"Chesty" Puller
On 11/17/05, Rep. John Murtha said: "For two and a half years, I have been concerned about the U.S. policy and the plan in Iraq. I have addressed my concerns with the Administration and the Pentagon and have spoken out in public about my concerns. The main reason for going to war has been discredited... Because we in Congress are charged with sending our sons and daughters into battle, it is our responsibility, our obligation, to speak out for them. That's why I am speaking out. Our military has done everything that has been asked of them, the U.S. can not accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring them home."
Trash talking bravado such as: "Real Americans won't wimp out"..."Bring it on"... "Cowards cut and run; Marines never do.", serves to get Americans killed unnecessarily.
During the Korean War, the Communist Chinese entered the war by swarming across the frozen Yalu River and Chosen Reservoir in northern Korea. Marines under the command of "Chesty" Puller were forced to withdraw and redeploy. "Chesty" Puller became a Marine Corps legend partly because he was a combat veteran that had earned five Navy Crosses, but also because of his open disdain for politicians.
A reporter asked him how he felt about the Marines retreating for the first time in history. He replied: "Hell were not retreating. Were just attacking in another direction." In fact, they were fighting their way south to a seaport to be evacuated. They brought their dead and wounded with them in temperatures that reached 30 degrees below zero.
Rep. John Murtha doesn't suggest that we cut and run. He advocates redeployment, because the lives of the grunts on the ground come first. Puller and Murtha recognize that "avoiding humiliation" is political hype.
Trash talking bravado such as: "Real Americans won't wimp out"..."Bring it on"... "Cowards cut and run; Marines never do.", serves to get Americans killed unnecessarily.
During the Korean War, the Communist Chinese entered the war by swarming across the frozen Yalu River and Chosen Reservoir in northern Korea. Marines under the command of "Chesty" Puller were forced to withdraw and redeploy. "Chesty" Puller became a Marine Corps legend partly because he was a combat veteran that had earned five Navy Crosses, but also because of his open disdain for politicians.
A reporter asked him how he felt about the Marines retreating for the first time in history. He replied: "Hell were not retreating. Were just attacking in another direction." In fact, they were fighting their way south to a seaport to be evacuated. They brought their dead and wounded with them in temperatures that reached 30 degrees below zero.
Rep. John Murtha doesn't suggest that we cut and run. He advocates redeployment, because the lives of the grunts on the ground come first. Puller and Murtha recognize that "avoiding humiliation" is political hype.
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