"Lost Over Laos" and "Farewell to a Hero"

In 1971, as American forces hastened their withdrawal from Vietnam, a helicopter was hit by enemy fire over Laos and exploded in a fireball, killing four top combat photographers: Larry Burrows of Life magazine, Henri Huet of Associated Press, Kent Potter of United Press International, and Keisaburo Shimamoto of Newsweek. The remoteness of the crash site made a recovery attempt impossible. "Lost Over Laos" provides an inside look into these events against the backdrop of U.S. operations in Laos during the Vietnam War. Starting around page 166, this book includes the story of how Associated Press correspondent Mike Putzel and Major James Newman made a flight over the crash site.

While the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation...

One of my favorite quotes from the movie "V for Vendetta":

"Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.

Eisenhower on war...

I love this quote

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can..."

- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander, Allied Forces Europe, WW II.

So many people assume that soldiers, sailors and Marines are war-mongers.  It simply isn't true.

"Then out spake brave Horatius..."

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods."

- Lays of Ancient Rome, Thomas Babington Macaulay

"...he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds..."

One of my favorite passages:

"He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds."
Job 39:19-23

Describes every Marine I have ever known. 

Semper Fi,

BL

USMC Rules for Engagement

1. Bring a weapon. Preferably, bring at least two weapons. In fact, bring all of your friends who have weapons.
2. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Your life is expensive.
3. Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.
4. If your shooting stance is good, you're probably not moving fast enough nor using cover correctly.
5. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
6. If you can choose what to use in a gunfight, use a long-range weapon.

On Free Speech...

"...because I believe in the First Amendment at all times, not just during those times that are convenient for me and my beliefs..."

- a colleague at MITRE and former Navy officer

Great Idea Sarge!

Here is a photo re-printed in U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings a couple of years ago.


The caption at the bottom of the photo says:
"GREAT IDEA SARGE! In Korea in 1952, Technical Sergeant John Boitnott, right, was one persuasive Marine sniper. He convinced Private First Class Henry Friday, left, to help him finger enemy snipers by running back and forth in the trench they shared - like a duck in a shooting gallery - until the bad guys gave themselves away by shooting at his pal. In this way, Boitnott bagged nine snipers with nine shoots from his M-1C, all at distances of about 900 yards. The team worked their deadly magic until the company commander learned about it, went ballistic, and put an end to the scheme."

"...imitate the action of the tiger..." - Henry V

From Shakespeare's "King Henry V":

In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility;
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger:
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.

Act iii. Scene 1.

Love Your Country [humor]

There is a great line in the movie "Harold and Kumary Escape from Guantanamo Bay".
The President, played by James Adomian, says "You don't have to believe in your government to be a good American. You just have to believe in your country."
Okay, maybe this is just a dumb stoner film... but I still like this quote.

I Have a Rendezvous with Death

"I have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air-
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.

 It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath-
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.

 God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous."

 - American Poet Alan Seeger (1888-1916) Seeger died at Belloy-en-Santerre on July 4, 1916 while serving in the French Foreign Legion.

Marine Dictionary: Close Combat Support

According Marine Corps' standards, the following qualify as 'close combat support':

1. When TOWs, Dragons, and other rockets are co-located with your position... and there is no 'rear' to point the rocket blast.
2. When the jets return from the mission with pieces of jungle in their fuselage.
3. When the air support and your larger ground vehicles are competing for use of the same air space.
4. When artillary is used as a direct-fire weapon.
5. When the mortars tubes are co-located with your position and appear to be at vertical.
6. When the Ship's Captain issues the orders, 'Prepare to repel boarders' to the ship's crew.
7. When you keep getting knocked down by the air blast from the M1 tank's main gun.
8. When you have to keep your head down so it doesn't get chopped off by the tail rotor of a Cobra AH-1 helo.
9. When the ejected rounds from your M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) are getting 'caught' in the treads of the tank next to you.

The Strongest Tribe

[From my dad. - BL]
The following quote appears in Bing West's recent book on Iraq. It is in the discussion of Bush's dismissal of Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Though I was very moved for very personal reasons by this quote when I read it, I thought of you and thought you would also appreciate the meaning and power of the event.

"Several months after Pace, who had been a platoon commander in Vietnam, had left the Pentagon, a visitor at the Vietnam Memorial found four silver stars tucked away under the marble wall, with a note expressing his love and respect. The names above the stars included those of the Marines who had died serving in Pace's platoon".

p. 277, "The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics and the Endgame in Iraq", Bing West, Random House, 2008

See photos on Leatherneck here.
See CNN video here and transcript here.

