Marine Vignettes
By GyG!
#5
"IN
LEAGUE WITH THE STONES..."
Jim
Baxter Sgt USMC WWIIand Korea
November 17, 1997
*
It has been 52 years since I landed at Nagasaki with the 2nd Marine Division
in the original
occupation
of Japan following World War II. In August every year, I have watched and
listened to
the faint-hearted "peaceniks" and their light-headed symbolism- without-substance
of ringing bells,
flying
pigeons, floating candles, and sonorous chanting and I recall again that
"Peace is not a cause - it
is an effect."
In
July, 1945, my fellow 8th RCT Marines [I was a BARman] and I returned to
Saipan following the
successful conclusion of the Battle of Okinawa. We were issued new equipment
and replacements
joined each outfit in preparation for our coming amphibious assault on
the home islands of Japan.
B-29
bombing had leveled the major cities of Japan, including Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya,
Yokohama,
Yokosuka, and Tokyo.
We were informed we would land three Marine divisions and six Army divisions,
perhaps abreast,
with large reserves following us in. It was estimated that it would cost
half a million casualties to
subdue the Japanese homeland.
In August, the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima but the Japanese government
refused to
surrender. Three days later a second A-bomb was dropped on the city of
Nagasaki. The Imperial
Japanese government finally surrendered.
Following
the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese admiral said, "I fear
all we have done
is
to awaken a sleeping giant..." Indeed, they had. Not surprisingly, the
atomic bomb was produced
by
a free people functioning in a free environment. Not surprisingly because
the creative process is a
natural human choice-making process and inventiveness occurs most readily
where choice-making
opportunities
abound. Tamper with a giant, indeed! Tyrants, beware: Free men are nature's
pit bulls
of
Liberty! The Japanese learned the hard way what tyrants of any generation
should know: Never
start a war with a free people - you never know what they may invent!
As
a newly assigned member of a U.S. Marine intelligence section, I had a
unique opportunity to visit
many
major cities of Japan, including Nagasaki and Hiroshima, within weeks of
their destruction. For
a
full year I observed the beaches, weapons, and troops we would have assaulted
had the A-bombs
not
been dropped. Yes, it would have been very destructive for all, but especially
for the people of
Japan.
When
we landed in Japan, for what came to be the finest and most humane occupation
of a defeated
enemy in recorded history, it was with great appreciation, thanksgiving,
and praise for the atomic
bomb
team, including the aircrew of the Enola Gay. A half million American homes
had been spared
the Gold Star flag, including, I'm sure, my own.
Whenever
I hear the apologists expressing guilt and shame for A- bombing and ending
the war Japan
had
started (they ignore the cause-effect relation between Pearl Harbor and
Nagasaki), I have noted
that
neither the effete critics nor the puff-adder politicians are among us
in the assault landing-craft or
the
stinking rice paddies of their suggested alternative, "conventional" warfare.
Stammering reluctance
is
obvious and continuous, but they do love to pontificate about the Rights
that others, and the Bomb,
have bought and preserved for them.
The
vanities of ignorance and camouflaged cowardice abound as license for the
assertion of virtuous
"rights" purchased by the blood of others - those others who have borne
the burden and physical
expense of Rights whining apologists so casually and self-righteously claim.
At
best, these hypocrites demonstrate a profound and cryptic ignorance of
causal relations, myopic
perception,
and dull I.Q. At worst, there is a word and description in The Constitution
defining those
who love the enemy more than they love their own countrymen and their own
posterity. Every
Yankee Doodle Dandy knows what that word is.
In 1945, America was the only nation in the world with the Bomb and it
behaved responsibly and
respectfully. It remained so until two among us betrayed it to the Kremlin.
Still, this American
weapon
system has been the prime deterrent to earth's latest model tyranny: seventy
years of Soviet
definition, coercion, and domination of human beings.
The message is this: Trust Freedom. Remember, tyrants never learn. The
restriction of Freedom is
the limitation of human choice, and choice is the fulcrum-point of the
creative process in human
affairs. As earth's choice-maker, it is our identity on nature's beautiful
blue planet and the natural
premise
of man's free institutions, environment, and respectful relations with
one another. Made in the
image of our Creator, free men choose, create, and progress - or die.
