Today is November 10, but most people will not celebrate this date. It is held in high regard by only a few, we few, we proud, we Marines. November 10 is the birthday of the Marine Corps, though it wasn't called that two hundred and thirty years ago.
Back then, it was no big deal. War was at hand, and the Second Continental Congress decided to form two battalions of Continental Marines in 1775. Our first Commandant, Captain Samuel Nichols, signed up the first recruits at Tun Tavern, in Philadelphia, and a tradition that has stood America in good stead was born. Though the two battalions were never raised, contingents of Marines were placed on board ships for the express purpose of fighting. It is a testament to the truth of our motto, Semper Fidelis, that our creed has never changed, and our purpose has never wavered. Our Oath gives us a strength of purpose, a holiness of cause, that few uninitiated can understand. "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." It is interesting that we do not pledge to defend the United States alone, but its core, the Constitution. And not from enemies foreign born, but domestic as well. Ours is a responsibility deep and broad, of such weight, we must all be descendants of Atlas. The weight of our nation's security, and the defense of the foundation of its freedom, demands a dedication and commitment beyond words.
I wonder, however, what would be said today, were such an event to take place. I can hear the MSM... "Neoconservative Hawks celebrated the creation of a new arm of the Republican war machine." Men with names like Durbin and Schumer would opine about the frightening strength of the warmonger regime in Washington, and its new Nazi-like enforcers. The public would be regaled with stories of the atrocities these barely human warriors were capable of. Anyone foolish enough to enlist would risk being called "monster" and "baby killer". The Old Press would have a heyday, exposing the viciousness of the training, and the degradation recruits had to endure.
The President takes the Oath of Office. Doctors follow the Hippocratic Oath. But Journalists? Those so obviously desperate to be heroes, the self-proclaimed defenders of truth, take no such oath. Sadly, some journalists fall into the category of domestic enemy, as they constantly undermine the efforts of our true heroes to keep us safe. Would that we were allowed to defend our country from this particular brand of insurgent, but we can't. Instead, we pledge our safety, our lives, our sacred honor, to kill, and if need be, die, so that this fifth column of our enemy's ranks can sleep peacefully, having laid their pens to rest, having written not fact, but fiction, weaving their own versions of stories better men and women lived. Theirs is a dedication not to Truth, but to expediency. Their commitment is not to their craft, but to crafting a lie.
I've ranted enough. Happy Birthday, Marines! Remember, no matter what is reported, ours is a history of noble endeavor, and great courage, one which those doing the reporting can never hope to match.
No comments:
Post a Comment