Hello from the corner table,
Currently, there are a lot of words tossed around (which is not really anything new, but perhaps different ones) that get used, pushed upon the other, and taken out of context. Or sometimes, thinking about the work of Anthony Giddens, the British social theorist, they take on new meanings. Perhaps it is when they have the new meanings, something that seems in no way related to what has occurred before, that we probably struggle the most. I remember when I first heard the word “jawn,” which seems to have originated in Philadelphia, not all that far from where I have spent more than a decade and a half of my life. In fact, there is a billboard type advertisement for it in the Philadelphia International Airport. If you are not aware of it, a quick search will acquaint you, but it is a sort of ultimate po-mo sort of word, and it can refer to a person place or thing (sounds like the definition of a noun) or even an event. So it means both everything and nothing. I remember when it was a bit more in vogue on our Bloomsburg campus and seldom did I hear a conversation where it did not find its way into that exchange. Often when people had some sense of excitement about whatever it was, jawn would be used to describe it, to refer to it.
Ponder for a moment words that were used in our daily language when you were in high school or college. And I wonder if the ability to communicate so instantaneously has only caused the proliferation of such colloquialisms to explode as well as travel from culture to culture. I am sure that is the case. Some of those words from the 60s are known to most Millennials, Gen Z or now Alpha as hippie speak . . . Even though I never considered myself a hippie, when some of my students see me in the 70s and 80s, they say I was a hippie. For me a hippie was more of the flower child in Haight-Ashbury. I did not think of NW Iowa as a hippie haven, that is for sure. Of course, teaching at a university most of my adult life, or working with youth when I was a pastor, I was exposed to their vernacular on a daily basis. As always, language, the use of words, intrigues me.
This coming Monday, the 10th of November (as is every 10th of November), there are three things that occurred in history that have significance in my life. The first is the birthday of Martin Luther in 1483, and as a Lutheran pastor that always held significance for me. Recently I posted a meme of him, and noted that if there is a person in history I would like to meet, he might be at the top of the list, most definitely closely followed by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who also affected me, both because of my dissertation work as well as how he perceived the role of the church in society. The second of the events, and this is out of chronological order, but for a reason, is the loss of the taconite freighter, SS Edmund Fitzgerald, on the 10th in 1975, so this year marks 50 years since that fateful journey across Superior (Gitche Gumee). My feeds have been awash with news items, about the famous tune by the late Gordon Lightfoot, and the still remaining questions about what actually caused it to sink. The ship was large enough and considered sturdy enough that it was been referred to as the “Titanic of the Great Lakes.” My spending the better part of a decade in Houghton in the Keweenaw, and in the middle of Lake Superior makes that even part of the culture. Additionally, I worked at a restaurant called Fitzgeralds, which is in Eagle River, Michigan, and I would encourage you to dine there if you are in the area.
The third important event that occurred on this date occurred in Philadelphia at Tun Tavern, which had been around for almost a century, when it became where the first recruiting drive for the United States Marine Corps occurred in 1775. The tavern and the date have been the traditional founding of the USMC. The significance of the Marine Corps as a branch of the military and the espirit de corps of the Marines is really second to none in the country. The phrase “Once a Marine, Always a Marine” does not (to my knowledge) have an equal in the other branches of our military. To be called brother (or sister, I imagine) by another Marine Corps veteran will send chills throughout my body. The rigorous nature of Marine Corps Boot Camp is legendary, and that was certainly even more instilled in the acting of the late (actual Staff Sgt. and Drill Instructor) R. Lee Ermey in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, he portrayed both the reality and the difficulty of the task required to turn boys into disciplined Marines in merely 80 days. I remember when I told my father I wanted to go into the service, and his response was “That might be good for you.” When I followed up that I wanted to enlist in the Marines, his response changed. He said, “What the hell do you want to do that for?” And while I had some understanding of what that meant (not nearly enough), I responded, “Because I am little and no one things I can do it.” Again, in the spirit of full disclosure, the first two nights of boot camp, I put my head under my pillow, and I cried. I was terrified at what I had done, but my father had warned me that once I was there, I WAS THERE!! He was correct. While my time in the Marines was quite a growing experience, I think it is in the 50+ years since that I realize the profound significance of what being a Marine did and does. For it is true, I will live the motto of Semper Fidelis until my last breath. There is a loyalty to that oath I took as a young naïve 17 year old who had no real inkling about what he had just swore to do. It was in the Spring of 1973, and we were withdrawing from Vietnam. I saw the Marines as a way to leave home and get a GI Bill.