That human institution which is structured on the principle "...all men
are endowed by their Creator
with...Liberty...," is a system with its roots in the natural Order of
the universe. The opponents of
such a system are necessarily engaged in a losing contest with nature and
nature's God.
Free
men should not fear or envy the oppressor nor choose any of his ways. Recall
with a confident
Job and a victorious David, "Know ye not that you are in league with the
stones of the field?"
References: Job 5:23 Proverbs 3:31 I Samuel 17:40
Jim Baxter Sgt. USMC WWII and Korea
semper
fidelis +vincit veritas+
James Fletcher Baxter choicemaker@thegrid.net
(Click
Here)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2728
(Click
Here)
#6
My
Testimony-Semper Fidelis
Sgt Jim Baxter WWII
and Korea
November 18, 1997
My
brother and I joined the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school and
went away to World
War
II. He, to The Paramarines; 2nd Parachute Battalion and the 5th MarDiv,
and I, to the OSS and
the
2nd MarDiv. Our mother, a True Believer, wrapped us in Psalm 91 and claimed
God's promises
over
us. We both went through combat and returned home after the war.
In
1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War, we were both recalled to active
duty with the 1st
Marine
Division. Our mother again wrapped us in Psalm 91, gave each of us a small
New Testament,
and
sent us off to war with the Lord's blessing.
As
a 12-year-old, I had accepted the Lord but had never been well-disciplined
or obedient. I
wanted
to play patty-cake in the sand piles of the world. At 25, when I went to
Korea, I started
reading
the little Testament my mother had given me.
At
the Inchon landing, and for the next two weeks of heavy combat as a rifle
squad leader, I read a
few
Bible verses every day. I loved my brother Marines who suffered and died
alongside me. As the
death
and destruction grew more intense - and as I stood on the brink of eternity
- I did not like what
I
saw.
As
my outfit, Fox Company [F-2-1], attacked up the streets of Seoul, I was
hit with a machine-gun
bullet.
I made it behind a burning police sub-station in the middle of the street.
My corpsman, Chico,
dressed
my wounds and as sniper bullets crashed into the street beside us,he laid
on top of me -
covering
me with his own body - and yelled in my ear, "You've had enough!" Other
riflemen nailed
the
snipers and as Chico left me to help other Marines lying wounded in the
street, he washit by two
bullets
that blew the shin-bone out of hisleg. I never saw Chico again.
Several
Marines threw a wooden door on the ground, rolled me on it and ran me down
the street
under
heavy fire. It was a fearsome ride.
I
was placed on a DUKW, given a shot of morphine, and dreamed a beautiful
restful sleep to Kimpo
airfield
and the flight to Japan.
At
Yokosuka Naval Hospital for three months, I proclaimed my loyalty to Chico,
my corpsman. One
night,
the Lord came to me. I saw the blood running down His forehead, into His
eyes, and down
over
His cheeks. I looked into His blood-filled eyes. He spread out His bloody
hands and said, "I
did
this for you."
I
was willing to be loyal to Chico - but, had not been willing to be loyal
to the Lord. The Lord said,
"Come
and follow me. I will make you my man. Put away childish things." I said,
"Yes Sir."
With
the Lord as the Lord of my life, I re-joined my outfit and went back into
front-line combat for
another
six months before returning home.
My
brother came home with frost-bitten feet and I came home with a tender
rear-end. Our mother
cried
with joy unspeakable. We were both baptized and have been His loyal Marines
ever since.
Everyday
we say, "Yes Sir," to the Lord Y'shua Jesus - our CHAMPION and HERO. My
Lord and
my
God.
I
still pray for and bless Chico Carsonaro.
Semper
Fidelis/Always Faithful
Psalm
91
James Fletcher Baxter choicemaker@thegrid.net
(Click
Here)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2728
(Click
Here)
#6
The Old Corps
By Dick Gaines
December 1, 1997
All
Marines, from time to time, are heard referring to the Old Corps. But,
just what is the Old
Corps?
How can it be defined? Is it just a relative term, a state of mind?
I
guess it's a pretty hard thing to nail down; and it depends upon whom you're
talking to--and who is
doing
the talking, as well.
