Happy 237th Birthday USMC

A repost from a few years ago. It’s a favorite of mine.

History of The Marines’ Hymn: (exerpt from Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines, Copyright 2001 Marion F. Sturkey) The U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force all have their own songs.

For the U.S. Navy, Anchors Aweigh was written in 1906 by Lt. Charles Zimmerman and midshipman Alfred Miles. Initially the song was a tribute to the Naval Academy Class of 1907. Various people revised it later, trying to weed out the nonsense. Another midshipman, Royal Lovell, penned the final stanza in 1926. Anchors Aweigh has a snappy little tune, but no one knows what the words imply. The original first stanza in 1906 had dealt solely with the game of football. Even today, the song offers a bittersweet “farewell to college joys.” The lyrics end by “wishing you a happy voyage home.” Many musical experts think that Anchors Aweigh is a ballad for football players who like sailboats. But, no one really knows for sure.
The U.S. Army adopted a snazzy tune for The Caisson Song. Unlike the words in the Navy’s song, the words of the Army’s song make sense. According to the words of each stanza, The Caisson Song clearly is a melody for rural motorists. Edmund Gruber wrote the original lyrics in the Philippines during World War I. Naturally, since most of the fighting was 8000 miles away in Europe, Gruber made only a passing reference to warfare. Yet, he was careful to be “politically correct.” He apparently sought the help of first grade students in composing the lyrics. The banal “Hi, hi, hee” is a dead giveaway. No one has a clue as to what it might mean. Still, at least it rhymes.
The U.S. Air Force did not exist in 1938. But, that year Liberty Magazine sponsored a contest for an official song for the Army Air Corps. The magazine received 757 entries. A group of Army Air Corps wives (yes, believe it or not, wives) selected the entry from Robert Crawford, Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder.
After World War II the Army Air Corps evolved into the U.S. Air Force. This fledgling flying club adopted Off We Go’ as their official song. It suited the illusionary nature of the new Wild-Blue-Yonder-Wonders with references to “those who love the vastness of the sky” and the fictitious “rainbow’s pot of gold.” The final stanza speaks of the “gray haired wonder,” an admirable gesture of non-discrimination for the new civilianized Air Force.
These three songs, Anchors Aweigh, The Caisson Song, and Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder, are often played at public events. They obviously delight the members and advocates of the affected service: Navy, Army, or Air Force. When their song is played, sailors, soldiers, and zoomies leap to their feet and shout, cheer, clap their hands, and jive with the music. They have a jolly time, almost like a high school pep rally.

The U.S. Marine Corps is the United States’ military band of brothers dedicated to warfighting. The proud Brotherhood of Marines is guided by principles, values, virtues, love of country, and its Warrior Culture. This brotherhood of American Patriots has no song. Instead, Marine Warriors have a hymn. When The Marines’ Hymn is played, United States Marines stand at attention. They silently show their pride in their fellow Marines, their Corps, their Country, their heritage, and their hymn.
The Marines’ Hymn is a tribute to Warriors. Marine Warriors stormed fortress Derna, raised the American flag, and gave us “the shores of Tripoli.” Marines fought their way into the castle at Chapultepec and gave us the “halls of Montezuma.” Marines exist for the purpose of warfighting. Fighting is their role in life. They “fight for right and freedom” and “to keep our honor clean.” They fight “in the air, on land, and sea.” The Marine Corps is Valhalla for Warriors. U.S. Marines need no song. They have a hymn.
Ironically, no one knows who wrote the hymn, which was in widespread use by the mid-1800s. Col. A.S. McLemore, USMC, spent several years trying to identify the origin of the tune. In 1878 he told the leader of the Marine Band that the tune had been adopted from the comic opera Genevieve de Barbant, by Jaques Offenback. Yet, others believe the tune originated from a Spanish folk song. Whatever! Regardless of its origin, The Marines’ Hymn has remained a revered icon of the United States Marine Corps for almost 200 years.
In 1929 The Marines’ Hymn became the official hymn of the Corps. Thirteen years later in November 1942 the Commandant approved a change in the words of the first verse, fourth line. Because of the increasing use of aircraft in the Corps, the words were changed to “In the air, on land, and sea.” No other changes have been made since that time. When you have attained absolute perfection, there is no need for further modification:

From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of UNITED STATES MARINES.

Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze,
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far off northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job –
The UNITED STATES MARINES.

Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By UNITED STATES MARINES.

Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, became an ardent admirer of the U.S. Marine Corps. In the company of guests of state, he often demonstrated his respect for U.S. Marines by reciting, from memory, all three verses of The Marines’ Hymn.

I heard a lot about the Marines growing up. I heard these lyrics and a lot more. My dad is a former Marine, guarding those streets in heaven. Semper Fi Dad.

Happy Flag Day-Happy 237th Birthday, U.S. Army

Happy Veterans Day 11-11-11

Remembering Pearl Harbor

Consider Sears For All Your Shopping, Especially Christmas

I stole this directly from Nuke’s site. This is how a company should treat our military men and women.

How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty?

By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up for active duty.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution. I suggest we all shop at Sears at least once, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement and feedback it well deserves.

I decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department:

I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, the internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it’s cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:

Dear Customer:

Thank you for contacting Sears.The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback.

Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.

Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care

Pass the word…oh, and do a little shopping at Sears.

Send a Thank You Card To The Troops… It’s Free!

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING SPECIAL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can’t pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!    It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?    Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them.

This takes just 10 seconds and it’s a wonderful way to say thank you.    Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do..  We can never say enough thank you’s.

Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

December 7, 1941. Never Forget

Ed Morrissey has this great post up at Hot Air.

Before there was 9/11, there was Pearl Harbor.  Both attacks had their similarities.  In both cases, we had a deadly enemy arrayed against us, but most Americans remained — or better put, willfully ignored — the threats both enemies posed.  Only after thousands of Americans died did the US awaken to the true nature of those enemies.

Sixty-eight years ago today, the Japanese Empire attacked our naval base at Pearl Harbor without warning or a declaration of war.  Within hours, their navy attacked American positions throughout the Pacific, including the Philippines, destroying our outposts and claiming the entire Pacific Ocean as their possession.  With the fortunate exception of several aircraft carriers that had been on an exercise that morning, the US had almost no Pacific Fleet, and many feared an invasion of the West Coast.

It took hundreds of thousands of American lives to defeat both Japan and Nazi Germany in the war that followed — a war that had already enslaved China years before on one side of the US, and half of Europe on the other side.  We thought we had learned a lesson on December 7, 1941 ,which was that we had to be prepared to fight a war in order to keep from getting surprised like that again.  Of course, we shouldn’t have been surprised at all by Japan’s attack in the first place.  They didn’t suddenly become warlike and aggressive on December 6th, 1941, as the Chinese, Manchurians, and Koreans could attest.  They had been attempting conquest (and succeeding) for several years in the Pacific Rim.  We just preferred to keep our eyes closed in order to keep from doing anything about it.  When we attempted to cut off oil to Japan, we discovered that negotiations and sanctions don’t keep war-drunk, expansionist powers from increasing their expansionism.

The lesson from that war is that appeasement and complacency doesn’t keep one from having to fight a war.  It usually forces one to fight from an extreme disadvantage.  That’s a lesson we have not remembered in dealing with expansionist powers in our own time, even after a second shock like 9/11 after years of complacency in dealing with al-Qaeda.  We’re falling back to treating radical Islamist terrorism like a Law and Order episode, and allowing one of the main drivers of radical Islamist terror, Iran, to arm itself with nuclear weapons with no consequences whatsoever.

On what date will the next “sneak” attack occur?

Stop The Outrage. Support The Navy SEAL’s

Support the Seals–
It was 2004: Fallujah, Iraq. Four civilian U.S. contractors were transporting supplies for a catering company. They were ambushed, killed, their bodies burned and dragged through the streets, then hung from a bridge on the Euphrates River.

A NAVY SEAL TEAM captured one of the military’s “most wanted” terrorists, the one responsible for the heinous crime. Now 4 of our bravest and finest are facing prosecution because the scumbag terrorist claimed he got a bloody lip while in their custody.
Please help get the word out on the outrageous prosecution of the Navy SEAL Three—

Gateway Pundit has more…

Happy Birthday USMC, Thank You For 234 Years Of Loyal Service

History of The Marines’ Hymn: (exerpt from Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines, Copyright 2001 Marion F. Sturkey) The U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force all have their own songs.

