Anonymous
11-08-1999, 05:12 PM
70) Wetting-down parties. No one celebrates promotions with more flair and admiration.
71) Mess etiquette. Enter covered and drinks are on you.
72) Mess night I. Those who make the most pay the most.
73) Mess night II. ``1775 Rum Punch'' -- four parts dark rum, two parts lime juice, one part pure maple syrup. Grenadine to taste.
74) Non-Comms rate their own ceremonial sword!
75) Fighting style I. When the U.S. went into Haiti, Army soldiers sought cover behind their rucksacks. Marines DUG IN!
76) Fighting style II. When the Air Force deploys, they carry their Samsonite bags on luggage carriers and stay in hotels. When Marines deploy, it's two seabags and your weapons. And a tent in the bush.
77) Fighting style III. Marines know how to use their bayonets. Army bayonets may as well be paper weights.
78) No smiling in official portraits. All business.
79) Terminology. In the Corps it's a ``fighting'' hole not a ``fox'' hole. Fox holes are for people who want to hide. Fighting holes are for people who want to fight.
80) The ``people's own'' Marine Corps Marathon.
81) When asked by the press, an overseas Marine doesn't say ``I don't know what my mission is,'' ``I don't know why I'm here'' and ``I don't like it here.'' He knows. It's his calling.
82) The ``Stumps.'' The combat center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., is a huge sandbox in California's desert. It's where Marines go to play warrior any time of the year.
83) Best environmental motto: ``We're looking out for a few good species.'' They may be charging the beach, but Marines are taking care not to step on endangered critters.
84) Image. Marines get real network coverage, not the kind you need a gridiron and an academy to get.
85) AH-1W SuperCobra gunships. They are lean, mean fighting machines.
86) The ONLY combined arms force. You want jointness? The Marine Corps has been joint for decades, with its own air force, groundpounders and Navy in one.
87) When the President cares enough to order in the very best, who's he gonna call? Not ghostbusters -- but Marines.
88) First in, first out. Marines bust in first so the Army can do its job.
89) When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, the number may as well be 9-1-1. Send in the Marines!
90) Boss' night. Every so often, the NCOs or staff NCOs buy the drinks for their charges attheir club. Can't beat that!
91) Physical fitness. You've seen portly chiefs, but there are no fat Marines.
92) Everyone's a Marine -- officer and enlisted!
93) Actor who should have been a Marine: John Wayne.
94) Former Marine who shouldn't be an actor: John Wayne Bobbitt.
95) .50 caliber sniper rifles! OOOHRAH.
96) Most stickers spotted on America's highways on car bumpers and windows.
97) The summer evening parade.
98) ``The President's Own,'' the Marine Corps Band. John Philip Sousa, the world famous band master, was the first leader of the band.
99) Value for your tax dollar. The Corps does it all for less -- just 6 cents of every dollar spent on defense goes to the Marines.
100) Best motto, Semper Fidelis, always faithful. That's Latin, by the way.
101) Best twist on the best motto. Semper Gumby, always flexible. Yeah, he was green, too.
102) Best slogan I. ``Nobody ever drowned in sweat.''
103) Best slogan II. ``Marines go where others fear to tread.''
104) Best self description. Gungy
105) First in orbit. No, that's not another gunny losing his temper. John Glenn, that clean Marine, was the first human to orbit Earth. Now he's a senator.
106) Marines are first on foot and right of the line. Marines form at the place of honor in any naval formation. Secretary of the Navy bestowed that honor in 1876.
107) When the President climbs into a helicopter, he flies Marine One.
108) Most prestigious helo squadron. HMX-1, the president's fleet.
109) When the Navy needed someone to guard its ships, sailors and nuclear devices, they called on Marines.
110) Best personalized license plate I: ``1775.'' It's on the commandant's car.
111) Best personalized license plate II: ``SM OF MC,'' Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Harold Overstreet's four-wheel drive Chevy Blazer truck.
112) The Chief of Naval Operations rides in a Lincoln Town Car. Commandant Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr. rides in a sporty Chrysler LHS sedan.
