Once a Marine - Always a Marine - Boston Veteran Kicks Ass on the MBTA Transit Bus

Boston Veterans Kick Ass on MBTA too!

This Old Vet from Chicago kicks a criminals ass on the bus when a dispute escalates.

Once a Marine - Always a Marine

Being a Marine is a state of mind. 

It is an experience some have likened more to a calling than a profession. Being a Marine is not a job – not a paycheck; it is not an occupational specialty. It is not male or female, majority or minority; nor is it a rank insignia. Stars, bars, or chevrons are only indicators of the responsibility or authority we hold at a given time. Rather, being a Marine comes from the eagle, globe, and anchor that is tattooed on the soul of every one of us who wears the Marine Corps uniform. 

It is a searing mark in our innermost being which comes after the rite of passage through boot camp or Officer Candidates School when a young man or woman is allowed for the first time to say, “I’m a United States Marine.” And unlike physical or psychological scars, which, over time, tend to heal and fade in intensity, the eagle, globe, and anchor only grow more defined – more intense – the longer you are a Marine. 

"Once a Marine, always a Marine."

Selected USMC Slogans:  (excerpt from Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines, copyright 2001 Marion F. Sturkey)

• First to Fight:  The media in the United States began using this term to describe U.S. Marines during World War I.  And, for once the media was right.  Marines have served in the vanguard of every American war since the founding of the Corps in 1775.  They have carried out over 300 assaults on foreign shores, from the arctic to the tropics.  Historically, U.S. Marines are indeed the first to fight.
   
• Once a Marine, Always a Marine:  This truism is now the official motto of the Marine Corps League.  The origin of the statement is credited to a gung-ho Marine Corps master sergeant, Paul Woyshner.  During a barroom argument he shouted, "Once a Marine, always a Marine!"  MSgt. Woyshner was right.  Once the title "U.S. Marine" has been earned, it is retained.  There are no ex-Marines or former-Marines.  There are (1) active duty Marines, (2) retired Marines, (3) reserve Marines, and (4) Marine veterans.  Nonetheless, once one has earned the title, he remains a Marine for life.
   
• Gung-Ho:  The Chinese used this term to describe Marines in China around 1900.  In the Chinese language, gung-ho means working together.  That's what the "American Marines" were always doing, "working together," the Chinese explained.  The term stuck to Marines like glue.  Today it conveys willingness to tackle any task, or total commitment to the Corps.
   
• Good night, Chesty, wherever you are:  This is an often-used tribute of supreme respect to the late and legendary LtGen. Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC.  Chesty!  Without a doubt he was the most outspoken Marine, the most famous Marine, the Marine who really loved to fight, the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps.   Chesty enlisted as a Private.  Through incredible fortitude and tenacity he became a living legend.  He shouted battle orders in a bellow and stalked battlefields as though impervious to enemy fire.  Chesty rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.  He displayed an abiding love for the Magnificent Grunts, especially the junior enlisted men who did the majority of the sacrificing and dying, and utter contempt for all staff pogues of whatever rank.  During his four wars, he became the only Marine to be awarded the Navy Cross five times.  The Marines' Marine!  "Goodnight, Chesty, wherever you are."
   
• A Few Good Men:  On 20 March 1779 in Boston, Capt. William Jones, USMC, advertised for "a few good men" to enlist in the Corps for naval duty.  The term seemed ideally suited for Marines, mainly because of the implication that "a few" good men would be enough.  This term has survived for over 200 years and has been synonymous with U.S. Marines ever since.
  
  

  Epic Beard Man Animation

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  Documentary of the "Epic Beardman"

  
  
  

  Mash-up of three videos: the fight, the video you didn't see outside the bus and an interview with the epic beard man aka Tom Slick (Vietnam Tom)

http://www.m4l.usmc.mil/

Missile Defence Radar: Russia Will Cooperate

Prague - Cooperation with Russia on the U.S. missile defence system is possible, but Moscow should not have the right to veto where NATO security matters are concerned, Alexandr Vondra, Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs, said in a debate on TV Prima today.

The planned anti-missile shield is to include a radar base on Czech soil. The two Czech-U.S. "radar" treaties were signed by the Czech and U.S. ministers under George Bush's administration last year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on the ARD television on Tuesday she considers it necessary for Russia to take part in the missile defence shield project.

On Wednesday Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he would welcome it if Russia joined the U.S. anti-missile shield project in a meaningful way.

Vondra (Civic Democrats, ODS) today said he expects the new U.S. government of Barack Obama to place a bigger emphasis, in connection with the anti-missile shield, on a dialogue not only in NATO but also with the Russian federation.

"Everything I know makes me believe that they will continue their anti-missile defence project," said Vondra, former Czech ambassador to the U.S.

He said, nevertheless, that Obama's team might make "slight corrections" to the project. It may earmark less money than what was originally planned, he added.

Vondra said the U.S. definitely will not give its missile defence project up.

Apart from the radar, to be built in the Brdy military district southwest of Prague and yet to be discussed by the Czech Chamber of Deputies, the Central European part of the shield is to comprise a base with interceptor missiles in Poland.

Moscow has sharply protested against the project which it considers a threat to its own security.

Washington asserts the shield is to be aimed against possible missile attacks from "rogue" countries such as Iran.

According to Vondra, Obama and his administration will now probably seek even more intensive cooperation with Europe, and also a dialogue with Moscow.

"We negotiated about the issue with Russia in the past two years," Vondra said, recalling that the U.S., too, offered ways of missile defence cooperation to Russia.

One of the then debated possibilities was the presence of Russian monitors at the U.S. bases in the Czech Republic and Poland, which, however, both Czechs and Poles rejected.