So in the 50 years since, and particularly during the time I served as the advisor to the Bloomsburg University Student Veterans Association, I really came face-to-face and grew exponentially in my appreciation for what my time as a Marine in the 1970s meant. Even when I was in Wisconsin, I remember having a group of National Guard students who were called out in the middle of the semester to be deployed. The number of amazing men and women that I worked with during my time here at Bloomsburg across the branches of the military, from those in ROTC, and I think of fraternity brothers in Michigan who served (some losing their lives). Each of those people humble me and remind me of what our country is really built on. When I see the table set for the person still MIA, the ability to hold back tears is not always something of which I am capable. Even as I was writing this, Bloomsburg was holding its annual Veterans Day parade. The number of Deuce-and-a-halfs, Five-Tons, or a jeep with a trailer (something I once rolled at the Main Gate of Camp LeJuene) reminded me of what it was to be in the Marine Corps and a 105 or 155 Howitzer Battery. When I began this post, I spoke about language, and the importance of words. The word that comes to mind when I think of being a Marine, what it means to still be a Marine is loyalty. Semper Fidelis, the motto was instituted by the 8th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Colonel Charles McCawley. It points to the loyalty that instilled in every Marine from the day they step foot on those yellow footprints in Parris Island or San Diego and yes, in Quantico. Loyalty becomes the fabric of each individual who becomes a Marine, and that loyalty to God and Country, to the Corps is unquestioned. Country is certainly an object, and for those who believe in a Creator, God is a person. And yet what is loyalty? What makes it such a powerful thing? Why is it we often describe loyalty by a negative (e.g. not being betrayed, not being cheated on, or not being abandoned – there is that word for me again)? It is because it is so hard to describe or quantify? What if we were to say it is about consistency; it is about honest vulnerability; and perhaps it is about some level of transparency. This is, of course, more about interpersonal relationships, but what does it mean for being a Marine?
It is about tradition and honor, believing in the core principles of the Corps. It is about a sense of purpose to something larger than one’s self. It is about brotherhood and camaraderie. There are few if any Marine who does not know what they felt like upon graduating from Boot Camp. It is about learning and developing leadership and using that leadership for the good of the other Marines with whom you serve. But I believe that what makes that loyalty different is it extends beyond someone’s EAS. It is something they believe in as essential to who they are. This is not to say Marines are infallible. I know this all too well, but recently someone asked me what I carry with me yet today from being a United States Marine? What I carry is a sense of honor and duty to my country, which means at time questioning its path. What I carry with me is a sense of discipline that when needed, I know how to dig deep and get something accomplished. What I carry with me is a sense of pride in completing the task, the mission, whatever the duty is to the best of my ability. Am I a proud Marine? Indeed, I am. Am I a loyal Marine? Again, indeed, I am. Have I ever regretted going against my father’s advice when I enlisted in the Corps? Not a single instance – no, not one time. Were there things that happened during my service that changed me? Undoubtedly, and I remember some of them vividly. Now as the Corps celebrates 250 years of service to the country, I am proud to say as a Corps, as a veteran Marine, I hold fast to the belief of always faithful. To all my brother and sister Marines: Semper Fi! Once, always!
This video of the Marine Corps Hymn is done by the Commandant’s Own, which is at Marine Barracks in Washington, DC, and was recorded a few years ago. I would not the official Marine Corp’s Band is also called “The President’s Own.”
Thanks as always for reading,
Michael
thewritingprofessor55 