marines

You must be a light unto yourself.

Your soul may belong to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the marines.

They Served...reliving memoriesthat will not diegiving their allfor you and I -friends takenlives shaken...

If freedom is free and none need worry, then what blood drops for thee?

Hopefully one day Wars will only be fought in movies. And may the best producer win!

If I charge, follow me. If I retreat, kill me. If I die, revenge me.

To change one's field of influence is to change the course of one's life.

We got to see a Corsair ship up close _ all matt black, no markings, no lights _ and practically invisible out here in the dark! What a sight to behold! Most people don__ get to see those bastards up close. That is, for very long! Anyways, the ship was just floating there, no sign of life. Our hails weren__ being answered, and so we assumed the ship was dead in space. Captain Mulligan, gods-rest-his-soul, told me to form a boarding party of security and medics from the sickbay and that we were going over there. We weren__ a military ship, and we__e not Star Marines, so we were lightly armed and quite nervous. I mean, this wasn__ just some of my security section being called out to break up a fight at one of the bars on the promenade, this was serious life-and-death shit! So I said __kay_, and told my assistant supervisor, Lisa Garfner, to get them all together. Seven of us shifted over to the other ship with the transmatter (you still use those things, I take it?) not knowing what to expect. It could__e been anything_ and it was. It was crazy.

I've had people tell me to get over it. I politely tell them, 'How about if I chop off your finger and see if it grows back?

You always hear all these statements like "Freedom isn't free." You hear the President talking about all these people making sacrifices. But you never really know until you carry one of them in a casket. When you feel their bodyweight. When you feel them. That's when you know. That's when you understand.

WILL WORK FOR FOOD © 2013 Lyrics & Music by Michele JennaeThere he was with a cardboard sign, Will Work For Food Saw him on the roadside, As I took my kids to schoolI really didn__ have time to stop, Already running late Found myself pulling over, Into the hands of fate The look in his eyes was empty, But he held out his hand I knew my kids were watching, As I gave him all I had My heart in my throat I had to ask, __hat brought you here?_ He looked up and straight into my eyes, I wanted to disappear. CHORUS He said_ Do you think I really saw myself, Standing in this light Forgotten by society, After fighting for your rights WILL WORK FOR FOOD, WILL DIE FOR YOU I AM JUST A FORGOTTEN SOLDIER, I DON__ KNOW WHAT TO DOv. 2 He put the money in his pocket, Then he took me by the hand Thank you dear for stopping by, I am sure that you have plans He nodded toward my children, Watching from afar It__ time they were off to school, You should get in the car My eyes welled up and tears fell down, I couldn__ say a word Here this man with nothing to his name, Showing me his concern I knew then that the lesson, That today must be taught Wouldn__ come from textbooks, And it could not be bought CHORUS He said_ Do you think I really saw myself, Standing in this light Forgotten by society, After fighting for your rights WILL WORK FOR FOOD, WILL DIE FOR YOU I AM JUST A FORGOTTEN SOLDIER, I DON__ KNOW WHAT TO DOv. 3 I told him then that I had a job, That I could give him work And in return he__ have a meal, And something to quench his thirst He looked at me and shrugged a bit, And followed me to the car We went right over to a little café, Just up the road not too far After I ordered our food he looked at me, And asked about the kids __houldn__ these tykes be in school, And about that job you said._ __our job,_ I said, __s to school my girls, In the ways of the world Explain to them your service, And how your life unfurled.__e said_ Do you think I really saw myself, Standing in this light Forgotten by society, After fighting for your rights WILL WORK FOR FOOD, WILL DIE FOR YOU I AM JUST A FORGOTTEN SOLDIER, I DON__ KNOW WHAT TO DOv. 4He wasn__ sure quite what to do, As he ate his food And began to tell us all about his life_ the bad_ the good. He wiped his own tears from his eyes, His story all but done My girls and I all choked up, Hugged him one by one Understanding his sacrifice, But not his current plight We resolved then and there that day, That for him, we would fight. We offered him our friendship, And anything else we had He wasn__ sure how to accept it, But we made him understandLAST CHORUS That we had not really seen before, Him standing in the light No longer forgotten by us, We are now fighting for his rights He had_ WORKED FOR FOOD HE HAD ALL BUT DIED FOR ME AND YOU NOT FORGOTTEN ANYMORE BUT STILL A SOLDIER IN TRUST

This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. As a civilian I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. Going forward let__ not send our servicemen and women off to war or conflict zones unless it is overwhelmingly justifiable and on moral high ground. The men of WWII were the greatest generation, perhaps Korea the forgotten, Vietnam the trampled, Cold War unsung and Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan vets underestimated. Every generation has proved itself to be worthy to stand up to the precedent of the greatest generation. Going back to the Revolution American soldiers have been the best in the world. Let__ all take a remembrance for all veterans who served or are serving, peace time or wartime and gone or still with us. 11/11/16 May God Bless America and All Veterans.

As a civilian, I know nothing about combat, the Marine Corps experience or modern man's struggle adjusting to peace after war. I only know what's been shared with me; confidences I would never betray, nor use as details in a novel.

The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically.

There was nothing green left; artillery had denuded and scarred every inch of ground. Tiny flares glowed and disappeared. Shrapnel burst with bluish white puffs. Jets of flamethrowers flickered and here and there new explosions stirred up the rubble. While I watched, an American observation plane droned over the Japanese lines, spotting targets for the U.S. warships lying offshore. Suddenly the little plane was hit by flak and disintegrated. The carnage below continued without pause.Here I was safe, but tomorrow I would be there. In that instant I realized that the worst thing that could happen to me was about to happen to me.

Oh, and once, when I was in the Marines, I got a perfect score on my physical fitness test.

The Marines are like my West Highland Terrier. They get up every morning, they want to dig a hole, and they want to kill something.

We All Bleed RedWe have a confirmed threat against the homeland and I for one am grateful for the Americans sitting in the Army conference room in Fort Stewart, Georgia. The display cubes and screens lets us see different locations, cities, departments of the armed forces. It also allows us to see three commonalities. (1) We are all different. I take such pleasure in seeing the diverse group we call the intelligence community. We are different races, nationalities, and ethnic groups.(2) This brings us to the second commonality_we are all Americans. Yes, we fuss, we have differences of opinions, but we are all Americans.(3) The third and most important commonality is the fact that we all bleed red. We are humankind.These are the bonds that unite us_bond us_make us better beings. I have not mentioned religion because my God allows me to respect other people__ belief. I just ask that as we work through this crisis that we hold dearly on to these three commonalities.The Director of National Intelligence