THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR ALL AND ONE WHO DIDN’T

 

SEMPER FI

 

This is an historic week in American military history.  This week commemorates the battles of Belleau Woods in the First World War and the assault on the Beaches of Normandy in World War Two.

 

On June 1, 1918, the Battle of Belleau Woods in France was a dramatic moment that enshrined the valor of the United States Marine Corps.   Badly outnumbered and badly supplied the Marines defeated a superior German force preventing the capture of Paris.

 

Eighteen, nineteen, and twenty-year-old Marines charged into Belleau woods with fixed bayonets assaulting dug-in German machinegun emplacements

 

The battles were so hard fought that Marines often found themselves in hand-to-hand combat.  The United States Marines fought so fiercely that the Germans referred to them as Devil Dogs.

President Biden is traveling to France to visit the cemeteries of the Americans lost in the battles at Belleau Woods and Normandy.

 

In Juen 2018 a 100-year commemorative service was held at a cemetery in France to recognize the United States Marines killed in World War 1 at the battle of Belleau Woods.

 

It was raining the morning of the service and President Donald Trump decided not to attend the ceremony.

 

According to four people with first-hand knowledge, Trump rejected the visit because he feared his hair would get soaked

 

Speaking to senior staff members Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery?”   “It’s filled with losers.”

 

Later Trump said that the 1800 Marines killed at Belleau Woods were suckers for getting killed.

 

Trump claimed he canceled his attendance at the last minute because the helicopter couldn’t fly in the rain and the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him.

 

Of course, neither was true.   Helicopters regularly fly in the rain. General Kelly and an American delegation attended the service in Trump’s absence.  

Semper Fi Marines

 

the Ol’Buzzard

USN ret.