{"id":28703,"date":"2012-02-11T02:38:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-11T06:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=28703"},"modified":"2012-02-11T04:42:32","modified_gmt":"2012-02-11T08:42:32","slug":"if-marines-didnt-know-then-send-them-back-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=28703","title":{"rendered":"If Marines didn’t know then send them back to school"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jonn has already covered<\/a> the Marine Corps Scout Sniper’s use of a stylized flag using with the emblem “SS” in a font indistinguishable from that of both horrendous 80’s glam rock band KISS<\/a> and the Schutzstaffel<\/a>. He also made note<\/a> of the Corps’ initial decision not to seek documentable punitive action against those involved. Very well. Here’s my take.<\/p>\n

To quote from Jonn’s previously cited article:<\/p>\n

An initial Marine investigation into the matter concluded that the troops would not be disciplined because there was no malicious intent. The Marines mistakenly believed the “SS” in the shape of white lightning bolts on the blue flag were a nod to sniper scouts – not members of Adolf Hitler’s special unit that murdered millions of Jews, Catholics, gypsies and others, said Maj. Gabrielle Chapin, a spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton, Calif.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

or<\/p>\n

The SS logo has been worn by scout snipers going back to at least the 1980s, said Earl Catagnus Jr., who served as a scout sniper in Iraq and now teaches military history at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Pennsylvania and other institutions. Catagnus never got an \u201cSS\u201d tattoo, he said, but he knows Marines of many races who did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis symbol has taken on a myth of its own with scout snipers,\u201d he said, adding that he does not condone its use. \u201cThey\u2019re sporting it like it\u2019s nothing because they have no idea what it means.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fine, but, you know what? I don’t believe that. I can’t imagine the circumstances where a dozen literate, k-12 adults raised in a military culture don’t immediate recognize where that comes from. When you look at that flag, you know, immediately. When I look at that flag, I know, immediately.<\/p>\n

I’m a history nerd. I can tell you about the politics of the Das Reich Division and the demographic makeup of the “Death’s Head” after the invasion of Russia and how it doesn’t jive with the feel good post WWII feel good historical narrative. I can go on about the fact that Himmler’s racially pure vanguard was largely composed of ideological non-German volunteers by the end of the nightmare that was the Second World War. Because of this self conscious sensitivity I have to demand the simple acknowledgement that these fellow Marines can’t possibly have been ignorant of the basest of facts that these symbols carry. The SS has become a pop culture symbol in a society that can’t deliver a singular biographical fact about Alexis de Tocqueville or Andrew Jackson.<\/p>\n

These Marines knew. They knew because kicking ass is cool.<\/p>\n

General Amos has ordered a full investigation<\/a> into the “incident”. The most recent article in the Marine Corps Times acknowledges that the use of this symbol is an old tradition in the Marine Corps Scout Sniper Community. To quote:<\/p>\n

The incident has brought scrutiny to a longtime practice in the scout sniper community. Its members have used the \u201clightning bolt\u201d SS logo for years on patches, posters and tattoos, a nod toward their title. The position is exclusive to the Corps; the Army has scouts and snipers, but separates their duties into two occupations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To be clear, that this is a sub-cultural trait in the Corps that has flown under the radar is obvious, so let me slide in some SgtMaj love session anecdotes:<\/p>\n

Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett, the Corps\u2019 top enlisted Marine, will meet personally with every senior staff noncommissioned officer in the sniper community in coming days to \u201creinforce my message and expectations,\u201d Amos said. Barrett served as a scout sniper during the Gulf War, and later designed sniper training for Marine units in Iraq.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah. A whole shit ton of GySgt and MSgts are getting yelled at to tear that shit down, even when the LtCol isn’t looking.<\/p>\n

You’re living under a microscope, gents. You have organizations within the military like the “Military Religious Freedom Foundation” looking to undermine you. Your Commander-in-Chief’s idea of camaraderie is getting all the ghetto rats to show up to the right place at the right time for the victim of the week rally. You have no friends in the Executive Branch. Mind your shit, don’t be stupid and don’t give them free passes. I know that the fellow warrior, whom you would die for, is named Hernandez, is a Jordanian or is dark as coal, with a Mississippi accent to match. If you’re standing under a flag used by the men who carted 6 million Jews and 5 million other “undesirables” you’re going down. And you deserve it.<\/p>\n

Be smarter than the fools looking to string you up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonn has already covered the Marine Corps Scout Sniper’s use of a stylized flag using with … If Marines didn’t know then send them back to school<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}