President Bone Spurs didn’t just dishonor America and American Forces (especially those who fought and died in World War I) yesterday. He visited a major, appalling insult on the United States Marine Corps in particular. Watching the news shows this morning it’s disheartening that relatively little attention has been paid to yesterday’s insult, and virtually NONE to the very specific part about the very specific insult to the Marine Corps. And retired (Marine — now in name only) General & now Chief of Staff John Kelly’s non-reaction to it. He’s as sorry assed a waste of human flesh as his boss.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today is the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I, the so-called “War to end all wars.” People I think believed that at the time, but even a hundred years later it’s clear the human species is nowhere near evolving to a place where war will be a thing of the past. However, getting to the point of this diary as we know Trump had dreamed of a big, flashy Military Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in DC over this holiday weekend so he could show off to his authoritarian, dictatorial buddies. And show up France (a country roundly disdained by Republicans) who throws a mean military parade, having been the principle battleground of WWI and one of the main ones in WWII as well they have reason to do what they do but I digress.
Since Trump didn’t get his way (even the GOP balked at 90 million plus bucks for it) and have his very own “Look at ME!” parade and given that the centennial of the end of WWI was this weekend he decided to get himself some photo op time on the world stage and gather with other world leaders getting together in France where the big stuff was taking place. As might be expected, the various leaders made it a point to visit battlefields/cemeteries particularly significant to their own country’s forces who fought and died in France. Trump was scheduled to do the same, to visit a particular significant battlefield, cemetery and monument. That place is particularly significant to those of us who have served in the Marine Corps. And yesterday, when Trump was supposed to visit the site of one of our most iconic battles, one which marked the first major American engagement of actual troops in WWI happened to be November 10, the Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.
Marines take the 10th of November seriously. It holds a special place in our hearts. So does the Battle for Belleau Wood, the site Trump couldn’t be bothered to visit yesterday. As I noted, it was not only the first major American engagement of troops in WWI, it was mostly won by Marines and brought forth lines that many, not just with an attachment to the Corps recognize such as “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!”
A little more history is in order. For a more detailed account I’ll use Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/...) rather than materials from Marine Corps history archives to lend some objectivity, and hopefully credibility to what I have to say. Given the state of our schools and the appalling lack of Americans understanding of history there are some important points people need to know.
The U.S. was famously neutral in the first years of WWI. Yes, we provided money/loans to our allies and some materials but didn’t actually declare war until well into 1917. A considerable amount of time was spent training Americans for what they’d face and our forces didn’t begin to arrive in France until we were months into 1918. What also happened around that time was that Russia surrendered to Germany, freeing up almost fifty divisions which were then deployed to the Western Front. With such a large influx of seasoned troops Germany felt it had a great opportunity to break the stalemate on the Western Front and they decided to try and take Paris itself believing that would end the war in their favor. Bold? Yes, but it was a good idea and plan because they had the resources to pull it off.
Except the Americans arrived. In force. And among the first forces they had available to deploy into what was shaping up to be the decisive moment (the German advance was only sixty miles from Paris) was a sizeable chunk of Marines. “Black Jack” Pershing wasn’t in general a big fan of the Corps but he recognized the quality of the Marines that had been given to him and their potential to turn the tide. Although they went into the battle with an Army General in command Pershing had told him he’d given him America’s best troops and that failure to halt the German advance would be on his subordinate because the Marines were up to the task. He wasn’t just blowing smoke btw. As I said, Pershing wasn’t a fan of the Marines but he recognized right away that what he had was a fearsome force at his disposal, something the Germans would eventually come to agree with and the French would be forever grateful for. In the latter case, just seeing our forces heading to the front and comparing them against the haggard, defeated forces retreating from the Germans gave them renewed hope. Hope which would turn out to be justified.
That first major battle with the Germans (Gotta give the Army props here — a much smaller unit was crucial in a smaller engagement in April that held the line in a crucial spot), which would become known at the Battle of Belleau Wood actually took place over a broader front than Belleau Wood (a decent size but not huge hunting preserve) itself but the woods became the focal point, and due to the way events transpired the French would rename it Bois de la Brigade de Marine which in English translates into “The Wood of the Marine Brigade.” The Germans, themselves fierce and battle tested fighters initially had little regard for the Marines that squared off against them. They would come to view us differently, and wind up giving us one of our cherished nicknames: Tuefel Hunden (Hellhounds), or as it became known in English “Devil Dogs.”
I’m bragging on my Marine Corps here but I know damn well that when the United States declared war after Pearl Harbor German command (maybe even Hitler although he was around the bend by that time) breathed a sigh of relief that the Marines wouldn’t be coming to Europe but instead would be confined to the Pacific theater. Of course, our counterparts in the Army taught them that Marines weren’t the only fierce fighters the U.S. could produce but that’s a different accounting for a different war.
