Two United States Marines attended a pro-Confederate rally in North Carolina on May 20. They were arrested after hanging a white supremacist banner from a building near the rally. From the Times-News report at the time of their arrest:
Though the USMC hasn’t yet taken action in connection with the incident involving Michael Joseph Chesny, 35, of Havelock and Joseph Warner Manning, 32, of Jacksonville, the military branch has publicly come out against the cause for which the two men apparently stood.
These Marines are not young, misguided recruits—they are seasoned vets. At least one of them is about to be ‘separated’ from the Corps. From the Marine Corps Times:
A Marine Corps investigation substantiated allegations against Manning and now he is in the process of being administratively separated from the Corps, said Capt. Joshua Pena, a spokesman for Training and Education Command.
Pena said the investigation is part of the administrative process and its results cannot be released publicly.
Manning joined the Marine Corps in 2002 and his military awards include the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal.
Chesny has received administrative punishment and he is still an active explosive ordnance technician stationed to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, base spokesman Mike Barton said on Monday.
No word on why both of the men aren’t being immediately ‘administratively separated’ from the U.S. Marine Corps.
The banner, which can be seen in the video below, read “He who controls the past controls the future.” Next to the slogan were the letters “YWNRU”, which stands for “You will not replace us.” That’s the same chant white supremacists were chanting, along with “Jews will not replace us,” during the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.