Going Medieval in Iraq: A Soldier Loses It

[Hudson]

This Guy's Story is Great!!!!!



Going Medieval in Iraq: A Soldier Loses It (http://www.asylum.com/2007/11/24/going-medieval-in-iraq-a-soldier-loses-it/)
war is madness, then sometimes the best way to get through it is temporary insanity. Corporal Marco Martinez proved this one day on the edge of an Iraqi town where he was sure he was going to die.



With his squad leader wounded and fellow Marines in trouble, Martinez squared off against a handful of terrorists holed up in a safe house. Having only a tree to protect him from a barrage of bullets, he found an enemy rocket launcher on the ground.

What came next won him the Navy Cross. (You can find the rest of Martinez's story in the Hard Corps: From Gangster to Marine Hero (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0307383040/?tag=aol-asylum-20).)



"I started sprinting back to a different palm tree some 25 yards away. My back was a bull's-eye. On the way back, I noticed an enemy RPG launcher on the ground. To this day, I can't fully explain what I did next: I snatched up the weapon, even though the motion slowed me down and gave the enemy more time to shoot me."
"Most troublingly, I didn't have a clue how to fire an RPG. But for whatever reason, I picked it up. And for whatever reason, I survived. Now I was in possession of a foreign weapon that I'd never held and had not the slightest idea how to use.

"I took cover behind another tree and looked the weapon over. I'd seen them in movies and pictures, but we were never trained how to use enemy weapons. I fumbled with the rocket until it snapped firmly into place. I thought that if I could just somehow figure out how to fire the damn thing, I could destroy the building and free up my brothers. Plus -- and I'd be lying if I didn't admit it -- I loved the idea of shooting these bastards with their own damn weapon. "

http://www.asylum.com/2007/11/24/going-medieval-in-iraq-a-soldier-loses-it-part-2/

[BusyChild04]

I loved the idea of shooting these bastards with their own damn weapon.

fucking brilliant.

[Smokezilla]

Clone that soldier!!! 50,000 of this guy would take care of things in Iraq very quickly.

[Turtle]

Clone that soldier!!! 50,000 of this guy would take care of things in Iraq very quickly.

He is a Marine, no need to insult him with the s word.

[Zona992006]

Clone that soldier!!! 50,000 of this guy would take care of things in Iraq very quickly.

:clap:

[MrBogey]

IIRC there have a been several moments like this in Iraq. I believe I remember hearing about how some British troops caught low on ammo actually did a bayonet charge against some irhabis and scared the piss out of them so much they were slaughtering them because they couldn't shoot straight they were so scared.

Found a non-meatspin link:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article88661.ece

[VMS]

IIRC there have a been several moments like this in Iraq. I believe I remember hearing about how some British troops caught low on ammo actually did a bayonet charge against some irhabis and scared the piss out of them so much they were slaughtering them because they couldn't shoot straight they were so scared.

Not dissin' the courage of the redcoats, but the inability of the muj to shoot straight isn't connected to their level of fear.

Motherfuckers just can't shoot. Period.

They're big fans of the ol' pray and spray, blowing through their AK magazine in about 5 seconds and then getting their retarded goat fucking asses fragged.

If you hear actual audio of combat in the Middle East, you can tell which side is which, just from the sound of the gunfire. Arabs have the brrrrrrrrrap sound of automatic fire, while Israelis, Americans, and other Westerners typically fire on single shot or very short bursts.

The great quote from Moishe Dayan was something like, "If you want a reputation for invincibility, it helps to fight against Arabs."

[BIV]

This guy rules. Semper Fi Marine!

[Jerry1]

HOO RAH!!!!

In the words of Griff...
"Semper Fi Bitch"

[Vyce]

He is a Marine, no need to insult him with the s word.

This shit again. I have the utmost respect for Marines, but I will never understand why they get so pissy about being called soldiers.

It's NOT used as a term of disrespect. It's a generalized term used to define all of the professional military members that are employed by our nation (or others).

[Ego]

I salute this man.

[demonseed]

Sorry for not really knowing , but if he is a Marine, how did he get the Navy Cross? Unless the Navy cross is a Marine award

[Three Hole Puncher]

Sorry for not really knowing , but if he is a Marine, how did he get the Navy Cross? Unless the Navy cross is a Marine awardYou've just stumbled across a serious sore spot for the Marines... the Marine Corps is technically a branch on the Navy.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but back when I was in the Navy, the Marine's paychecks were issued by the Department of the Navy.

