Whisper 'Semper Fi'

He was sitting on a park bench, hunched and looking low. It was hard to imagine how he'd looked so long ago. His beard was long and shaggy now; his sparse hair white as snow but his steel gray eyes were piercing and I turned away to go.

He looked lonely and forgotten and maybe homeless too. Like life had dealt him a bad hand maybe quite a few. He was probably abandoned by those who didn't care I wondered what had happened. What drove him to despair.

He said, "Son, I'm a Leatherneck, of wars before your time." His eyes grew still more piercing as he looked deep into mine. "Your uniform says you're a Devil Dog, the man I've waited for. And there's something I want to tell you -- things I've never said before."

The tattoos on his weathered arm read "Mom" and "Semper Fi." "Let's sing our hymn together, son, once more before I die." As we sang of Montezuma's halls and the shores of Tripoli, the old man stood straight and tall and he looked down at me.

"Bury me at Arlington; put an EGA upon my chest. Tell all the world I died for them that I was one of the best. I was with the Fifth on Iwo and I fought in Korea too. During that ugly war in Vietnam, I stood proud, and cheered for you.

"Get me a straight edge razor, lad and give me a good clean shave. I want to look my very best as I go to my grave. Cut my hair; shine my boots; let me borrow your best blues. You have them back after I'm gone and all my medals too.

"I don't want no flowers, an American flag will do. My life was lived and given for the Red and White and Blue. Whisper 'Semper Fi' my boy, so loud that all will hear. Fire them rifles in the air; they're music to my ear."

As he told me his last wishes. I saw him standing tall. I could see the ribbons on his chest, in the dim light of the Mall. And as he closed his steel gray eyes, I thought about the Corps. He'd lived the life of a real Marine, who could ask for anything more?

"Whisper 'Semper Fi,' my lad," his voice lingered in my mind I thought about all my buddies, those I'd left behind. Today, I'd met a real Marine, a hero through and through.

Forgotten by his country, but not by me and you.
By Cordell Keith Haugen

Things I Learned AT Presidential Classroom

For those of you that don't know, I volunteered as an instructor for 40 teenagers who came to Washington DC to learn about the inner workings of our governemnt. I know, but they even paid for it.

Anyway, spending many many hours per day with 40 teens can teach you a lot so....

51 nuggets of knowledge I harvested while volunteering for the Presidential Classroom in 2003.

1. Half my uniform items can be referred to as thingies.

2. My uniform is cute.

3. How teenage heads look like gophers while popping out of their rooms at 11:05 at night.

4. How teenage kids can forget a number between 1 and 40 despite saying it multiple times in order all week.

5. How to make cornrows if I decide to change my hairstyle.

6. The difference between Mentos and gum (None, according to Natanya).

7. The back of the bus is the universal collection of loud problem children anywhere you go.

8. Calamities from God happen when Captain Grose does not stay with the Caucus

9. Disrespectful award presenters, even if from different caucuses, are taken care of by sending in the Marines.

10. My digital camera can record hundreds of pictures per day, even ones of sleeping students.

11. PC students become very studious in seminars as the week goes by, evidenced by the focused interest in reading as they lean forward, head down.

12. PC students actually believe I was fooled by this technique.

13. That it’s probably not a good idea to brag to me that you slept for 20 minutes during the last seminar.

14. Suit, tie, jacket, heat, humidity = Casual Mess.

15. Putting something on the Daily will not prevent students from asking obvious questions.

16. If you are in Caucus 8, you will be last to go in everything no matter what you are told to the contrary.

17. That we should tell students to wear uncomfortable shoes to ensure they don’t.

18. Putting 4 people to a room develops debate skills better than Crossfires.

19. Students think my kids endure bootcamp training all their lives.

20. Students are stunned to know I’m a storehouse of music knowledge clear up the current top ten.

21. According to the majority of the female students, Ian is to Prince Charming what Clark Kent is to Superman.

22. Telling students to stay on the Hill before letting them loose results in a useless deduction and waste of four words I’m allotted in this life.

23. Towels CAN be used as bartering commerce.

24. Bus drivers can attain lost status despite landmarks such as 550 ft monuments to guide them.

25. There is such thing as TOO much Gettysburg history. (OK, maybe it was just me).

26. Caucus 8’s combat advance on line could have lost Gettysburg for the North.

27. Formal dinner etiquette for the students is about as familiar to them as nuclear physics taught in an extinct variation of Swahili.