"The cooperation, however, cannot include a Russian right to veto where decisions on NATO security matters are concerned," Vondra said.

Author: ČTK

19.01.2009: Czechoslovakia forever | Československo na věčné časy

Autor: Pavel Vondra

In my bottomless vanity I give you yet another bilingual rant/ Tento příspěvek je psán dvojjazyčně, aby náhodou ta úzká podmnožina lidí, co nemluví jedním či druhým jazykem, o něco nepřišla :-)

Společný stát Čechů a Slováků už sice šestnáct let neexistuje, ale někteří lidé se s tím evidentně dodnes nesmířili. A nemluvím teď zrovna o zapřísáhlých stoupencích věčného bratrství mezi našimi dvěma národy, které spolu tři čtvrtě století kráčely ruku v ruce, než se definitivně vydaly cestou oddělené státnosti. Co mi více leží na srdci, je to, kolik lidí, od kterých je férové očekávat pravý opak, stále ignoruje skutečnost, že Česko a Slovensko jsou nyní dva samostatné státy.

Jako (zatím) poslední podal přihlášku do tohoto klubu výtečníků britský premiér Gordon Brown, o jehož inteligenci a rozhledu se (bez ironie) vyprávěly legendy dávno předtím, než na ostrovech stanul v čele vlády. A právě tento politik v neděli na tiskové konferenci v Káhiře, kam přijel spolu s dalšími evropskými státníky jednat o blízkovýchodní krizi, ve svém projevu výslovně zmínil přítomnost kolegů „z Československa“ vedle ostatních účastníků schůzky.

Věřte mi, vůbec bych to nezmiňoval, protože už jsem si sám dávno zvykl na to, že podobné faux pas dělá většina cizinců, se kterými se ve světě setkávám. A lidem, jako je John McCain, který si za toto mentálně-verbální uklouznutí nedávno vysloužil pozornost zdejších médií včetně Aktuálně.cz, bych to snad ani nevyčítal. Ale o muži z Downign Street číslo 10 jsem měl přeci jen lepší mínění.

Vždyť jsou to probůh už skoro tři týdny, co Česká republika předsedá Evropské unii, jejímž členem je i Brownova země, byť se někdy snaží tvářit, že to tak není. No, možná bychom si z té pozornosti, která na nás má být tento půlrok údajně upřena, přeci jen neměli dělat tak těžkou hlavu.

✄---➫➫➫➫➫➫➫➫➫➫➫

The federation of Czechs and Slovaks may well be dead for more than sixteen years now but it still lives in the hearts and minds of many people. And I am not just talking about those heart-bleeding believers in the eternal brotherhood of our two nations that have walked hand in hand for some three quarters of a century before finally parting ways.

I am rather concerned about the fact that a great number of people who should know better continue to ignore the fact that Czechs and Slovaks are two separate countries now.

The latest in this dubious row of luminaries is a British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This man of great intelligence and command of world matters – or so his supporters would have us believe – just committed the same old blunder like so many before (and no doubt after) him when he mentioned the presence of his colleagues “from Czechoslovakia” and other European countries at the press conference held in Cairo where they met to bang their heads together once again over the situation in Middle East.

Believe me, I wouldn’t even mention it, for I have long resigned myself to the fact that most people I meet abroad commit the same mistake. And I surely wouldn’t hold it against John McCain who had recently made headlines here for the same reason, but I do tend to hold the current resident of Downing Street 10 to higher standards.


For God’s sake, hasn’t it been nearly three weeks now that the Czech Republic has held the EU presidency? The union of which Brown’s country is also a member, after all, no matter how reluctant one at times. Well, I guess it just goes to show we shouldn’t really worry too much about being in the "limelight".I, Bmac, may also add, ehhm "and dare I say, Czechs shouldn't really worry too much about being under the radar"
Autor: Pavel Vondra

U.S. Ambassador to Prague, Richard Graber Ends Diplomatic Mission

Prague - U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic Richard Graber ended his diplomatic mission today, on the day of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the new U.S. president, and he has already left home, Jakub Hornek from the Czech embassy press department told CTK.

The name of Graber's successor will probably be known only in the spring, he said.

Graber, 52, took office as ambassador to the Czech Republic in 2006. After Obama won the November presidential elections, Graber resigned from his post.

He is returning to Wisconsin where he was the head of the local Republicans for eight years since 1999.

According to his statements, he could either get involved in politics or return to his profession as a lawyer.

The Czech press speculated in the past that Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state in the U.S. government of president Bill Clinton, could replace Graber. However, Albright who was born in Prague and who leads a consulting company at present, has dismissed the speculation.

The U.S. embassy in Prague said that the name of Graber's successor would be announced in a few weeks or months.

"We believe the name of the new ambassador will be known only in the spring," Hornek told CTK, adding that President Obama would first have to appoint new ministers, their deputies and assistants.

"Only then the president usually starts appointing new ambassadors and the U.S. Senate must approve all these people," Hornek said, adding that according to him, the name of the new ambassador in Prague would be announced in March or April at the earliest.

Graber said previously that he considered last autumn's lifting of U.S. visa requirements for Czechs as his biggest achievement in the post of ambassador.

The move was the result of long-lasting efforts by diplomacy of the Czech Republic and other European countries.

Graber also said he believed that the construction of a U.S. missile defence radar base on Czech soil would be implemented.
So in case some of you don't know who the fella is on the left, that is Jiri Paroubek, asshole and MP, Prague.
The USA also has high hopes that the Czech parliament will finally approve the extension of Czech units' participation in Afghanistan, he said, alluding to the parliament's failure to do so in late December.