women it honors say so much about our nation," Potter said. "In reissuing this stamp today, we have 50 million chances to tell that story again."
Every person who dons a military uniform knows the sacrifices they may have to make, but they still choose to serve and America should not forget their dedication, said James C. Miller, chairman of the USPS Board of Governors. The Purple Heart stamp will go to millions of homes on cards and letters and will be a testament to the sacrifices of service members past and present, he said. "It is fully in our power to remember their service and to revere their deeds," Miller said. About 100 Purple Heart recipients attended the ceremony at the invitation of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. James Randles, the order's national commander, thanked all those who made the issuance of the stamp possible, and said that the stamp is very important, because it is a recognizable symbol that has meaning to service members of all ages from all services. "It is the one medal wanted by few but worn by many," Randles said. The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the president to members of the military who have been wounded in combat or to the next of kin of those killed in action. The stamp features the medal's image - a profile of George Washington on a purple background within a heart-shaped medallion. The stamp image is a photograph of one of two Purple Hearts awarded to James Loftus Fowler of Alexandria, Va. Fowler was a lieutenant |
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colonel in the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, when he received the Purple Heart in 1968 following action close to the Ben Hai River on the border between North and South Vietnam.
A MARINE! "There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion." -- Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army "Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share." -- Ned Dolan "Someone has to guard the wall to keep the demons out; that's what the Marines do. Marines own the wall." -- Major General Ronald G. Richard, USMC (Ret.); Distinguished Marines Stamp Unveiling Ceremony, Oklahoma City National Memorial, November 10, 2005. GUNG HO! We have always used the words "GUNG HO" as "watch words", but few might not know where these two words originated! "Gung" and "Ho" are Chinese meaning, "work" and "harmony." So, taking it literally they mean "Working Together." Colonel Evans Fordyce Carson USMC, then a Captain worked with the Chinese prior to WW II as an observer. During 1938 as an Intelligence Office with China's Eight Route Army he marched with them the length and breadth of Shansi Province From Inner Mongolia, a five-month trip of almost twenty-five hundred miles, to study the "pattern of |
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resistance", and make tests of the Chinese defenses against the Japanese Invasion.
He was most impressed to learn that the Chinese Communist Forces could actually complete a feat such as this and according to the Officers it was because of "Gung Ho." Individual soldiers just wouldn't or couldn't quit because they just didn't want to let the others down. To prove themselves they did this in the spirit of "Gung Ho."
So, when he was tagged to be the Commanding Officer of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion during WW II he instilled this idea of "Working Together" or as we say "Gung Ho." The battalion was built from scratch with men Carlson felt could adapt to his "Gung Ho" philosophy. These Marines were chosen on a "one on one" basis and were of such in caring out his ideas. This term caught on with his Marines but wasn't appreciated by Higher Authorities in the Corps as they felt it gave the Chinese Communists undesired publicly. After fighting on Guadalcanal, and after enduring the "Long Patrol", the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion were instructed to set up a camp on Espiritu Santo (located in the New Hebrides Island chain) and was named "Camp Gung Ho." MARINE - A RIFLEMAN! All Marines from private to Commandant are considered to be first-and-foremost riflemen. And special-operations units in the Marines are not accorded the same respect as they are in other branches. The Marines view special operations as simply another realm of war fighting. Marines are Marines, and no individual Marine or Marine unit is |
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