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Celebrating our jarheads
Published October 30, 2009
One August afternoon several years ago I met a young man I had known for some time. Only he looked different from last I had seen him, a few months earlier. He now had short hair, dark tan, crisp uniform. He was an officer of the U.S. Marines. It certainly never occurred to me he would ever put forth the time and trouble and commitment it takes to be an honest-to-gosh officer. It took me six years just to reach Marine lance corporal, and not a very good one, at that.
The young man had graduated from Vanderbilt University and was in the University of Texas School of Law, poised to make big bucks in the legal profession. That past summer he had taken a job “with a company which has a legal branch,” the neighborhood was told, up in northern Virginia.
“It’s a pretty good deal both ways,” he explained at the time. “When I graduate, I go on active duty. The government gets a lawyer for $18,000 a year, and I get to be a Marine.”
Logic was never his strong suit. Since that long-ago day, I have wondered from time to time why anyone would join the Marines, especially now, with two wars going on.
Given the alternatives, why would anyone pin on the eagle, globe and anchor today? Perhaps this explains: “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don’t have that problem.” — President Ronald Reagan, 1985.
For the same reason they have signed up since 1775: to serve, to “make a difference.”
The Corps still calls forth those young Americans whose love of life and freedom is equaled only by the knowledge that they are worth defending. Others might not understand.
“Why in hell can’t the Army do it if the Marines can? They are the same kind of men; why can’t they be like Marines?” — Gen. John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, U.S. Army; France, Feb.12, 1918.
Incidentally, Texans have a Devil Dog in this fight. I have noticed over the years a large number of Leathernecks are from Texas. It’s traditional. The Republic of Texas had its own Marines. Yes, indeed. More than 350 men and 18 officers served in the Texas Marine Corps. No other Marines but Texans can say that they are descendants of such an organization. The Texas Marine Corps was modeled along the lines of the U.S. Marines — Texans even used old and discontinued uniforms bought from their American counterparts. But to look more Texan, those Marines took off the old buttons and badges and replaced them with new models sporting a Lone Star. There is no reason, at this point, to mention the mutiny.
Nov. 10 is the birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps, celebrated by jarheads around the world — including the once-young officer of Marines who surprised me that August afternoon.
Semper Fi, Marines, and happy birthday, my son.
Lynn Ashby is a Houston-based columnist. Contact him at ashby2(at)comcast.net.
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