It’s interesting this time of year to watch the flocks of blackbirds move en masse by the tens of thousands over our Virginia countryside. They almost move as one organism. There is not one bird that flies off. After all they are all blackbirds. It’s what blackbirds do.
So, I asked myself, what is a Marine, and what does that have to do with blackbirds and why they fly as a flock?
The reason I asked is because the publicaffairs office here last week was queried by many media organizations. They wanted the Marine Corps to provide them a MuslimMarine for an interview. They wanted to find out what a Muslim Marine thought about the horrific events at Fort Hood where more then a dozen Americans were slaughtered by an Army officer who is Muslim.
Second Lt. Scott Villiard, the media officer here, in response to the queries said, ‘‘We are all Marines. We do not distinguish between religion, race, gender, creed. We all take the same oath. We are all Marines. When we look to our left and to our right we do not see a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or a black guy or a white gal ... we see a name tape that says, ‘U.S. Marines.’ That’s all we need to know.”
The lieutenant is right.
He’s right because it’s true. Marines do not distinguish the value of a Marine by one’s faith, but rather by how effective a Marine is in combat, and how accurately he or she punches a round into the grape of an enemy.
Now that’s a distinguishing characteristic.
Yet, there appears to have developed a need to distinguish Marines by social characteristics that have nothing to do with an ability tolocate, close with and destroy an enemy. That diversity can be reduced to the color of one’s skin, or whether one worships the sun, or whether one prefers baked potatoes over French fries, is a perversion of how diversity should be understood and represented.
In reality, as far as Marines should be concerned, diversity represents an appreciation of the quality of ideas that are judged by their value and organizational contribution.
Somewhere along the way even Marines may have lost some sight of what diversity means; and that it has morphed somehow into celebrating ridiculous labels based on shallow social perceptions rather than real qualities. But it is precisely the real qualities and core competencies, like honor, courage andcommitment, that are the distinguishing characteristics to Marines; not that a Marinehappens to be Muslim, or left handed, orfrom Texas.
If one’s faith call one to question or counter the core values, oaths and the codes of conduct as Marines, then it’s time to find a calling other than being an American Marine. There is no judgment here, just the fact that Marines are Marines, and Marines are expected to fight with honor.
And perhaps that’s why it’s good toremember who we are.
The final lines of the six articles thatmake up our Code of Conduct are particularly poignant when thinking of the FortHood massacre:
‘‘I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.
‘‘I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.”
Wow! Pretty powerful stuff.
But, then again, Marines understand this. After all it’s why we are all Marines. It’s why we move almost as one organism. It’s what Marines do.
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