HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINES (updated)

UPDATES:

great words and tons of USMC birthday links from...

michelle malkin (http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003867.htm) and

blackfive (http://www.blackfive.net/main/2005/11/happy_birthday_.html).

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happy 230th birthday to all Marines across the globe, in every clime and place.

take a moment for a silent prayer in honor of those who have lost their lives in recent campaigns.

be sure to visit these blogs maintained by Marines currently overseas:

ltcol craig covert's daily grind

gysgt mike fay's fire and ice

maj erik peterson's team med-fah

send 'em a comment or two to let them know you support them.

finally, i have to add my own anecdote about Marines in action. it was in iraq, sometime in april or may 2004, probably late april. the first battle of fallujah was still on but the offensive had been halted by orders from on high. the offensive in the city might have been halted, but fighting was going on everywhere.

late one day i was in the chow hall at camp fallujah. i had seen a convoy drive in, park, and disgorge a whole group of Marines who had clearly come in from action outside the gates. (there had been a pretty sharp engagement in a nasty place north of the camp, called al-karmah.)

a short while later, four young Marines sat down at my table and began wolfing down their chow like they hadn't eaten in days. in between mouthfuls they were talking excitedly about what they had just done-- how much ammo they had expended, what they'd seen, and what a tough fight it had been. i listened to all of it. they were amped up and pretty happy about the whole thing, i have to say.

now, one of them had an M203 grenade launcher slung under his M16. another had an M249 squad automatic weapon, and the other two had M16s. for those not in the Marine Corps, seeing four Marines armed in that fashion and hearing them talk would lead you to believe that they were an infantry "fire team," the very smallest unit in the Corps. three fire teams make up a squad, three squads make a platoon, etc.

so, i broke in and said, "sorry to interrupt, fellas, but i overheard you talking about the firefight today. which one of you is the fire team leader, and what company are you in?"

they stopped, glanced at each other, turned to me and said in unison, "OH, NO SIR, WE'RE TRUCK DRIVERS."

every Marine a rifleman!!

semper fi!

jpp