that's all I ask...

I will not apologize for being an American. I will not tread lightly in speech simply because I am a Veteran.  I will not forgive the trespasses of my enemies when their forked tongues trickle lies and deceit into the ears of my countrymen.  I will not stand idly by while the rights and privileges my forefathers bled for are trampled by the unwillingness of cowards and liars to speak up for their supposed beliefs.  I offered my life in defense of something that is forgotten and unimportant to 99% of America – and I did so without remorse, forethought or the intention to look back on my decisions.  I look at what my country has come to be and to what level of ignorance people are willing to cling to just so they feel safe and justified in making what is so obviously a bad decision.  My trust in the sheep this country is predominately made of has been incredibly destroyed.  It has been said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism – not that patriotism is found in the act of being a lemming in society but that we are, as Americans, individuals in the way that we think and act and decide.  I do not look down on any one person who decides to choose their future based on their own determination of what is best for them.  I cannot look at any free-willed American with malice or discontent because he or she has made a decision because of their own convictions and beliefs.  I offered my life in defense of these people and their inherent right to believe whatever they want to – and I truly hope that they all exercise their rights to follow what they wish.  I just ask that any and everyone who makes a decision does so on their own will – not to follow the path of least resistance.  My brothers – all Veterans of America’s military – did not offer their lives in defense of a nation willing to roll over and take whatever hand it was dealt.  The men who I served with know what it means to have everything dear to them threatened and risked.  Their families know, more than anyone, the sacrifices necessary to keep our shores free of hostility and the wolves at bay.  We were not born of a nation of idiots and followers – we are part of something much bigger and much greater than anything before our time.  We have a choice before us, what we do with it will forever decide the path of history.  Do no tread lightly on the decision ahead of you – the fate of your nation rests at your feet today, and no longer weighs heavily on the shoulders of a more convicted Patriot.

  I am just a man, though at various times and in so many ways I have considered myself something quite different.  Sometimes less than that, sometimes more.  I have endured things many could not; alternatively, I have failed things which seemingly no one else can.   I attempt to write.  Some like what comes out and  others do not.  I will forewarn you that sometimes you will agree with me wholeheartedly, while other times you will hate me for what I have produced.  Either way I will attempt to stay true to myself as I am not renowned for my conformist nature.  I may at times be offensive- not only in language but also in content.  I cannot make you read what I write and I hope that, as any reader should, you will use your best judgement.  Now with that having been said, let me get this out of the way...

 I am a Marine.  I will always be a Marine.  If you do not like Marines or the military in general then you should promptly leave and/or go f*** yourself.  Though the title of this blog leads to the belief that the world is yours-it is not.  This is my world, as seen through the amber tinted lenses and conveyed via the keyboard of yours truly.

 The natural order of my life led me to the path of becoming a Marine early on.  As early as I can remember I wanted to do something that very few people could.  Like many aspiring boys I wanted to save the world and get the girl, I wanted to come home to a heroes parade of banners and flags.  I, to this day, still remember the exact moment I wanted to become a Marine.  Shortly after the "Shock and Awe" campaign I was watching the news when a report appeared from a journalist imbedded with a group of Infantry Marines on the front lines of a firefight.  All I saw was a poor quality night vision video covering a barrage of gunfire the Grunts were sending downrange.  Curious, I began looking into the history and function of the Marine Corps.  These were the baddest s.o.b.'s I had ever heard of.  Select, proud, disciplined, capable, fierce, trusted, and faithful.  The Marines had everything I was looking for and more.  Before then I knew there was a purpose for me as a Patriot, the Marine Corps simply guided my way down a path few others have chosen and even fewer have completed.  Two weeks after my high school graduation I was knee-deep in a world of hurt I could have only imagined as a civilian. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. My body was tested, trained and hardened to endure the hardships ahead of me. My psyche was broken down and rebuilt like an old yet salvageable engine, put to the purpose of carrying out orders and protecting the sacred belief of America.  Marines are not robotic slaves of death as many would have you believe, the Corps prefers a thinking Marine to a mindless idiot.  Each Marine should know the others job and each Marine should be ready to lead in the event it becomes necessary.  Marines never give up.  Period.  Never have and never will.  They exist with the sole purpose of perpetrating death and hardship upon the enemies of America no matter the cost.  Pouring out hate and discontent in a manner and fashion no other force in the world is capable of.  We are damned good at what we do.  It's been said that the Marine Corps does the most with the least and have done so better than anyone else could.  Oliver North quoted a Marine in one of his books that "The Marines have done so much, with so little, for so long that we now can do anything, with nothing, forever".  We Marines hold ourselves above all other forces for a reason.  Simply put, we are better.  More discipline, higher standards, better training, better results.  Cocky yet silent, a Marine knows that there is a time for peace and a time for war. A group of quiet professionals standing tall against an otherwise uncivilized and horrible world.  Though our outward perception is that of a soulless war-fighter, I have witnessed acts of mercy and kindness from Marines that even a Peace Corps tree-hugging fruit bat couldn't have carried out.    Since 1775 the Marine Corps has been America's first choice.  We were placed in a barracks within marching distance of the White House for a strategic purpose.  One of America's fiercest opponents referred to Marines as "Devil Dogs", a name that has almost regrettably stuck since World War I.  The things of myth and nightmare in German lore, Devil Dogs were no longer just the bump in the night- they now had a vehicle from which their Hellish intent was carried out. Born in a bar, or brothel to be more exact, the United States Marine Corps has been known for our accomplishments on the battlefield for over 236 years- longer than the Republic itself has existed.  10November1775 - Tun Tavern - Philadelphia P.A. The Second Continental Congress issued an order that would forever alter the world and the way war was fought.
" That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one Colonel, two lieutenant-colonels, two majors and other officers, as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal number of privates as with other battalions, that particular care be taken that no persons be appointed to offices, or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve for and during the present war with Great Britain and the Colonies; unless dismissed by Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the First and Second Battalions of Marines."
And so it began....
There is an ever-evolving poem which has floated around the Marine Corps and the internet that I am sure some of you have seen.  It pretty much sums up the way we are and the way we will be forever.  I have my own version which I cannot claim as mine entirely.

10 November 1775.

Over two centuries of romping, stomping, hell, death and destruction.

The finest fighting machine the world has ever seen.

I was born in a bomb crater, my Mother was an M-16, and my Father was the Devil.

Each moment that I live is an additional threat upon your life.

I eat concertina, piss napalm and I can shoot a round through a flea’s ass at three-hundred meters.

I’m a grunt.

I’m the dirty, nasty, stinky, sweaty, filthy, beautiful little son of a bitch that’s kept the wolf away from the door for over two-hundred and thirty-six years.

I am a United States Marine.

I am a rough looking, roving soldier of the sea.

I am cocky, self-centered, overbearing, and do not know the meaning of fear, for I am fear itself.

I am a green amphibious monster, made of blood and guts, which arose from the sea, my sole purpose in life to perpetrate death and destruction upon the festering of anti-Americanism throughout the globe whenever it may arise.

And when my time comes, I will die a glorious death on the battlefield, giving my life for Mom, the Corps, and the American Flag.

We stole the eagle from the Air Force, the anchor from the Navy, and the rope from the Army - on the 7th day when God rested, we over-ran his perimeter and stole the globe, and we've been running the show ever since.

We live like soldiers, talk like sailors, and slap the Hell out of both of them. Warrior by day, lover by night, drunkard by choice, Marine by God.

Semper Fidelis.