113) When the nation goes to war, the press covers the Marine Corps. During the Gulf War, there were more than 90,000 Marines in the region of a total force of 650,000. But the Corps outpaced the Army, 293 to 271, on articles about the ground war in four major newspapers. As journalist and author John Fialka put it: ``If the PR rivalry between the two services . . . had been a basketball game, the score would have been Marines 149, Army 10.''
114) Best Heroes I: Smedley D. Butler. With a name like Smedley, he had to be tough, in self-defense. The Army rejected him, but by lying about his age, he got a commission from the Marine Corps in 1898, at age 16. From the Philippines to Haiti, he was an expert in suppressing revolution. His blunt style was pure Marine, and probably cost him a job as Philadelphia's public safety director after his first retirement and a bid for the Senate after his second.
115) Best Heroes II: Chesty Puller. It's more than the name. He started in the Corps with a reserve commission and was released in the drawdown after World War I. He then enlisted as a corporal, served in Haiti and received his second commission in 1924. He retired in 1955 a lieutenant general, the most decorated Marine in history, and probably the most colorful as well.
116) Best Heroes III: Lewis Puller Jr., Chesty's son. He joined to follow in his father's footsteps, lost both legs in battle, and went on to become a Pulitzer Prizewinning author. He ended his own life this year, and he's sorely missed.
117) Best Heroes IV: ``Manila John'' Basilone. A true gunfighter from the word go. The first enlisted Marine in World War II to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Won it for his heroic efforts on Guadalcanal. Later killed on Iwo Jima, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
118) All the Marines who won the Congressional Medals of Honor. There are 293 in all.
119) Best greeting. Semper Fi, Mac!
120) Best show of pride. After the 1982 Beirut Bombing, Marine Corps Commandant P.X. Kelly visited a wounded Marine in the hospital to present his Purple Heart. Covered by tubes and unable to speak, the Marine simply asked for pad and pen. On it he wrote: ``Semper Fi.''
121) Best recruiting station: Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, 1775. It's a bar, no less.
122) Only armed force with a beer named in its honor: Tun Tavern Beer.
zuma50@hotmail.com
71) Mess etiquette. Enter covered and drinks are on you.
72) Mess night I. Those who make the most pay the most.
73) Mess night II. ``1775 Rum Punch'' -- four parts dark rum, two parts lime juice, one part pure maple syrup. Grenadine to taste.
74) Non-Comms rate their own ceremonial sword!
75) Fighting style I. When the U.S. went into Haiti, Army soldiers sought cover behind their rucksacks. Marines DUG IN!
76) Fighting style II. When the Air Force deploys, they carry their Samsonite bags on luggage carriers and stay in hotels. When Marines deploy, it's two seabags and your weapons. And a tent in the bush.
77) Fighting style III. Marines know how to use their bayonets. Army bayonets may as well be paper weights.
78) No smiling in official portraits. All business.
79) Terminology. In the Corps it's a ``fighting'' hole not a ``fox'' hole. Fox holes are for people who want to hide. Fighting holes are for people who want to fight.
80) The ``people's own'' Marine Corps Marathon.
81) When asked by the press, an overseas Marine doesn't say ``I don't know what my mission is,'' ``I don't know why I'm here'' and ``I don't like it here.'' He knows. It's his calling.
82) The ``Stumps.'' The combat center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., is a huge sandbox in California's desert. It's where Marines go to play warrior any time of the year.
83) Best environmental motto: ``We're looking out for a few good species.'' They may be charging the beach, but Marines are taking care not to step on endangered critters.
84) Image. Marines get real network coverage, not the kind you need a gridiron and an academy to get.
85) AH-1W SuperCobra gunships. They are lean, mean fighting machines.
86) The ONLY combined arms force. You want jointness? The Marine Corps has been joint for decades, with its own air force, groundpounders and Navy in one.
87) When the President cares enough to order in the very best, who's he gonna call? Not ghostbusters -- but Marines.
88) First in, first out. Marines bust in first so the Army can do its job.
89) When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, the number may as well be 9-1-1. Send in the Marines!
