A great reflection from Fred Reed…
Category: OPINIONS
Opinions
Fourteen women have tried, and failed, the Marines’ Infantry Officer Course. Here’s why
By Sage Santangelo, Published: March 28 I awoke to Eminem blasting hours before dawn at Quantico Marine Base. A fog of breath and sweat permeated the cold January air as I joined 104 other nervous lieutenants hauling gear to the classroom where we would receive our first instructions. With body armor, Kevlar, a rifle and – > Read More
LETS BE REAL: WOMEN IN COMBAT
Author and Marine Jude Eden served in the Marine Corps from 2004-2008, deploying to Fallujah Iraq in 2005-6. Jude shares her thoughts about women in combat… “Women have many wonderful strengths, and there is certainly a lot of work for women to do in the military. But all the problems that come with men and – > Read More
Why We Fought & Why We Would Do it Again
American Legion Editorial By Jim Webb, September 2003 Against a backdrop of political mismanagement and social angst, history has failed to respect those who gave their all to the war in Vietnam. Forty years ago, Asia was at a vital crossroads, moving into an uncertain future dominated by three different historical trends. The first involved – > Read More
Do you still think of Vietnam?
by Kerry “Doc” Pardue A couple of years ago someone asked me if I still thought about Vietnam. I nearly laughed in their face. How do you stop thinking about it? Every day for the past forty years, I wake up with it- I go to bed with it. This was my response: “Yeah, I – > Read More
An Amazing Pool of Talent at an Employer’s Fingertips
In combat, a sniper’s goal is to become a needle in a haystack. Marksmanship is only a piece of the puzzle. Whether I was in the Sierra Nevada Mountains or the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, stealth was not just a tool — it was the objective. Before I became a Marine sniper, I spent – > Read More
The Man In The Arena
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who – > Read More
They wish to hell
Bill Mauldin (1921-2003) on Marines: They wish to hell they were someplace else, and they wish to hell they would get relief. They wish to hell the mud was dry, and they wish to hell their coffee was hot. They want to go home. But they stay in their wet holes and fight, and then – > Read More
How the Marines have survived, and why
MAY 6, 2013, VOL. 18, NO. 32 • BY MACKUBIN THOMAS OWENS In 1957, the commandant of the Marine Corps, General Randolph Pate, sent a brief note to the director of the Marine Corps Educational Center, Brig. Gen. Victor Krulak, in which he asked, “Why does the U.S. need a Marine Corps?” Krulak, already a – > Read More
Beyond The Bumper Sticker: 10 Ways Americans Can Support the Military Family
by Erin Whitehead, Marine Corps spouse Yesterday, many Americans paused to honor those who have served and continue serving in our nation’s military. Flags were flown and prayers were said in civilian homes and backyards around the country. But because of the nature of our lives, the military spouse community has a special understanding of – > Read More
Allen West for President!
Lt. Col. Allen West for President! Sound Off!
CPL P letter to POTUS
Via Corporal Kevin P. Thanks to overwhelming support, I have decided to release this. I wrote a letter to the President! Tell me what you guys think: “January 25, 2012 The Honorable Mr. Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, My name is Kevin. I am twenty – > Read More
War Is Hell
Last week’s video of Marines urinating on Taliban corpses went viral on the Internet. Among the responses was Lt. Col. Allen West’s ‘Shut Your Mouth, War Is Hell‘. I agree the actions of those Marines do not represent the values we learn in the Corps, however, unless you’ve been shot at by the Taliban, Shut – > Read More
Applying The Just-War Theory To The War On Terrorism
I ran across this piece while researching morality of killing in war. If “jus ad bellum” and “jus in bello” are of interest to you, this is an interesting read.~Wally by Mark S. LatkovicBefore answering this question of how just-war principles apply to the war on organized terrorism, we must first deal with the question, – > Read More
Marines still the mavericks we need
By VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, NEW YORK POST HBO’s 10-part series on the Pacific campaign of World War Two just ended. That story of island-hopping was mostly about how the old breed of US Marines fought diehard Japanese infantrymen face-to-face in places like Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Guam and Okinawa. No one can question the – > Read More