From The Birthday Message by General John A. Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps

On November 1st, 1921, John A. Lejeune, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, directed that a reminder of the honorable service of the Corps be published by every command, to all Marines throughout the globe, on the birthday of the Corps. Since that day, Marines have continued to distinguish themselves on many battlefields and foreign shores, in war and peace. On this birthday of the Corps, therefore, in compliance with the will of the 13th Commandant, Article 38, United States Marine Corps Manual, Edition of 1921, is republished as follows:

"(1) On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of the Continental Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name Marine. In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our Corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history.

"(2) The record of our Corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous military organizations in the world's history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the Marine Corps has been in action against the Nation's foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the long era of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres, and in every corner of the seven seas that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security.

"(3) In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our Corps, Marines have acquitted themselves with the greatest distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term "Marine" has come to signify all that is highest in military efficiency and soldierly virtue.

"(4) This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received from those who preceded us in the Corps. With it we also received from them the eternal spirit which has animated our Corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of the Marines in every age. So long as that spirit continues to flourish, Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as 'Soldiers of the Sea' since the founding of the Corps."

On the 10th of November in 1775 at Tun Tavern, the Continental Congress passed a resolution which said in part:

"...Resolved, that two battalions of Marines be raised, consisting of one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, two majors, and other officers as usual in other regiments; and that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken, that no persons be appointed to office, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea when required; that they be enlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present war between Great Britain and the Colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second battalions of American Marines..."

And thus the United States Marine Corps was born.  Semper Fi my brothers, Semper Fi.   And to all members of our military, both past and present - Happy Veteran's day.

Once again, Michael Yon is back in Iraq as an embedded reporter, this time as an affiliate of The Weekly Standard. He wrote an interesting piece on what it takes to become an embedded reporter that is definetely worth the read.

Getting to the Middle East requires a long, expensive flight. And the Hilton that came so highly recommended also came with a high room rate: $590 for a room that would have been worth maybe $150 in Florida. There was nothing to drink in the room, but the front desk offered to send up two bottles of water for about $23. There was no internet cable in the room. For $590 per night, a guest shouldn't have to pay for water, or call for an internet cable. For that kind of money, there should be a helipad on the roof.

For most journalists considering Iraq, where the frustrations and dangers are high, where there is little glory and less money, and where the expenses vomit—I've now got probably $35,000 worth of gear that might burn up in the next IED explosion—nobody needs a calculator to figure out this one. Food and lodging are free after the embed process—which greatly helps—but that does not settle the account.

Shesh, gives you a new found respect for what they have to go thru, and what it costs to actually report the war in Iraq. The fact that Michael Yon was able to do the first 8 months there as a completely independent writer is truely amazing.

We've got 120,000+ of our men & women in uniform overseas, doing what our country asks of them. Many are reservists or National guard, people who have put their life on hold to go serve in Iraq. They volunteered to serve our country, and because of that they've had to leave their jobs & loved ones behind.

So, get off your collective asses and do something for them. Got some magazines laying around that you've read and are ready to toss out? Send them to our soldiers. Maybe some DVD's you no longer watch, or games for the XBox / PS2 that no longer get played, yup - if you find the right unit they'll be thrilled to get those and put them to use. You say you have none of these things to give? How about taking a couple minutes out of your day and just sending them a letter or a post card - is that too much to ask?

Head on over to Any Soldier.com and find someone who would be happy to hear from you, someone who put their life on hold to answer our countries call. Time for you to put a small portion of 1 day on hold to answer their call. Now you just know that I picked Marines to send stuff to, but feel free to find someone from any branch of the service, they'd all love to from us.

Doing some reading of blogs while I'm checking in source code for the work I did this evening (btw - Microsoft Visual Sorcesafe over VPN sucks, bigtime), I came across a couple new blogs I'll be following. The first is American Soldier, and the other is Team Med-fah, both are pretty good reads.

