their sacrifices and fealty to this nation, but those are the ones who need their protection most; for, if the Marines did not sleeplessly and selflessly guard their freedoms, they would have nothing -- except cold, dark graves in which to lie. Yet, they perform these duties without asking, or expecting, recognition or thanks, because their commitment is not only to this great nation, but to duty, honor and courage.

Semper Fi.

[Eighth Square]

Many thanks, I'll send the Gunny an E-mail. As a former Marine I think the Gunny is pissed! not depressed as some think.

[Vor Lady]

Marine/Chesty Puller ping!

[kimosabe31]

Great words Canuck.

[Amerigomag]

In the face of the US political class the Corps does an incredible job to sustain their goals: kill people and destroy things to protect or further our national interests. My hat is off to them.

As a society we may not "deserve" their dedication but thank God there remain enough families in the US to produce young men willing to risk death for the good of our society and the principles that guide us. They are our warrior class. These warriors deserve universal respect even if their goal is not shared.

[USMCPOP]

This is what My Marine had to say:

"Hey, I agree that the "suits" who run gigantic corporate enterprises that make cutting-edge technology are more interested in money than the well-being of mankind, and frankly it disturbs me that wealth and power are becoming one. I know that sounds wierd for someone studying engineering, but I'm also Buddhist, so wealth and materialism is pretty darned low on my priority list anyway.

One thing keeps popping up in my mind though... a couple years ago I swore an oath, that I would "...support and defend the Constitution of the United states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..."

I didn't join up to be part of some government conspiracy--I joined because I thought it was just one small way that I could contribute to the people of this country... although the discipline didn't hurt much either. As I think back to that oath, something about all enemies, foreign AND DOMESTIC... I wonder who is really to blame for the degredation of the American society.

My money's on the American mass media. It seems like you can't turn on the news without seeing news reports about the death and destruction, and commercials that seem to subtlely induce worthlessness or fear, offering solace in the consumption of goods and services. The way I see it, people in this country (and the attitude is spreading across the globe), are encouraged by corporations and broadcasters to spend more and acquire more stuff, inducing a sense of security in material wealth. Some things, even tradition, can have a spin put on them to make the public needlessly wary--even fearful. Why aren't houses in this country built with big front porches anymore? Probably because we know more about fictional TV characters than we do our own neighbors....

Though I think this veritable brainwashing may not have been intentional, the people who cultivate this sort of society have a lot of the general public in their pocket, and many are trying to use their positions to reshape the world the way they think it should be, not taking into account any consequence of their actions.

Given a choice and an opportunity, I'd gladly do my part to "restructure" the commercial institutions that poison the society whose flag will one day be draped over my coffin.