IRAQ: Listen up, slimeball

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Marine Corps is its reverence to its history and heroes.

Marines arriving in Kuwait en route to Iraq receive a video welcome from an Army general. A Marine sergeant then appears to sternly remind the Marines that they are ‘Chesty’s own,’ a reference to Lt. Gen. Lewis ‘Chesty’ Puller, considered the most decorated Marine in history.

Outposts through Anbar province carry names of battles from past wars. Near the Syrian border, the Marines have established outposts called Khe Sanh, Okinawa, Beirut and Saipan.

A bit of Hollywood has also crept in to the Marines devotion to their past.

A common sight wherever Marines are deployed is the face of R. Lee Ermey, the gunnery sergeant turned actor who jumped to fame as the snarling drill instructor in ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and now has a show on the History Channel, ‘Mail Call.’

At the Internet center at the Al Asad base, Ermey’s finger-pointing, fury-filled visage is above each terminal with a caption, viz, ‘You’re Sitting At Computer 18, Dirtbag.’

— Tony Perry at Al Asad, Iraq