It took a month to defeat the German forces in the Battle of Belleau Wood. It would be the bloodiest battle to that date in which the Marines had ever fought. It would also lead General Pershing himself to declare “The deadliest weapon in the world is a United States Marine and his rifle.” The Germans sure as hell thought so. At great cost to our own forces, we defeated a larger, battle tested force in our very first engagement in Europe. Pershing would also note the battle had been the largest U.S. battle since Appomattox and the most considerable engagement Americans had ever had with a foreign enemy. It didn’t end WWI of course. Months of fighting would follow but the Marines led the way to increased American engagement in the war and as we know. the Armistice was signed and took effect 100 years ago today — on the Eleventh Hour, of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month. Just a reminder; what we now know as Veteran’s Day started as “Armistice Day” and the change to Veteran’s Day is actually fairly recent. For people of my generation and even the one after it’s still thought of as Armistice Day and was always honored on November 11. In many places across America including my hometown, not only were stores closed but at 11am church bells were rung as part of the formal ceremonies. As I kid I was honored to get picked in 1968, the 50th Anniversary to be the one ringing the bell at my church.
Many years later, at age 26 I’d become a Marine. For all I thought I knew about WWI, I learned even more and more specifically about just how important the Marines had been in turning the tide when America committed actual troops to the fight and overall (gotta give props to the Army) bringing of that terrible war to an end.
In addition to renaming Belleau Wood, the French awarded the Croix de Guerre (en.wikipedia.org/… ) to the 4th Marine Brigade. Again in fairness to the Army it must be noted the Army unit that held a crucial position in that smaller engagement in April 2018 was the first American unit to receive the award. Anyway, Marines would receive the award again for actions at Sessions and Champagne making the Fifth and Sixth Marine Regiments the only unit to receive the award three times. That’s why Marines of the Fifth and Sixth Regiments have been forever granted the privilege of wearing the French Forragere (a braided cord) over their left shoulder. They are the only non French units accorded the honor.
Yesterday was the Marine Corp’s Birthday, and Trump was in France a mere fifty miles from the site of one of the Corp’s epic battles and memorials. A battle well known in Europe itself. On the weekend when he and other world leaders were gathered in Paris to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. And he blamed the rain for not wanting to go and pay his respects during the trip he supposedly made to honor America’s role in that war. He disrespected all of our troops, but especially disrespected the Marine Corps — and then tried to blame the Marines for his not going, claiming his helicopter couldn’t fly in the weather. The helicopters he flies in are always maintained and crewed/flown by VMX 1 out of Anacostia — a MARINE unit. Just as whenever he flies on a fixed wing aircraft the Air Force handles things and he’s on Air Force One, when he flies on a helicopter it’s the Marine’s handling things and he flies on Marine One. Btw, the Marines who actually fly his helicopters are seasoned Naval Aviators, which means they are capable of in any conditions landing a helicopter on the deck of a ship pitching up & down in rough seas & far from land — either you safely set it down or you “go swimming.” Maybe one of them should “accidently” put up a video of night carrier ops in a driving rain (FYI they DO video air ops as a matter of course) and fifteen or twenty foot seas on the computer monitor in back. Sort of us “Blame us? Fuck you asshole” type of rejoinder for Saturday.
In short, on the Marine Corps Birthday he blew off visiting a battlefield and cemetery that holds very special status to the Marine Corps, and then turned around and blamed the Marine Corps for not going, claiming his helicopter couldn’t make the trip. Other world leaders made it to other cemeteries near Paris. They went in these machines called cars, or I guess more accurately heavily armored limos. The Secret Service has the gold standard of vehicles for driving Presidents around and security (they are only halfway joking when the call the Presidential Limo “The Tank”) for a short road trip wouldn’t have been an issue.
I’m mightily pissed that the press isn’t making some serious hay about the massive insult to the Marine Corps over and above the insult to all the troops. I’ve said before in these pages the fact that so many tens of millions of Americans still support this asshole has rendered me incapable of celebrating the Marine Corps birthday, but that doesn’t mean I am immune from this kind of outright “fuck em, I wanna watch TV and maybe have a secret chat with Putin” disregard!
Of this I’m certain. Trump will no doubt revel in the salutes he gets from the Guards on the steps of Marine One, and at the doors to the White House and believe those Marines just loooooove him. After all they salute him! A sad, pathetic minded man President Bone Spurs truly is. The reality is that every one of us gets the history of Belleau Wood pounded into our consciousness during the process of earning the title Marine, and after yesterday’s bullshit even the ones who voted for him will never have an ounce of respect behind those salutes. I think members of other branches who have voted for him (a bunch of them anyway) will have the scales (finally) fall from their eyes and feel the same way. They can rationalize that unlike predecessors he has yet to visit the troops in a war zone, but not even being willing to visit a memorial and burial site he’d flown all the way to France to supposedly visit because it was fucking raining is an insult to everyone who has worn our nation’s uniform and especially been wounded or died in it. And to all the civilians who have stood into harm’s way as well. To every American, and every person who has fought for or supported those who fought for freedom from the very kinds of dictators Trump openly admires.
At some point Trump is going to have to walk past reporters again. Some of them damn well better shout out “What do you have to say to all the Marines you insulted Saturday by refusing to visit Belleau Wood because it was raining?” Yes, I realize and am very much focused on what’s going on regarding the attempt to cripple the Mueller investigation. And other pressing matters. But Trump is even more out of sorts than usual and animals are most dangerous when wounded and cornered. Keeping him on the defensive about our military by making he realize how badly he’s screwed the pooch this weekend might, just might keep him from letting Bolton and other crazies talkin him into starting a war somewhere. Because for all his bluster and outsized ego I believe it IS possible to knock him down so hard that in his heart he will know damn well that NONE of them are “his” generals and he’ll tread lightly for a while. Maybe.