DON'T F..K WITH THE MARINES

The Marines are resisting allowing women to fill combat positions. Let's face it, the Marines are different than soldiers in the rest of the Armed Forces. Their psyche is different. They are somewhat nutso, plain and simple. They are brainwashed early on with Sempi FI. 

I have never known a Marine that would put the "bad mouth" on the Corp, regardless. And, trust me, the leaders are the worse at looking after their soldiers. But, if you are a Marine, you overlook it. In Vietnam, they were sent on operations with radios with no batteries or c-rats for every meal where the Army, even at war, got one "hot" a day. 

Why do soldiers put up with it? They are Marines. My brother, Raz, served the entire war, with the Marines on Guadalcanal . He was actually in the Navy. The Marines didn't have enough men and conscripted some right off Navy ships. My brother, to hear him tell it, was in the wrong place at the right time and was selected to be a Marine. From that time on, just knowing he was a Marine changed  his whole psyche. 

Here's the example of the difference in Marines. Tell the Marines to "take the hill," they don't hesitate. "Fix Baynets." Tell the Army to take the hill, they say, "what are our options?" Get the picture. It isn't a matter of discrimination, bias, whatever. Homophobic, of course. Sexists, sure. It isn't women having to prove themselves, they have already done that over and over. F..k, two finished the roughest course of the military: Ranger School. 

To mess with this fighting force is to be stupid to the max. War is not about equality. It is about fighting, putting your life on the line and you don'f..k with the Force (Marines) that is the best. 

Here is a sad example. The "NY Times" did an exhaustive article on a Marine Unit that had way above average suicides--most  had served in Afghanistan multiple times. The article profiled the 3/7th Marine Regiment in Afghanistan. 

The article is a book. Exhaustive and how suicide has devastated the 3/7. The really saddest stories I've heard. (The VA comes in for a lot of blame but in tragedy we want to find somebody to blame. VA is a ready target. Most of the criticism is justified, I think, for this is real). Still, there is a bigger picture I think. What is it? The cause. Why? 

The article raises questions. The ones they profile are mostly young kids, 19-28. A quote, "Almost seven years after the deployment, suicide is spreading through the 2/7th like a virus. Of about 1200 Marines who deployed with the 2/7th in 2008, at least 13 have killed themselves. Two while on active duty, the rest after they'd left the military. The rate of suicide is four times the rate for young male vets across the board and 14 times that for all Americans." Tragic. The gist of the article are the profiles of those who have done themselves in. 

I confess that I have been a little like Al Pachino in one of his movies, "Sea of Love." Pachino is a police detective and a Korean War vet. He says at one point, something like, "What the hell is all this shell shock (PTSD), I always thought it was part of going to war." 

I've changed my mind.  Here is my belief, based on this superb article. These young Marines, Sempi FI to the max, simply can't cope with the peace. They live these highly charged lives in war. They see, they experience. They return home and try to take up living. For some, it doesn't work. Some do the extreme, it is what Marines do. They kill themselves. 

This is merely an explanation/opinion, not an answer. I don't know the answer. I do know this: If we continue to have a mercenary military and want a force we can count on, we had better not f..k with the Marines.