90) Boss' night. Every so often, the NCOs or staff NCOs buy the drinks for their charges attheir club. Can't beat that!
91) Physical fitness. You've seen portly chiefs, but there are no fat Marines.
92) Everyone's a Marine -- officer and enlisted!
93) Actor who should have been a Marine: John Wayne.
94) Former Marine who shouldn't be an actor: John Wayne Bobbitt.
95) .50 caliber sniper rifles! OOOHRAH.
96) Most stickers spotted on America's highways on car bumpers and windows.
97) The summer evening parade.
98) ``The President's Own,'' the Marine Corps Band. John Philip Sousa, the world famous band master, was the first leader of the band.
99) Value for your tax dollar. The Corps does it all for less -- just 6 cents of every dollar spent on defense goes to the Marines.
100) Best motto, Semper Fidelis, always faithful. That's Latin, by the way.
101) Best twist on the best motto. Semper Gumby, always flexible. Yeah, he was green, too.
102) Best slogan I. ``Nobody ever drowned in sweat.''
103) Best slogan II. ``Marines go where others fear to tread.''
104) Best self description. Gungy
105) First in orbit. No, that's not another gunny losing his temper. John Glenn, that clean Marine, was the first human to orbit Earth. Now he's a senator.
106) Marines are first on foot and right of the line. Marines form at the place of honor in any naval formation. Secretary of the Navy bestowed that honor in 1876.
107) When the President climbs into a helicopter, he flies Marine One.
108) Most prestigious helo squadron. HMX-1, the president's fleet.
109) When the Navy needed someone to guard its ships, sailors and nuclear devices, they called on Marines.
110) Best personalized license plate I: ``1775.'' It's on the commandant's car.
111) Best personalized license plate II: ``SM OF MC,'' Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Harold Overstreet's four-wheel drive Chevy Blazer truck.
112) The Chief of Naval Operations rides in a Lincoln Town Car. Commandant Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr. rides in a sporty Chrysler LHS sedan.
113) When the nation goes to war, the press covers the Marine Corps. During the Gulf War, there were more than 90,000 Marines in the region of a total force of 650,000. But the Corps outpaced the Army, 293 to 271, on articles about the ground war in four major newspapers. As journalist and author John Fialka put it: ``If the PR rivalry between the two services . . . had been a basketball game, the score would have been Marines 149, Army 10.''
114) Best Heroes I: Smedley D. Butler. With a name like Smedley, he had to be tough, in self-defense. The Army rejected him, but by lying about his age, he got a commission from the Marine Corps in 1898, at age 16. From the Philippines to Haiti, he was an expert in suppressing revolution. His blunt style was pure Marine, and probably cost him a job as Philadelphia's public safety director after his first retirement and a bid for the Senate after his second.
115) Best Heroes II: Chesty Puller. It's more than the name. He started in the Corps with a reserve commission and was released in the drawdown after World War I. He then enlisted as a corporal, served in Haiti and received his second commission in 1924. He retired in 1955 a lieutenant general, the most decorated Marine in history, and probably the most colorful as well.
116) Best Heroes III: Lewis Puller Jr., Chesty's son. He joined to follow in his father's footsteps, lost both legs in battle, and went on to become a Pulitzer Prizewinning author. He ended his own life this year, and he's sorely missed.
117) Best Heroes IV: ``Manila John'' Basilone. A true gunfighter from the word go. The first enlisted Marine in World War II to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Won it for his heroic efforts on Guadalcanal. Later killed on Iwo Jima, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
118) All the Marines who won the Congressional Medals of Honor. There are 293 in all.
119) Best greeting. Semper Fi, Mac!
120) Best show of pride. After the 1982 Beirut Bombing, Marine Corps Commandant P.X. Kelly visited a wounded Marine in the hospital to present his Purple Heart. Covered by tubes and unable to speak, the Marine simply asked for pad and pen. On it he wrote: ``Semper Fi.''
121) Best recruiting station: Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, 1775. It's a bar, no less.
122) Only armed force with a beer named in its honor: Tun Tavern Beer.
zuma50@hotmail.com