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"there is a lot of good natured ribbing with these guys including the jokes regarding Marines are all Braun and no Brains....they all take it in stride.....When I talk to my son about this he has a lot of respect for the other branches because they are all serving this country..."

So true, I have been a Marine for the last 22 years and have made many jokes at the expense of our sister services, but I and 99% of all Marines have nothing but the utmost respect for soldiers, sailors, and airmen. We are on the same team. My oldest son is an Army artillery man in Iraq, and I am very proud that he had the balls to put on the uniform, whould I have preffered that he was a Marine? Sure, but in the end it was his choice and I am just as proud of him.

I grew up as a Navy brat. I remember all the Jarheads in Subic and Yokosuka. I tended to look at them, even as a dependent, with a slight air of...not contempt, but...we used to call other kids Jarheads as an insult. When they stood watch at the head of the gangways, stock still at attention, we used to go up and hassle them. Poked them in the stomach. Tried to make them move. But they wouldn't. We would throw firecrackers near them to see them jump. (As a dumbass kid...I did not know exactly the effect that might have on some of them who might not be that far out of a war zone...)

When I joined the Navy myself, I still maintained a bit of that...there has ALWAYS been the "Squid versus Jarhead" thing going on.

I remember being on the flight deck once, and watching a bunch of Marines in full combat gear running across the flight deck into the waiting chopper. They must have been taking part in a timed exercise, because they were running their asses off, a couple of them had their pots kind of going down over their eyes because they didn't seem to have them secured correctly while they ran like hell.

I watched this with some detached interest. As I looked to my left, I noticed there was a Marine standing in the catwalk with a camera, taking a picture of the guys running. He had a vaguely goofy look, and as our eyes met, he said "Uhh...uhh...uhh...Marines..." as he pointed at them.

I rolled my eyes and thought to myself..."Typical brainless Jarhead..." For some reason, that image stuck with me for years, to this day.

However, now, with a few more years behind me, and a lot more in my head (relatively speaking) I view this vision I had much differently.

Since then, I have become a military history buff, and have read extensively on military campaigns, mostly from WWII onwards.

I read about how the Marines fought on Guadalcanal, hand on throat, with a hand on their own throat, against a vicious, tenacious, resourceful and intelligent enemy who could match our troops plane for plane, ship for ship and man for man.

I read about Peleliu, Tarawa, and the unbelievable bloody, bloody caranage of Iwo Jima.

I read about the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir, how the Marines saved the day, against greater than 10 to 1 odds in unbelievable, freezing weather with inadequate equipment and supplies. How they made shelters out of the frozen bodies of their foes. How, after the most horrible privations, fought their way out of a trap on all sides, and marched their way into the stunned presence of their fellow Americans in step, to cadence, heads held up. Just unbelievable. Somehow, many Americans just do not know about this.

How in Vietnam, the Marines punished the enemy, repeatedly, over and over again, only to hear how the war was lost. The vicious battle in Hue, and the astounding siege at Khe Sanh. (with a little bit of help from the USAF...:)

Now, when I think of those young men, long ago on the flight deck of the USS JFK, running out to that helicopter, I don't think of brawny, doofus Jarheads. I think of young men who provide the spine of America. They have certainly provided the blood. Any time I see someone or talk to someone who is in, or has been in the US Marines, I shake their hand (as I do with all Vets and Military personnel) and say thanks. But for Marines, there is a little more in that handshake.

I believe it was Hemingway who said it best: "I would rather have a good Marine, even a ruined one, than anything in the world when there are chips down."

Semper Fi to all you Marines out there from a Squid.