Us verse them, I'm not sure what that is anymore. I was involved in a thread tonight that got me thinking and it took me back. As such, I felt compelled to share a story.
But first, the thing that struck me to write this revolves around how people think of their loyalty and allegiance. I want to address a problem. In short, someone I got in a discussion with on a different forum stated that a portion of the United States should be taken back. In fact, the quote was, "We're" trying to take it back. So, I assumed this person was not from this country. Then I was corrected, he is a "US citizen". So, I concluded he was a US citizen physically but mentally, he is not.
So, this is where the story starts. I need to back up to 1990 when I was in the United States Marine Corps. Three days after Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, we were told we would be deploying within the week. As it were, that was the contingent of the world our collective unit was responsible for. However, it was always thought that it was going to be a conflict between Russia and Iran at that time in history. So, we left within a week before the press even knew US troops left for the region.
In that group of 138 Marines I took over there, 3 individuals really sum up what I envisioned the country being at the time.
First, there was Lance Corporal Clark as I'll call him. Frankly, I really don't remember his last name but I remember him. He was the son of a Caribbean Diplomat. First thought was this kid is going to be a PITA. Just the opposite. He worked his butt off, didn't try and pull any special favors, and did his job very diligently. He was a great Marine in short. He also wanted to be a citizen of this country and his Father didn't pull any strings. He pulled his own weight. By virtue of not remembering his name, he did his job well. Me, perhaps not so because I didn't remember his name.
The second Marine is Corporal Thompson. Great kid and a newly promoted NCO from the hood in Detroit. He had a wife and a very young child. He played on the Marine Corps Basketball Team before he came to my unit. He had a slight speech impediment but he worked his tail off. He had his ups and downs as we all do but he had a special something about him. Unfortunately, when we were in the Gulf, his brother was shot and killed during a drug deal. I had to tell him which was very difficult as he was a great kid and loved his brother. He also had every right to go home if I wanted to send him and more importantly, if he wanted to go for the funeral. He chose to stay as, "his responsibility was to his buddies and his immediate family. His brother made his choice and paid the consequences."
The third Marine was Gunnery Sergeant Lario. Gunny was from the Philippine's. He joined the Marine Corps to gain his citizenship. He had almost 20 years in when I met him. When I checked into the unit, he was part of a ploy to initiate me so he had a good sense of humor. Gunny did a a lot for this country that wasn't his by birth as it wasn't the country of birth for the Diplomat's son. The last time I saw Gunny Lario was when I checked out of the unit after the Gulf. His words I will never forget, "Sir, thanks for doing the right thing when we were there." I thought, why say that to me, we're all in this together.
After reflecting tonight, I think Gunny Lario knew back then what a lot of us are figuring out now. We're not all in this together.
The bond we had as Marines lasts until this day. We had the buddy to our left and our right, we had the companies, battalions, and regiments as well. These guys put their money where their mouths were instead of putting their mouths where the money is. I wanted to tell the story of 3 people who had every reason to do anything other than what they did, yet they put it on the line for something bigger than themselves. And yet, there are a lot of Marines and others in the Armed Forces that are doing the same today. There so many stories like this that can be told yet some just want to get what they can get and not give back.
So, next time you meet someone in the Military, at least thank them for the right to be someone who contributes or for the right to ride on some coat tails. Some are going to get indignant about this and some are going to say it reminds them of better times. Most will probably just take it in stride. The only thing I ask, just think about it when gas seems too high to run your boat or your cable goes out, etc..
P.S. this was originally written for another forum. I really must say folks around here are what I call "good people" but I figured I'd share the letter just the same so that not all of us forget what others are doing for us.
But first, the thing that struck me to write this revolves around how people think of their loyalty and allegiance. I want to address a problem. In short, someone I got in a discussion with on a different forum stated that a portion of the United States should be taken back. In fact, the quote was, "We're" trying to take it back. So, I assumed this person was not from this country. Then I was corrected, he is a "US citizen". So, I concluded he was a US citizen physically but mentally, he is not.
So, this is where the story starts. I need to back up to 1990 when I was in the United States Marine Corps. Three days after Kuwait was invaded by Iraq, we were told we would be deploying within the week. As it were, that was the contingent of the world our collective unit was responsible for. However, it was always thought that it was going to be a conflict between Russia and Iran at that time in history. So, we left within a week before the press even knew US troops left for the region.
In that group of 138 Marines I took over there, 3 individuals really sum up what I envisioned the country being at the time.
First, there was Lance Corporal Clark as I'll call him. Frankly, I really don't remember his last name but I remember him. He was the son of a Caribbean Diplomat. First thought was this kid is going to be a PITA. Just the opposite. He worked his butt off, didn't try and pull any special favors, and did his job very diligently. He was a great Marine in short. He also wanted to be a citizen of this country and his Father didn't pull any strings. He pulled his own weight. By virtue of not remembering his name, he did his job well. Me, perhaps not so because I didn't remember his name.
The second Marine is Corporal Thompson. Great kid and a newly promoted NCO from the hood in Detroit. He had a wife and a very young child. He played on the Marine Corps Basketball Team before he came to my unit. He had a slight speech impediment but he worked his tail off. He had his ups and downs as we all do but he had a special something about him. Unfortunately, when we were in the Gulf, his brother was shot and killed during a drug deal. I had to tell him which was very difficult as he was a great kid and loved his brother. He also had every right to go home if I wanted to send him and more importantly, if he wanted to go for the funeral. He chose to stay as, "his responsibility was to his buddies and his immediate family. His brother made his choice and paid the consequences."
The third Marine was Gunnery Sergeant Lario. Gunny was from the Philippine's. He joined the Marine Corps to gain his citizenship. He had almost 20 years in when I met him. When I checked into the unit, he was part of a ploy to initiate me so he had a good sense of humor. Gunny did a a lot for this country that wasn't his by birth as it wasn't the country of birth for the Diplomat's son. The last time I saw Gunny Lario was when I checked out of the unit after the Gulf. His words I will never forget, "Sir, thanks for doing the right thing when we were there." I thought, why say that to me, we're all in this together.
After reflecting tonight, I think Gunny Lario knew back then what a lot of us are figuring out now. We're not all in this together.
The bond we had as Marines lasts until this day. We had the buddy to our left and our right, we had the companies, battalions, and regiments as well. These guys put their money where their mouths were instead of putting their mouths where the money is. I wanted to tell the story of 3 people who had every reason to do anything other than what they did, yet they put it on the line for something bigger than themselves. And yet, there are a lot of Marines and others in the Armed Forces that are doing the same today. There so many stories like this that can be told yet some just want to get what they can get and not give back.
So, next time you meet someone in the Military, at least thank them for the right to be someone who contributes or for the right to ride on some coat tails. Some are going to get indignant about this and some are going to say it reminds them of better times. Most will probably just take it in stride. The only thing I ask, just think about it when gas seems too high to run your boat or your cable goes out, etc..
P.S. this was originally written for another forum. I really must say folks around here are what I call "good people" but I figured I'd share the letter just the same so that not all of us forget what others are doing for us.