To
the young recruit, of any time, it must seem that all Marines wearing at
least one hashmark on their
sleeves
are of the Old Corps. That's how it was with me, and I suppose this is
true of all of us.
Somebody
wrote a book about WWII, and in it, the author referred to the Marines
of the 1st Marine
Division
on Guadalcanal as "The Old Breed." Not so may years later, another author
referred to the
Marines
in Korea as "The New Breed." Needless to say, these New Breed Marines have
long since
become
the Old Corps. I guess it was Chesty Puller who said, "Old Breed. New Breed,
there's only
one
breed, the Marine breed." (paraphrased)
Apparently,
there has always beein in the Corps this tradition whereby younger Marines
look up to
their
senior, more experienced, seasoned Marines with such respect.
There
was that old story regarding that first day of recruiting at Tun Tavern
in '75 (1775, that is.)
It
seems that two young farmers, Abbott and Williams, decided to join this
new Corps that day. They
were
lined up according to alphabetical order, for some reason, something to
do with administrative
procedures.
Consequently, Abbott was enlisted that morning while Williams didn't get
sworn in until
much
later in the day. The very next day, Abbott was overheard pulling his seniority
on Williams, and
telling
him how things were in the Old Corps.
For
me, it has now been more than 45 years since I first walked into a Marine
Corps Recruiting
Station.
Every once in a while some younger Marine (most are) will sign my guestbook
or send me
an
e-mail and refer to me as "Old Corps." At such times I get that same feeling
as when I absent-
mindedly
glance in the mirror and surprise myself... :-)
So, maybe the term is somewhat relative. We're all Old Corps--sooner or
later!
-Dick Gaines
(GyG's Marine Postal WebSite)
#8
Marines In Review
By Dick Gaines
December 5, 1997
Memory is a curious
thing. As we grow older, our short-term memory fades ue seem to have
trouble remembering
where we left our car keys or what we had for breakfast. Long-term memory,
by contrast, seems
to be quite the opposite; we can usually remember intricate details of
long ago
events that surprise
others and even ourselves.
I can still remember,
for instance, the days of the week and the time of day that certain radio
programs were on
the air (before the days of TV.) There was The Lone Ranger at 7:30pm on
Mon-Wed-and Friday;
and the Red Skelton Show at 9:30 pm on Thursday--I recall that I had to
get
permission to stay
up late for this one. This all took place back in Rhode Island in the mid-'40s.
One
of my favorites was
called Marines In Review, and it was heard on Sunday afternoons coming
from a
place called Camp
Pendleton, in California.This program had several distinct features, one
of which
was "The Old Gunny"
who possessed great wisdom and had the straight scoop on whatever question
came up.
In 1952 this Marine
Pfc had just reported aboard Camp Pendleton. I'd heard that this same Marines
In Review radio show
was recorded in the 12 area theatre just prior to the Wednesday night movie
at 1900 hours.There
was no Base Theatre in those days, each area had its own theatre, PX, etc.
Admission to the
movie cost 10 cents. The movie that night was "Battle Zone", starring John
Hodiak.
It was about a WWII
Marine MSgt, a combat photographer, who had been recalled to active duty
because of the Korean
War; this movie had recently been filmed here at Camp Pendleton.
Anyway, the theatre
was a bit crowded that night and I took a seat next to a lady holding a
baby. As
soon as the radio
show started, her husband sitting next to her, got up and strode to the
stage. He
was John Hodiak,
star of the movie, and his wife was Anne Baxter. Here my memory fades a
bit, as
I do not recall whether
or not this was the same night General Puller was there to award a medal
to a
Marine for his Korean
service. I do recall, however, my surprise when I observed that The Old
Gunny, whom I had
been listening to for several years on the radio, turned out to be a young
Marine
(a corporal, I think)
wearing earphones, up on the stage reading his lines into a microphone.
Yep, memory is a
curious thing. And, even more so is perception. Somewhere between memory
and
perception, I think,
there must be a filter which retains only the best of our memories.
-Dick Gaines
Wanted! A few good
Marine "Vignettes"--You're Next, Marine! Submit Yours Today.
Links
More
Vignettes!
HomePage
This page created with Netscape Navigator Gold
