Speeches
Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, Marines Corps Ball
Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh
November 03, 2007
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome. Thank you for all coming to help us celebrate the birthday of one of America’s greatest institutions and certainly America’s greatest defense: the United States Marine Corps. Having been founded in 1775, the Corps is a year older than the United States and, if the Corps lasts a year longer than the United States, then I am safe in saying that America can never fall -- because the Corps embodies all that is best and right about America. Even Ronald Reagan said one thing that made sense and captured an essential truth about our Marines: “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the Marines don’t have that problem.”
And I would only add to that insight that the Marines make a difference in this world even if they never go to war, never shoot a rifle, never take or lose a life--because they are always ready to go to war, to lift that rifle, to risk their lives. Their Corps Values require it: honor, courage, commitment. These three values are, if you would forgive the bad pun, at the core of the Corps. It is these values that set the Marines apart from -- and above -- other warriors. What do these values mean? On a very basic, tribal level they mean that the Marines believe in each other, rely on each other, and sacrifice for each other. But on a more profound, universal level these corps values mean that Chivalry is not yet dead. That each Marine is a modern-day Knight, dedicated to valor and faith, to protecting the weak and defenseless, to living honorably and for glory, despising injustice, persevering whatever the cost, never turning their backs to an enemy. Modern-day knights prepared always to do battle against the dragons of oppression and tyranny. Frankly, how could such men and women not make a difference in this world of self-absorbed communities, devoted to comfort and ease, and too-often led by craven, feckless politicians?
And perhaps especially tonight we should note that the Corps is comprised of both men and women. Not many people know it but the Marine Corps has accepted women into their ranks for almost 200 years. Of course, when I say the Marines “accepted” women into their ranks, I don’t mean exactly that they knew what the hell they were doing! The Marines for all their great virtues and many talents are not noted for their advanced thinking on social issues! The truth is that they just didn’t always know the gender of their recruits. The first female recruit that we know of was Lucy Brewer, who enlisted and fought in the War of 1812. But a lot has changed and nothing at all has changed since then. It is a tribute to the Corps that today there are no female marines and no male marines. There are today only Marines. The few, the proud, the best America has.
Regardless of what position a Marine holds, he is still first and foremost a Marine. Folks used to say that every Marine is a rifleman. It is a very simple phrase the sums up what Marines are all about. It does not so much define, as remind, us of what a Marine’s primary role is. They may drive supply trucks, be mechanics, play music, stand watch at an embassy, or cook in a mess hall, but they are all still Marines, ready like the Knights of yore to do battle whenever called upon to do so. A Marine without a rifle would be like Sir Galahad without a lance. As the Rifleman’s creed puts it: “I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless.” We see that especially true today in battlefields where the frontlines are not clearly demarcated and where all Marines are called upon unexpectedly to pick up that rifle and fight. So we find that a Marine whose primary function was playing a tuba was awarded a purple heart in Falluja, and we find earlier in that war that many Marines who were supposed to be support personnel having to deal with pockets of enemy resistance throughout Iraq.
For me the best part of Marine lore and Marine life is that readiness, that insane eagerness, to get up to the front. To be in the thick of battle. To be the first over the top, as they used to say in World War I. Over the top; not hiding in the trenches. And that is how our Marines conduct themselves on the field of battle and in everyday life. Many of you probably know that after four years fighting our allies in Europe, the German commanders were stunned by the ferocity of our Marines. They started referring to our Marines as “teufel hunden”—devil dogs. Frightening beasts from Bavarian folklore. What an admirable and accurate description of the Marines, as only an honorable adversary could describe them: loyal, tenacious, fierce, and unstoppable. Devil dogs.
And just so today. The Marines don’t want to be left in the trenches. So the current Marine Commandant recently called for the Marines to take over entirely our military operations in Afghanistan, the crucial battlefield in the war against those who attacked us and the place where our future safety will be either secured or lost.
Well, I think I have spoken long enough. I would end by just saying I wish all of us here were a little more Marine-like in our attitude toward life. That we all had a little more sense of honor, courage and commitment, but especially courage. I often quote to audiences that ancient Roman maxim that “courage is not the only virtue, but it is the one virtue that makes all other virtues possible.” The Marines instinctively understand that sentiment. Whenever we have a tough day at the office, whenever we have to deal with an irate boss or a difficult colleague, whenever we are called upon to do something we know is dishonorable or to say something we know is a lie, whenever we are expected to look the other way when someone defenseless is being abused or to just keep our heads down when we are in a dangerous situation, we should all remember the Marines at Belleau Woods as they began their frontal assault. We should not hide in the trenches; we should be ready to go over the top. We should hear echoing in our heads the immortal words of Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly, that end with the most memorable rhetorical question in the entire history of Mankind: “Come on you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?”
Marines. Happy Birthday. God Bless You All. Semper Fi.
