Wow! I’m not sure if the letter below is legitimate or fabricated. It sounds like it could be from a real Marine, and so I’m going to publish it just in case. Either way, it gives you a lot to think about…

It’s freezing here. I’m sitting on hard, cold dirt between rocks and shrubs at the base of the Hindu Kush Mountains along the Dar ‘yoi Pomir River watching a hole that leads to a tunnel that leads to a cave. Stake out, my friend, and no pizza delivery for thousands of miles.

I also glance at the area around my ass every ten to fifteen seconds to avoid another scorpion sting. I’ve actually given up battling the chiggers and sand fleas, but them scorpions give a jolt like a cattle prod. Hurts like a bastard. The antidote tastes like transmission fluid but God bless the Marine Corps for the five vials of it in my pack.

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I joined the United States Marine Corps when I was 17 years old. More specifically, 5 days after my 17th birthday my mother had to go with me to sign the papers for my enrollment because I wasn’t legally old enough to do it myself (you have to be 18). Believe me, she didn’t want to do it, but I felt it was my duty to defend this country and she respected my decision.

Less than 8 hours after I graduated from high school I was on an airplane to Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA, where I was to spend the next few months of my life. Since that time people have often asked me what USMC Boot Camp was like, often comparing it to the movie Full Metal Jacket. And I tell them in most ways it was actually a lot worse than that movie.
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Thanks to Steve for finding and sharing this with me. Also, thanks to United Airlines for taking care of our Marine Corps to the very end.

People need to remember that the US Marines live to protect freedom.

They are deployed by politicians and they execute on commands to the very last man, without question. You can be for, or against, this or any other war but you owe your freedom as an American to a dead Marine somewhere.
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I recently acquired a bad ass treadmill as part of an effort to get back in shape (more on that later), and I went searching for some USMC cadence recordings to listen to while I run on it. They were harder to find than I thought they would be, so I figured I would share them here in case anyone would like to hear them.

These work songs are sung while a platoon is running in formation and let me tell you – they are motivational. When you hear 80 sets of boots pounding the ground in unison while 80 Marines sing cadence it is a site to behold.
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If you need proof that the Marine Corps is full of complete bad-asses, just take a look at this video.

The USMC Silent Drill Platoon travels all over the US and the world putting on demonstrations of coordinated perfection the equivalent of the Navy’s Blue Angels.

Pay particular attention towards the end of the video when it’s time for the rifle inspections…
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A lot of people out there are too young to remember the 1970’s TV show The Bionic Woman, starring Lindsay Wagner, so in short it was about a woman who had near super-human powers as a result of bionic implants after a skydiving accident.

Well, reality becomes one step closer to fiction now that Claudia Mitchell, a former US marine, has been fitted with her new bionic arm. This new piece of technology is controlled by thought, and is six times faster than older technology in actual usage.
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