For the U.S. Navy, Anchors Aweigh was written in 1906 by Lt. Charles Zimmerman and midshipman Alfred Miles. Initially the song was a tribute to the Naval Academy Class of 1907. Various people revised it later, trying to weed out the nonsense. Another midshipman, Royal Lovell, penned the final stanza in 1926. Anchors Aweigh has a snappy little tune, but no one knows what the words imply. The original first stanza in 1906 had dealt solely with the game of football. Even today, the song offers a bittersweet “farewell to college joys.” The lyrics end by “wishing you a happy voyage home.” Many musical experts think that Anchors Aweigh is a ballad for football players who like sailboats. But, no one really knows for sure.
The U.S. Army adopted a snazzy tune for The Caisson Song. Unlike the words in the Navy’s song, the words of the Army’s song make sense. According to the words of each stanza, The Caisson Song clearly is a melody for rural motorists. Edmund Gruber wrote the original lyrics in the Philippines during World War I. Naturally, since most of the fighting was 8000 miles away in Europe, Gruber made only a passing reference to warfare. Yet, he was careful to be “politically correct.” He apparently sought the help of first grade students in composing the lyrics. The banal “Hi, hi, hee” is a dead giveaway. No one has a clue as to what it might mean. Still, at least it rhymes.
The U.S. Air Force did not exist in 1938. But, that year Liberty Magazine sponsored a contest for an official song for the Army Air Corps. The magazine received 757 entries. A group of Army Air Corps wives (yes, believe it or not, wives) selected the entry from Robert Crawford, Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder.
After World War II the Army Air Corps evolved into the U.S. Air Force. This fledgling flying club adopted Off We Go’ as their official song. It suited the illusionary nature of the new Wild-Blue-Yonder-Wonders with references to “those who love the vastness of the sky” and the fictitious “rainbow’s pot of gold.” The final stanza speaks of the “gray haired wonder,” an admirable gesture of non-discrimination for the new civilianized Air Force.
These three songs, Anchors Aweigh, The Caisson Song, and Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder, are often played at public events. They obviously delight the members and advocates of the affected service: Navy, Army, or Air Force. When their song is played, sailors, soldiers, and zoomies leap to their feet and shout, cheer, clap their hands, and jive with the music. They have a jolly time, almost like a high school pep rally.

The U.S. Marine Corps is the United States’ military band of brothers dedicated to warfighting. The proud Brotherhood of Marines is guided by principles, values, virtues, love of country, and its Warrior Culture. This brotherhood of American Patriots has no song. Instead, Marine Warriors have a hymn. When The Marines’ Hymn is played, United States Marines stand at attention. They silently show their pride in their fellow Marines, their Corps, their Country, their heritage, and their hymn.
The Marines’ Hymn is a tribute to Warriors. Marine Warriors stormed fortress Derna, raised the American flag, and gave us “the shores of Tripoli.” Marines fought their way into the castle at Chapultepec and gave us the “halls of Montezuma.” Marines exist for the purpose of warfighting. Fighting is their role in life. They “fight for right and freedom” and “to keep our honor clean.” They fight “in the air, on land, and sea.” The Marine Corps is Valhalla for Warriors. U.S. Marines need no song. They have a hymn.
Ironically, no one knows who wrote the hymn, which was in widespread use by the mid-1800s. Col. A.S. McLemore, USMC, spent several years trying to identify the origin of the tune. In 1878 he told the leader of the Marine Band that the tune had been adopted from the comic opera Genevieve de Barbant, by Jaques Offenback. Yet, others believe the tune originated from a Spanish folk song. Whatever! Regardless of its origin, The Marines’ Hymn has remained a revered icon of the United States Marine Corps for almost 200 years.
In 1929 The Marines’ Hymn became the official hymn of the Corps. Thirteen years later in November 1942 the Commandant approved a change in the words of the first verse, fourth line. Because of the increasing use of aircraft in the Corps, the words were changed to “In the air, on land, and sea.” No other changes have been made since that time. When you have attained absolute perfection, there is no need for further modification:

From the Halls of Montezuma,
To the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea;
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title
Of UNITED STATES MARINES.

Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze,
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun;
In the snow of far off northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job –
The UNITED STATES MARINES.

Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve;
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes;
They will find the streets are guarded
By UNITED STATES MARINES.

Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, became an ardent admirer of the U.S. Marine Corps. In the company of guests of state, he often demonstrated his respect for U.S. Marines by reciting, from memory, all three verses of The Marines’ Hymn.

I heard a lot about the Marines growing up. I heard these lyrics and a lot more. My dad is a former Marine, guarding those streets in heaven. Semper Fi Dad.

Happy Birthday US Navy. 234 Years of Loyal Service

United States Navy Blue Angels

The U.S. Navy celebrates its 234th birthday today, as approximately 46,000 Navy personnel are deployed in support of current operations around the world.

The U.S. Navy recognizes Oct. 13, 1775, as the official date of its establishment. This was due to the passage of a resolution in the Continental Congress determining the requirement of a ship to be requisitioned, “at all possible dispatch … for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies and for such other purposes as the Congress shall direct.”

The Congress appointed a committee and requested more ships be dispatched for the same purpose. Benedict Arnold ordered the construction of 12 ships with the plan to slow down the British fleet invading Lake Champlain.

The small fleet accomplished what it was meant to do, but was summarily wiped out or captured by the British Navy during the two-day “Battle of Valcour Island.” Thus, the newly formed Navy was able to slow the advance of the British Army as well.

This was the meager beginning that led to the formation of the largest and most technologically advanced Navy in the world.

Since the U.S. Navy’s beginning in 1775, it has played a major role in every conflict that has defined the United States as a nation, while becoming the dominant naval power in the world. Happy Birthday, U.S. Navy!  source

Part Of World Trade Center Becomes Warship

What could be more fitting? And two more to come.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana —  The USS New York is heading from New Orleans to its namesake city on its maiden voyage Tuesday morning.

The warship is an amphibious transport dock ship that was built in Louisiana and named in honor of the victims of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It incorporates in its construction nearly eight tons of steel salvaged from the fallen World Trade Center towers.

The USS New York left south Louisiana, where it was built, on Tuesday. The Navy will officially commission it in New York in early November.

A company spokesman says two ships under construction — Arlington and Somerset — will join the New York as 9-11 “tribute” ships.

Organizers of a “line the levees” event in the New Orleans area are expecting several thousand people to turn out for a send-off there.

Organizer Lola Lass says she expects a festive, patriotic scene. Flags were being handed out to people gathering at a riverfront park.

Thousands of workers helped build the ship at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s yard in Avondale.

Source

R.I.P. Michael “Scott” Speicher

Officials said Sunday that they got new information from an Iraqi citizen in early July, leading Marines stationed in Anbar province to a location in the desert which was believed to be the crash site of Speicher’s jet.

The Iraqi said he knew of two other Iraqis who recalled an American jet crashing and the remains of the pilot being buried in the desert.

“One of these Iraqi citizens stated that they were present when Captain Speicher was found dead at the crash site by Bedouins and his remains buried,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

He was positively identified through a jawbone found at the site and dental records, said Read Adm. Frank Thorp.

Speicher was shot down over west-central Iraq on Jan. 17, 1991.

More

Big Dog Revisited

Readers here had a big heads up on the latest military addition.

The U.S. military is calling out the “BigDogs” in addition to its big guns as it deploys more troops to fight terrorists in Afghanistan.

The BigDogs — four-legged robots that can navigate the country’s treacherous terrain — and pilotless helicopters than can transport tons of supplies to very remote bases are just two of the new weapons being tested in Afghanistan.

The war zone is increasingly becoming a development laboratory for machines that don’t eat, sleep, polish their boots or suffer casualties. But can they succeed where man struggles?

It takes a moment for the senses even to comprehend BigDog, a four-legged robot that vaguely resembles a headless pack animal.

The Rest Here.

Bob’s Bites Brought you the story of the Big Dog exactly one year ago. Here’s the original with video

Big Dog Gets Off The Porch

I don’t know where they’re headed with this creation, but it’s sure to give you a heart attack if you come across it in the woods.

Boston Dynamics just released a new video of the Big Dog on ice and snow, and also demoing its walking gait.

Here’s an updated video of the Big Dog.

Military Families United In The News

I got this in an email. Take a little time to see what they have to say about the policies of the new administration. Then help them out by passing this on.