28. Teaching a male student to stand when a lady leaves and also when she returns is akin to providing a love potion.

29. Dance floor moves these days could have caused pregnancies back in my days.

30. Late night interns sleep only when not spoken to.

31. Coffee is the excelsior of life.

32. Marriott elevators not only have a mind of their own but can hold more students than normally considered possible.

33. Marriot elevators move at the same rate as glaciers. No, sloths. No, sloths frozen in glaciers.

34. I wouldn’t be surprised is the CIA now somehow has an internal picture of my spleen.

35. The White House can be considered hideously gaudy and magnificently elegant at the same time.

36. Secret Service agents have a sense of humor.

37. CIA agents don’t and likely have it surgically removed.

38. Not telling the other runners I was going to run on the second panoramic picture was a questionable call.

39. Getting a new room key really screws the other occupants. Bad.

40. A line of blister-footed girls in the SSO should never be asked “How ya doin’?” for any reason. Ever.

41. Dumping a tray of tacos results in cat-like reflexes when one brings only one uniform.

42. Discovering a missing top button while in uniform brings out amazing MacGyver-like qualities in a person.

43. Men are jerks (according to one of my female students).

44. I’m not a “young man” after I point out that I fall in the man category.

45. Tiny bottles of water are nothing more than a tease.

46. Watching men throw rifles with bayonets makes me unconsciously clinch numerous parts of my body.

47. The length of a FULL night’s sleep can become 5 hours.

48. “Sleeping in” can become 6 hours

49. Being tapped on the shoulder by your roommate ½ hour before muster time can trigger spaz mode.

50. Bahrainian ambassadors know how to treat guests.

51. I would be a very skinny man in Bahrain and likely starve within a month.

Magic Quarter

This is kinda gross but if you know how it was done, let me know.

NMCI

"NMCI" is actually the Navy and Marine Corps Intranet. Someone came up with the bright idea to contract out all the IT for the Navy and Marine Corps and as you can imagine, it isn't the most popular move ever made. Someone sent me some alternate meanings to NMCI.

Not Much Common Interest
No Money Coming In
Non-Mission Capable Intranet
No Man's Connected Interface
No Marines Can Interface
Not Much, Costs Increasing
Not My Costly Idea
Not Many Can Interface
Not Many Can Interact
Not Much Coming In
Normally Mediocre Computer Intranet
No More Connection to the Internet
Navy or Marine Corps Intranet
No More Computer Information
Newly Minted Computer Idiots
No More Communications Internally

AND FINIALLY my personal favorite:

Not My Crappy Idea

Bet This Stayed In Vegas

Probably shouldn't do what you're told while in Vegas.

Why Most Men Are Republicans

I Couldn't Stop Laughing At This

Happy Birthday Marines

Fellow Marines,

I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment and wish all of you a happy birthday. Each one of us have our own story but at some point, our paths crossed directly and for that, I am eternally grateful. We are share a kinship similar to what we share with all Marines past, present, and future but it’s the intersection of our particular lives and careers that make the memories we all cherish.

I was recently discussing my time in the Corps and the person (not a Marine, of course) said “you only have one more year to go.”

My response was “I only GET one more year.”

It has been a very one-sided honor to serve as a Marine for 19 out of the 231 years the Corps has existed. That means that for over 8% of the time it has existed, I have been honored to wear the Cloth of our Nation as a United States Marine. For me, that is very humbling.

But I have not been alone. I have not been “An Army of One” and I know that any success I have enjoyed has been a direct result of many if not all of you. I cannot fathom a future without the quality of people that have surrounded me for my entire adult life.

Every day I see young Marines (the youngest this year was born while I was going through bootcamp) and I see senior Marines. We wear the same uniform, show the same professionalism, and share the same feelings about serving our Corps. I see them graduate every week and while my throat gets a lump when I think that many of them will be going the war soon, I see the gleam in their eyes and know they are up to the challenge. And I know that those more seasoned Marines that have gone before them are ready to share with them the secrets of staying alive and winning.

So happy birthday, Marines and for what it’s worth, know that I have first hand knowledge that the Marines we are making today are every bit as Hardcore Marine Corps as we were (or thought we were!).

I honor you and thank you for your service. I thank you for being the very fiber of the institution the world knows as the finest fighting force that ever existed.

Semper Fi.

Jason D. Grose
http://www.grose.us
"And of course you can't becomeif you only say what you would have done..."

If You Steal My Sunshine
Len

You Might Want To Read This, Senator

I did not write this, but I wish I would have:

-- Viper

---------------------------------


Yesterday John Kerry said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq”

So I wrote him a letter:

I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few. You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you.

I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve you just as faithfully. I serve America Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My role is a simple one, but important. You see Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn’t take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and it’s going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can’t treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like it’s taking too long.

Senator Kerry, you don’t have to agree with this war. You don’t have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please Senator Kerry, if you’re going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don’t tell me that I misunderstood you or that you would never insult a veteran because you’re one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me.

My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can’t read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it’s because you didn’t communicate clearly.

Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it’s always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.

Sincerely,

Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.