Happy Birthday USMC

Stolen wholesale from Cassandra at Villainous Company:

Mind Numbed Robot ponders the meaning of "Semper Fidelis":

"...the Marine Corps has never experienced a mutiny. Marines in England were revered for their loyalty to the crown, just as United States Marines are now revered for their downright fanatical dedication to each other, their service, and their country. Using Latin to characterize this quality represents its legitimization--its codification. Significantly, for Marines at least, it also provides a caste--a group that is separate and unique from any other--a group that has no desire to be like any other.

What is left unsaid in the motto is also notable. The phrase is "Always faithful." It isn't "Sometimes Faithful." Nor is it "Usually Faithful," but always. It is not negotiable. It is not relative, but absolute."

Jules takes a stroll through Hahvahd Yahd and finds a few surprises:

It’s always easy to poke fun at the World’s Greatest University across the Charles, all the more so in recent decades as, like much of academia, it sank in a wretched swamp of America-bashing leftism while continuing to survey the world down its superior nose.

Did you know that Harvard can now boast no fewer than 16 Medals of Honor among its alums? Thanks to the efforts of some veterans who have long treasured their university’s military traditions and dug into military records and Harvard archives, the university can claim the highest known number outside the service academies.

Courtesy of Dr. Melissa, Bob Parsons, CEO of GoDaddy.com gives a shout out to his fellow Marines.

No Sheeples has General Conway's Birthday message.

The Marines have given a lot for us. Ercille has thoughts on how you can pay it forward. Bonus points for the dynamite Arty photos!

Speaking of which, the C-Square has page after page of wonderful photos of Marines doing what Marines do best. "Just keep scrolling", as the saying goes.

Michelle Malkin rocks!!!

If you haven't, and you can, please consider a donation to Project Valour-IT.

And here's wishing a very happy birthday to a retired Marine among our readers. (You know who you are.)

Bonus: a re-post of my Happy Birthday message from last year:

Posting this for my late father, who was a Marine for 5 years during WW2 and experienced firsthand the attack on our country at Pearl Harbor. One thing he used to say to his 6 clueless daughters (no sons) was, "once a Marine, always a Marine." We had so little understanding, or even interest, in his wartime experiences that we never really asked him about December 7th. Maybe we knew that he didn't want to talk about it. But we certainly suffered from the self-centeredness of youth, and were mainly interested in ourselves. There are many things I would ask him now, if I could. And I'd try to convey my gratitude for his sacrifice.

Also posting this for a retired Marine friend whose fate was apparently sealed at birth: today is his birthday.

BTW, our family has visited the National Museum of the Marine Corps and it is fantastic. We didn't know, until we happened upon them, that the actual flags from Iwo Jima are on display at the museum. (There were two flags. The museum has them both, and keeps one on display.)

And my children were delighted to learn about the Marine connection to Tootsie Rolls.

Marines I Know
Michael Ledeen
Excerpt:
But these [Viet Nam War] Marines are adamant that they were not "victims," and they get very angry if anyone tries to treat them that way. "Honor the sacrifice," they say, "but don't treat us like victims," which echoes the sentiments of just about every vet I have known. And they're right. They deserve honor, much more than American society is generally inclined to give them. And they are still fighters, and we still need them.
Read the rest.

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