Lt. Gen. Victor H. Krulak (b. 1913), a Marine, passed away at the age of 95 on Dec. 29, 2008, just a few days ago. A 1934 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, he fought in WWII in what is known as the island hopping campaign in the Pacific, as in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Vella Lavella, Kwajalein, Iwo Jima, Peleliu, Saipan, Okinawa and more. While I was an infant, he was fighting. He is thus one of the people making it possible for me to blog today. One of his sons became the top leader of the Marines, the Commandant, and another a priest of the Episcopal church. The reason I note his passing, here, in addition to the great respect I feel for him and his contribution to our well-being, is that in 1984 he wrote a book called First to Fight, An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps.* A knowledgeable commentator has stated that in it is written the DNA of the U.S. Marines.
The DNA of the Marines...
That made me stop and think. What could that be? I wondered. A top Marine writes a book about his organization and in it is said to appear its DNA.
This is impressive, I thought.
Could I do that about my chosen profession, attorney? Prosecutor? Defense attorney? Constitutional Law professor? Dad? Grandfather?
Well, I suppose if I put my mind to it, I might, but I'm not sure.
But is that something you've ever thought about?
Most of us lead our lives and do the best we can with what we've got, usually trying to acquire more than we've got.
But the Marines don't do that. What they do is to prepare to put themselves in harm's way for the protection of the rest of us, you know, we civilians, the ones who outrank their generals and criticize them to boot. That's the role of a civilian. We're supposed to do that. Examining critically the acts of those who act for us is part of our designated role in life, and if we don't do that, we're as much at fault as a Marine who doesn't hold up his end, and there are lots of ends for him to uphold, just as with us.
I'm going to have to read Gen. V. Krulak's book (C. Krulak is his noteworthy son, the former Commandant) in order to see what it means to write down the DNA of one's calling.
RIP, Gen. V. Krulak; I thank and salute you for your service to your country and all of the many beneficiaries who partake as a result.
rs,
civilian,
b. 1940
*Krulak, Victor H. First to Fight: An Inside View of the U.S. Marine Corps, Anapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1984. (ISBN 0-87021-785-2)
[[This book is on the Chief of Naval Operations' Professional Reading List[1] and the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading List.[2]]
Per Wikipedia.
PS: Although Gen. Krulak didn't know me, and I didn't have the privilege of knowing him personally, alas, there's another reason for this post. We beneficiaries of the tremendous service of others don't often acknowledge our debt. Sometimes we're oblivious and even when we're not, the occasion doesn't often arise. Noting the passing of a leading figure of the war that set the stage for all that came after is a way of acknowledging this debt that is beyond our power to repay. The best we can do to repay this debt is to be mindful of it and then press forward doing the best that we can. In this sense we contribute our bit to the nation.
Expressing appreciation with gratitude seems a respectful way to honor the individual, his or her service, and by extension, all of the people who served with him. It's the least we can do. Another is to attend the Memorial Day observations which are held every year at a national cemetery. The one I go to is at the Presidio of San Francisco, formerly the home of the Sixth Army and now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I note with interest not only the political leaders and inspirational speakers and those present in uniform, some wearing the uniforms of World War I and the Civil War, but also the seemingly endless rows upon rows of white grave markers, by the thousands, always carefully tended, some with fresh flowers and a little flag on a post stuck into the ground, some going all the way back to the Civil War. Every one represents a personal and family tragedy. Some American family lost its son, brother, husband, father, or sweetheart. Or a man was cut short in his youth, before he was even able to raise a family. I like to see the children, brought there by their family, walking and sometimes running around the white stones of what I assume is their grandparent or other ancestor. It's nice to see children innocent of war and its consequences. It is heartbreaking to see a child who has lost a parent to war, and I've seen those.
In recent years, long after Vietnam, it has become somewhat more usual to say, "Thank you for your service" to current or former armed service members. From our experience during the war in Vietnam, where few soldiers received much in the way of the thanks of a grateful nation, especially from the civilian population, we've learned to distinguish the soldier from the cause in which he had little, if any, choice, but to fight.
As the war in Iraq has taught, the rule, it seems, is that while it is extremely important to exercise our critical faculties regarding the necessity and conduct of a war, and equally important to voice any concerns, a matter protected by the Constitutional protections which at bottom are what we fight for, it is also extremely important for us to honor the troops who answer the call at their very grave peril, to care for them for as long as their wounds remain, and as Pres. Abraham Lincoln noted in his Second Inaugural Address, which is carved in stone in his memorial in Washington, D.C. (it's on the right as you walk in), to care for the widow and orphan of those who have borne the battle.**
This is our DNA, if I may borrow such a pithy expression.
**The Lincoln quote:
"... With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."