MAKING MARINES:

The Marines: Always Faithful to Their History: More so than any other military branch, the corps never lets its members forget the heroism of those who fought before them. (Tony Perry, March 6, 2003, LA Times)

While each branch of the military teaches its recruits about its history and heroes, none does so as thoroughly as the Marine Corps.

The emphasis on history starts with recruiting, which stresses the legacy of the corps. In boot camp, drill instructors deliver history lessons; in the final physical challenge, a 72-hour outdoor ordeal called "the crucible," recruits are ordered to discuss the heroism of Medal of Honor recipients.

Officers and senior enlisted members pick up the task once new Marines report to their first duty stations.

The result is that the Marines may outpace any institution in America -- military or civilian -- in teaching its history to its members.

Chief Warrant Officer John Johnson, 40, of Detroit occasionally has young Marines assigned to his command read the commendations detailing the bravery of Marines awarded the Medal of Honor.

"I want them to understand the organization that they've joined," he said. "There is something special about remembering those who preceded you."

Last weekend, even as Camp Pendleton was consumed with preparing Marines and their gear to deploy to Kuwait, the base held a memorial service and banquet to honor the 58th anniversary of the amphibious assault at Iwo Jima by the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine divisions.

"It's one of the differences between us and the Army," said 2nd Lt. Richard Wilkerson, 27, of Knoxville, Tenn. "Ask someone in the Army when the Army's birthday is, and you'll get a strange look. Ask any Marines about the birthday and they'll tell you: 'Nov. 10, 1775.' "

It was on that date that the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, ordered that "two battalions of Marines be raised" to serve as landing forces with the Navy. In a phrase that would serve as an advertising slogan two centuries later, the congress declared that "a few good men" be recruited.

With fewer forces and less heavy artillery than the Army, the Marine Corps prides itself on moving and striking quickly, seizing territory and establishing a beachhead for the forces arriving later.

As they wait for the order to go north for "trigger time," Marines in Kuwait spend off-hours reading books about their history. The corps has an official reading list, with different books recommended for different ranks. At the top of the list are "the commandant's favorites."

Wilkerson is reading "With the Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge, the story of Marines at Peleliu and Okinawa.

Richard H. Kohn, military history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the Marines attract young men and women who want both a physical challenge and to "define their identity with what has become almost a legendary institution in American life."

All of the services, Kohn said, seem to "produce a special elan, attitude and belief." But the Marine Corps, he said, "because of its history and training seems to articulate and exhibit [it] more noticeably than the other services."

Obviously an entire society, particularly a free one, will never duplicate the esprit de corps of the Marines, but you have to wonder if a people who neither know nor celebrate their own history and culture is capable of cohering in the long term.

Which brings us to this, Threat of war spurs U.S. soul-searching: Mix of politics, religion is strong, Kaptur warns (DAVID YONKE, March 1, 2003, Toledo Blade)

Before launching a military strike against Iraq, Americans should consider their own history to remember how powerful the mix of religion and politics can be, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D.,Toledo) said.

"If you think back to our founding as a country, we are a country of revolution," Miss Kaptur said in an interview this week. [...]

When America "cast off monarchical Britain" in 1776, it involved the help of many religious people who had fled repression in other countries, the 11-term Toledo congressman said. Among the nontraditional American revolutionaries were the Green Mountain Boys, a patriot militia organized in 1770 in Bennington, Vt., to confront British forces, she said.

"One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown," Miss Kaptur said.

In Iraq and other Arab nations where revolutions are potentially brewing, religious fervor will play a vital role in shaping political events, she said, and the United States must be careful "not to get caught in the crossfire."

"I think that one thing that people of faith understand about the world of Islam is that the kind of insurgency we see occurring in many of these countries is an act of hope that life will be better using Islam as the only reed that they have to lean on.

"I think that people of faith understand that for many of the terrorists, their actions are acts of sacred piety to the point of losing their lives. And I think that people of faith understand that there is a heavy religious overtone to the opposition."

You tell me how that resembles the Green Mountain Boys?

MORE:
Have You Forgotten? (Darryl Worley)

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 7, 2003 6:35 PM