By way of trackbacks and such, I came across this bit of info.. The Army is offering up to $150k bonus for people with prior military experience. Damn thats a nice chunk of change.. almost makes a guy think about signing up! Of course, theres a few minor factors stopping me, including the fact that they surely don't want any part of my 42 year old broken up body, not to mention - its the Army. Sorry, but once a Marine always a Marine. *grin*

I know that I will be sent back at some point. It is an inevitable fate that I gladly accept. I don’t know what it is. I cannot comprehend not serving. I just can’t grasp trying to avoid going back. I know it puts a burden on my family, it holds up my employer but dammit if it weren’t for willing Soldiers. Then all of this would not exist. We live in a time when people want to hurt all that we have. We haven’t had to defend our beloved country is years. It’s time to mount up and accept that this is not going away.

Michael Yon has posted his latest combat reporting article titled Gates of Fire. What an amazing article, an absolute must read for everyone. Once again Michael reports on what is going on in Iraq, what our soldiers face on a day to day basis with such clarity and detail it leaves you in awe. All of Michael Yon's articles should be requirde reading for all journalists and bloggers.

I sick and damned tired of reading & hearing about Casey Sheehan's mother down in Texas, and how she's camped outside of Pres. Bush's ranch to make some sort of anti-war statement. Yes, I feel bad for her loss - how could you not? But lets get the facts straight here, ok? Casey volunteered to join the Army. He obviously felt strongly about what he was doing, as he reenlisted knowing he would likely be sent to Iraq. When it came time to go on the mission that ultimately cost him his life, he volunteered to go on that mission - he didn't have to go. And now his mother is making a media whore of herself, even though it goes against what her husband and the rest of Caseys family know he would have wanted.

What really pisses me off is that the media is fawning all over her, and yet there are so many other voices out there that should be heard, ones who have as much at stake as Casey's mother does - and yet the media pays them no attention. How about telling the story of Captain Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss and his wife? After being injured by an IED in Iraq, he was recovering back in the states. Due to his effort, a group called Soldiers Angles has started up a project called Project Valour-IT to get voice activated laptops to soldiers who have been wounded to use while they are recovering.

And while you're browsing around, go read Holly Aho's story about her conversation with an Iraq soldier. Futher down the page she has some ideas on what you can do to support our troups - do it.

Michael Yon was interviewed by Hugh Hewitt, you can read part of the interview at Radio Blogger.
I found this comment the most interesting.

HH: Are Americans getting a distorted view about how the war is going?

MY: Absolutely. Clearly, you're getting mostly body counts and bombings and that sort of thing, which are very real. I mean, I see those things here. They absolutely occur. We fight here every day. But what they don't see is that we fight less and less here every day. For instance, Deuce 4 has not been hit with an I.E.D. in about two weeks. We used to get hit like twice a day. Now, it's been like two weeks, and we have not been hit at all. So, you know what I'm saying?

While reading Michelle Malkin, I happened across a link to Marine Corps Moms. Out-freaking-STANDING.. what a great site! Some of the posts in the archive really touched me. Glad to see that, even if the "Main Stream media" is busy bashing our men & women in uniform, there are so many bloggers out there giving them the support and accolades they deserve.

Anyone interested, the Marine Corps Commemoriative coin goes on sale July 20th. I'll be ordering a couple for sure.

Speaking of the MSM - what the fuck is wrong with this story? Wow - the 20th hijacker was *TORTURED* by being made to wear a bra and thong on his head? A women ran her fingers through his hair? Was lead around by a dog chain??? OH MY FUCKING GOD! The HORROR! The INHUMANITY! GULAG! INQUSITION! LET THE MILITARY HEADS ROLL! Fuck those writers.. thats not torture, that sounds like a fun night of sex. If thats torture, sign me up and bring it on baby - bring it on! I say we pack up those reporters and send them over to London to help clean up the poor innocent people who were murdered by the suicide bombers. Next they can go to Iraq and help scrape up the 30 dead children that the suicide bombers there intentionally targeted.

You want sympathy for the "tortured" guy who was supposed to be the 20th bomber on the World Trade Center towers? As my father - "The big guy" - always says, sympathy is in the dictionary, somewhere between shit and syphillis.