Ooorah! I love the crisp uniform of dress of the class A's. Have you seen the silent drill team? Pretty impressive. You know, I think the Sergeant Major, the E-9's or the Master Gunnery Sergeant (E-9's) who have "seen combat" and joined up as 0300 and been on many of tours of active duty need not salute to a pretty boy like myself just because I wrote some cute kanji letters. Even better is the old sergeants who've seen much action and have gained a battlefield commission, even if that is a commission of that of a limited duty officer (LDO). People such as Colonel Hackworth should have been a Marine, and not just a solider. As people become Marines, not just join the Marines, or just become soldiers. I would have a hard time if I had to saluting had I been a veterans of several tours and was a E-9 grunt, and some pretty boy with a BA went to Officer Candidate School and Officer Basic Course, and then gained a commission as a Platoon Commander.
Obeika, what rank were you? Were you an enlisted man? I have seriously considered it and am not fooling around. If you are truly an ex-marine, you would know that I have done some studies on this. I even learned that even with 15 credits, you start your pay as E-2.
Obeika, as you can see, I am NOT playing around.
Obeika, have you actually seen combat? Have you engaged in exchange of fire? I wonder why the Marines don't have like the army the Combat's Infantryman's Badge for 30 days on continuous engagement? The Marines only have a Combat Action Badge.
SEMPER FI
By the way, I watched Iwo Jima. But wasn't Ken Watanabe in life a Japanese American? And the guy whom he was playing as an actor, being a cadet of westpoint suggests that in the movie, that Major General (2 stars) was trained by the United States Army. This means that because he was an Issei, he was kicked off California to Japan where he had to fight against his fellow American comrades.
I know the Japanese American Nisseis didnt have to fight Japan, but the Japaese Isseis sent home had to shoot Americans. Imagine fighting in the Battle of Midway, as a Japanese who grew up in the USA, always wondering if you are shooting down your buddies you went to high school with or been friends with back in Hawaii?
The Americans didn't make the Nisseis fight against their own ancestors, but the Japanese didn't give considerations to the repatriates to fight against the country that deported them. Some were told to even fight stronger than ever to free their families from interment camps by defeating the US forces.
I wonder how it was for these Japanese who then returned to their American homeland after WWII, knowing that they shot many Americans, being drafted and without a choice. How about the Japanese Nissei 442nd RCT veterans returning home to the USA with their fellow countrymen being appauled seeing them in US Army uniform? How about their children who were teased in school being told that their father shot their dad, and so on, when in reality, they fought on the same side?
Solider, you think about this. You are a veteran as a Marine. What do you think? Have you fought with a Japanese American in the same uniform as you? I think their bushido spirit would qualify them with the eagle, globe and the anchor. The US Marines vs Imperial Kamikaze type bayonet charges, which would you think were braver? I want your honest answer, as a former marine the WWII Imperial Japanese Army dudes or the Marines? (I wonder if that was just their army, I wonder if they had a Marine equivalent, how frightening they would have been? I know I would rather be an officer so that I am not as much in the line of fire as an enlisted man.)
The weakness of the Japanese was their officer corps. While they were brave, they put their senior staff officers in line of fire more so than the British or the Americans, which screwed up their chain of command. Even some flag officers were willing to play beachhead and hold machine guns and shoot. You will rarely see the English risking themselves that way, as they gained noteriety for leading from the behind.)
Perhaps Obeika, we can meet in person and have coffee the next time I go to Japan and if you are nearby. I am not a bad fellow to get to know.
