POST-GAZETTE - Res Publica

Semper Fi

by David Trumbull -- June 17, 2011

In response to my Memorial Day column I received the following letter:

Dear Mr. Trumbull,

I look forward to your column (every week) in the Gazette. It is excellent. BUT you forgot to mention the U.S. Marine Corps in this week’s column. You did mention all the other services. My husband, Alec, and myself served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII. My son served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam Era. Being a U.S. Marine Family, you can see why it bothered me. God bless American, and our Veterans.

—Maria (Calitri) Alexander (North End resident)

I apologize to Mrs. Alexander, her family, and to every man and woman who serves or has served in the U.S. Marine Corps. It was, of course, an unintentional oversight, but nevertheless a serious error on my part to have not proofread more carefully.

Our Marines are older than the United States herself. The Continental Congress authorized two battalions of Marines on November 10, 1775. Since then The Marine Corps has served in every American armed conflict. Today U.S. Marines are part Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. And if you don’t think America will win the global war against terrotism...

Tell that to the Marines,
The first to fight on all the fighting scenes.
Those deviling hounds who know what fighting means.
—Words by Harold Richard Atteridge;
Music by Jean Schwartz and Al Jolson

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