Dear Military Families United Supporter,

Over the last week, Military Families United has become a strong presence in the local and national media, fighting relentlessly to ensure that the voice of our nation’s military families is heard by the media, the President, and the American people.

From FOX News and NBC to the New York Times and Washington Post, Military Families United has provided the voice of reason behind controversial issues like Guantanamo Bay and whether or not the media should be allowed to photograph the flag-draped coffins of fallen soldiers as their bodies are returned to the United States.

We continue to defend our troops with a strong media campaign but we also need your help. The good news is that it won’t cost you any money to help us today.

Please consider forwarding this email to your friends and family and ask them to go to our website www.MilitaryFamiliesUnited.org and sign up for our email updates. It’s critically important that we grow our organization to show strength against those who are against our troops.

Below are just a few of the hundreds of stories and newscasts that discuss Military Families United. To see more articles where MFU is in the news click here

On Guantanamo Bay

ABC News – Military Commission Charges Dropped Against Terrorist Suspect Al-Nashiri (Interview with Former USS Cole Commander and Military Families United Senior Military Fellow CDR Kirk Lippold)

FOX News – Families of Cole Victims Worry White House Meeting Is Window Dressing (Interview with CDR Lippold)

Associated Press – Charges dropped vs. suspect in 2000 USS Cole blast (Interview with CDR Lippold)

McClatchy-Tribune Newswire – Obama faces 9/11 victims today over Guantanamo decision (Interview with CDR Lippold)

New York Times – Suspects Will Face Justice, Obama Tells Families of Terrorism Victims (Interview with CDR Lippold)

National Public Radio (NPR) – USS Cole Commander Discusses Obama Meeting (Interview with CDR Lippold)

On Dover

New York Times – Gates Orders Review of Policy on Soldiers’ Coffins (Interview with John Ellsworth, President of Military Families United)

Associated Press – Gates orders review of ban on photos of coffins (Interview with John Ellsworth)

Washington Post – Article Posted Tomorrow AM (Interview with John Ellsworth)

National Public Radio – Broadcast to be published tonight (Interview with John Ellsworth)
Thanks again for being a strong supporter of our organization. It’s never been more important. And thanks for forwarding this email to your friends and family so that they can go to our website (www.MilitaryFamiliesUnited.org) and sign up for updates.

The time to act is now and, with your help, we will continue to be strong advocates for our troops.
Help Us Fight For Those Who Fight For Us
Click Here To Donate

The Awesome F/A-22 Raptor

Take a look at these pictures of our future. Read about the capabilities of the new F/A-22 Raptor. Lets hope the next administration will pay attention to our safety like the last one did. Prayer might work better as I don’t have much faith in B-HO and his bunch.

Click on the pictures to enlarge. Enjoy….

Courtesy of Doug Ross.

These are Great In-flight Photos of the F/A-22 as the first aircraft delivery was being made to Langley AFB in Va. Langley is to be first Operational AFB for the F/A-22. It is a very beautiful AFB, located in a picturesque location, as you can see in these photos, near Norfolk and Hampton, Va.

The Aircraft flying along with the F/A-22 in the last of these photos is the F-15, which will be replaced by the F/A-22. In actual in-flight (simulated) combat operations against the F-15, two F/A-22s were able to operate without detection while it went head-to-head against eight (8) F-15s. The F/A-22s scored missile hits (kills) against all the F-15 Aircraft and the F/A-22s were never detected by either the F-15s or ground-based radar.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lewis said: ‘The Raptor operated against all adversaries with virtual impunity; ground-based systems couldn’t engage and no adversary aircraft survived’!

If their on-board locator is switched off even our own satellites can lose track of them. They’re the first military aircraft ever built that is equipped with a ‘black-out button’… what that means is this… The best-conditioned fighter pilots are capable of maintaining consciousness up to in the vicinity of 15+ G. The Raptor is capable of making 22+ G turns. If someday an adversary builds a missile that is capable of catching up to one of these airplanes and a Raptor pilot sees that a strike is imminent, he hits the ‘b.o.b.’ and the airplane makes a virtual U-turn, leaving the missile to pass right on by. They know that in the process he’ll temporarily lose consciousness, so the Raptor then automatically comes back to straight and level flight until he wakes up.

That is nothing less than amazing. And I love that B.O.B. button.