Duties That Are Best Shared, Matthew Bagdanos

From the Washington Post, Sunday, March 1, 2009:

"Send in the Marines" has been uttered by every president since Thomas Jefferson sent a detachment of leathernecks to the shores of Tripoli in 1801. These words are likely to be uttered in the next four years -- of special interest to me as a Marine who has served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Veteran status is no guarantor of a leader's successful use of the military, of course; nor is its absence necessarily a harbinger of misuse. But in the 1970s, 74 percent of Congress had prior military service. Today: 23 percent. Barack Obama, though clearly respectful of the military, has never served in the military and has only two veterans in his Cabinet -- the fewest since Herbert Hoover. By contrast, John Kennedy, decorated for heroism in World War II, had only two Cabinet members who were not veterans.

These figures reflect a disturbing trend. A nation largely founded on the citizen-soldier ideal finds itself, following Vietnam and the expulsion of recruiters from campuses, with the military and civilian worlds warily eyeing each other across a cultural no man's land. As budgets shrink future forces, veterans will be fewer and the chasm wider -- to our peril.

If other eyes grow dull...

If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.

- John A. Logan, Grand Army of the Republic

Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives

There is an excellent feature article in the Rocky Mountain News about the Marines charged with the final duties in care of fallen comrades-in-arms and the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. This article won a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize and was also developed into a similarly moving and compelling book titled "Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives".

The central figure of both the article and book is Maj. Steve Beck (now LtCol. Beck) but both the article and book include moving stories of a number of fallen Marines and their families. You can also hear an interview with the author and LtCol. Beck on-line via podcast from the story on NPR's Fresh Air.

What follows is a mix of extracts from the book and my commentary. All of the links rightfully lead you back to the original article.

Joke about Military Retirement Bonus [PG]

This joke has been cleaned up a bit from how I originally heard it... but I still wouldn't repeat it in front of my Grandma. Proceed or not as your own tastes dictate. - BL

Headquarters Marine Corps recently decided that it had too many senior NCOs and implemented an incentive program to encourage early retirement. The most novel aspect of the program is that it promised a bonus of $1,000 for every inch measured in a straight line between any two points in his body. The retiring NCO got to choose what those two points would be.

The first to accept asked that he be measured from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. He was measured at six feet and walked out with a bonus of $72,000.

The second who accepted was a little more clever and asked to be measured from the tip of his outstretched hands to his toes. He walked out with $96 ,000.

The third was a grizzled old "Top" who had served in Desert Storm, the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and multiple tours to "denied territory" in between. When asked where he would like to be measured he replied, "From my right thumb to my right butt cheek."

It was suggested by the pension man that he might want to reconsider, explaining about the nice big checks the previous two NCOs had received. But the old "Top" insisted and they decided to go along with him providing the measurement was taken by a medical officer. The medical officer arrived and instructed the "Top" to "drop 'em," which he did. The medical officer placed the tape measure on the tip of the Chief's thumb and began to work back...

"Dear Lord!" he suddenly exclaimed, "Where is your right butt cheek?"

The "Top" calmly replied, "Fallujah."

You might be a big system geek if...

Got this from a colleague of mine:

1. Your machine room is naked eye visible from low earth orbit. This is a nod to Mark Seager at Lawrence-Livermore, who wanted a file system visible from space. We have them now, from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.
2. Inside, you need binoculars to see the other end of your machine room.
3. You think a $2M cluster is a nice, single user development platform.
4. You order storage systems and analysts issue buy orders for disk stocks.
5. You measure system network connectivity in hundreds of kilometers of cable/fiber.
6. You dream about cooling systems and wonder when fluorinert will make a comeback.
7. You telephone the local nuclear power plant before you boot your system.
8. You’re already thinking about exaflops.

- Brian

Colin Powell's "13 Rules":

Colin Powell's "13 Rules":

1. It isn't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad and then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done.Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
5. Don't let adverse facts get in the way of a good decision.
6. You can't make someone else's decisions - don't let someone else make yours.
7. Check the small things.
8. Share credit.
9. Remain calm.
10. Be kind.
11. Have a vision.
12. Be demanding. Don't take counsel from your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a forces multiplier.

- Brian

Why I like Marines by RADM Stark on 10 Nov 1995

What follows is from a speech by RADM J. Stark on 10 Nov. 1995 in Newport, RI:

...the first reason I like Marines. They set high standards-for themselves and those around them-and will accept nothing less.

I like the way Marines march

I like the way Marines do their basic training whether it's Quantico, Parris Island, or San Diego.

I like the idea [that] Marines 'cultivate an ethos conducive of producing hard people in a soft age.'

I like the fact that Marines stay in shape.

I like the fact that the Marines only have one boss-the Commandant. And I like the directness of the Commandant.