considered more elite than the other.
Consequently, newly minted Marines believe themselves to be superior to other soldiers, spawning understandable resent-ment from other branches. But do Marines actually fight better than other soldiers? Rivals argue it's not so much their ability to fight - though that's never been a question - but that Marines are simply masters in the art of public relations. President Harry Truman once stated that Marines "have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's." Fact is, while other armed services have lured recruits with promises of money for college, "a great way of life," or "being all you can be;" the Marines have asked only "for a few good men [and today, women]" with the mettle to join their ranks. Not surprisingly, there have been numerous unsuccessful efforts - primarily on the part of some Army and Navy officers - to have the Corps either disbanded or absorbed into the Army or Navy. Most of those efforts took place in the first half of the 20th Century. But even after the Marines' stellar perfor-mance in World War II, Army General Frank Armstrong proposed bringing them into the Army fold and condescendingly referring to the Corps as "a small bitched-up army talking Navy lingo." As late as 1997, Assistant Secretary of the Army Sara Lister took aim at the Marines. "I think the Army is much more connected to society than the Marines are." Lister said before an audience at Harvard University. "Marines are extremists. Wherever you have extremists, you've got some risks of |
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total disconnection with society. And that's a little
dangerous." Of course, the Commandant of the Marine Corps demanded an apology. Lister was fired. And Marines secretly said among themselves, "Yes we are extremists. We are dangerous. That's why we win wars and are feared throughout the world."
Despite its detractors, the Marines have become a wholly American institution - like baseball players, cowboys, and astronauts - in the eyes of most Americans. Marines indeed may be extreme, but America loves them, extremism and all. And fortunately for America, her enemies in the war against terror will continue to shudder upon hearing, "the Marines have landed." Semper Fi! FROM MY DESK I received this email from Gerald (Jerry) Kraus 1st Plt 6/50 - 4/51 "Hi, Shifty, Ann and Jerry Coquat contacted me by phone, intro-ducing them selves as the brother and sister-in-law of Cpl Jewel Coquat. Jewel was the Marine that was wounded and then KIA-BNR (body not recovered) on the 11-26- -1950. If you read the citation for the MOH awarded to Lt Frank Mitchell, it tells about a wounded Marine that Lt. Mitchell was attempting to recover when he was killed. That was Jewel. Cpl Coquat became the 2nd Sqd Leader, !st Platoon, on Nov 3rd after his Sqd Leader, Sgt James Poynter - MOH , was KIA. I sent maps of these 2 engagements to Ann and Jerry along with some photos and a "Library of Congress" DVD that tells most of the story about Lt Mitchell's 1st Platoon. |
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If anyone is interested in contacting them, their e-mail
address is jerryanncoquat@cox.net Thanks, Gerald (Jerry) Kraus" I received this article from Robert J. "Bob" Corbett 2nd MG 1/51 -6/51 in response to "Bud" Cravin's request for information concerning "Operation Mouse Trap". "Shifty", I am finally answering "Bud" Cavin's request for additional information about "Operation Mouse Trap." I joined A/1/7 the first week of January 1951, at Masan and was assigned to 2ndLt Bush's 2nd MG Platoon as an assistant gunner. My introduction to the operation wasn't nearly as dramatic as Bud's. We walked! We dug in on the southern edge of the Chorwon Valley, I think? We didn't know where we were from one day to the next. We were not the only ones to dig in. A tank was ramped at an angle to be used as an artillery piece. We were told that they were firing harassing fire at targets about twelve miles away. The tank maintained it's firing for about the next three weeks. A round was fired every half hour, twenty-four hours a day for the entire time we were there. Then, the enemy went for the bait! The attack came at night and the ridges seemed to be disintegrating all round us, from intense, continuous gunfire. All night we expected the attack but nothing happened. All firing stopped, dawn came and we moved out. Our tank had left during the night. And, we moved back toward the |
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Semper Fi |