You'll also notice that the Marines don't have medics... Navy Corpsmen are the battlefield medical personnel for the Marines.

Any medals awarded to Marines are awarded by the Navy.

[demonseed]

You've just stumbled across a serious sore spot for the Marines... the Marine Corps is technically a branch on the Navy.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but back when I was in the Navy, the Marine's paychecks were issued by the Department of the Navy.

You'll also notice that the Marines don't have medics... Navy Corpsmen are the battlefield medical personnel for the Marines.

Any medals awarded to Marines are awarded by the Navy.


Thank you for the explanation. Much appreciated. I was trying to do my own research on it on the web, so thank you for answering

[Voss's Tumor]

You've just stumbled across a serious sore spot for the Marines... the Marine Corps is technically a branch on the Navy.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but back when I was in the Navy, the Marine's paychecks were issued by the Department of the Navy.

You'll also notice that the Marines don't have medics... Navy Corpsmen are the battlefield medical personnel for the Marines.

Any medals awarded to Marines are awarded by the Navy.

QFT

Ex Navy here, that's exactly how it is.

That's also a big part of why Marines don't like to be called soldiers. Soldier is a word that usually is appended to members of the Army, and when it comes down to it it's kind of hard for an untrained eye to tell the difference between a soldier and a Marine, so they just want to let it be known that they are, in fact, a Marine.

[Budyzir]

Great post Hudson and thanks for the link to the blog, it's a great, quick read. I'll be ordering this book, I really like the Corporal's writing style.


... "Semper Fi Bitch"

Semper Fi Bitch indeed!

[Turtle]

This shit again. I have the utmost respect for Marines, but I will never understand why they get so pissy about being called soldiers.

It's NOT used as a term of disrespect. It's a generalized term used to define all of the professional military members that are employed by our nation (or others).

I was an active duty Marine for 5 years (MOS 1811) and there are huge difference between the The United States Marine Corps and the US army. Historically a marine is a professional warrior who fights on a ship or fights on land but comes from the sea. The USMC maintains this tradition to this day. Every, yes every single Marine, attends basic training and then is shipped off to The School of Infantry, regardless of what their day to day job in the Marine Corps will be. So if you are going to be an aviation technician, before you go to learn how to fix aircraft, you first learn how to be a rifleman in a platoon. Hence the axiom, every Marine a rifleman, so in reality every Marine has two MOS’s; rifleman and then whatever. In contrast if you join the army, you go through basic and your MOS at the same time, not every soldier is a rifleman, but every Marine is a rifleman. I would also argue that it is much more difficult to become a United States Marine than a soldier.

Another difference between The Marine Corps and the army is fighting style. If a Marine Corps platoon moves ¾ of the way up a hill they will hold that position to the very best of their ability. In contrast, if a group of soldiers moved ¾ of the way up a hill they would seek the most defensible position for the nigh. This may be several yards backward. Marines do not want to give an inch of ground back that they have taken. Soldiers often wind up taking the same ground several times. This contrast comes from the era of fighting on ships, where no ground was able to be given back, hold your position and kill the enemy or drown.


You've just stumbled across a serious sore spot for the Marines... the Marine Corps is technically a branch on the Navy.

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but back when I was in the Navy, the Marine's paychecks were issued by the Department of the Navy.

You'll also notice that the Marines don't have medics... Navy Corpsmen are the battlefield medical personnel for the Marines.

Any medals awarded to Marines are awarded by the Navy.

The Marine Corps is a department of the navy, the mens department. Huurumph.

Navy Corpsman are loved and respected by Marines.

QFT

Ex Navy here, that's exactly how it is.

That's also a big part of why Marines don't like to be called soldiers. Soldier is a word that usually is appended to members of the Army, and when it comes down to it it's kind of hard for an untrained eye to tell the difference between a soldier and a Marine, so they just want to let it be known that they are, in fact, a Marine.

Thank you.

[nikoloslvy]

great story and commentary.
thanks guys :)

[Three Hole Puncher]

I was an active duty Marine for 5 years (MOS 1811) and there are huge difference between the The United States Marine Corps and the US army. Historically a marine is a professional warrior who fights on a ship or fights on land but comes from the sea. The USMC maintains this tradition to this day. Every, yes every single Marine, attends basic training and then is shipped off to The School of Infantry, regardless of what their day to day job in the Marine Corps will be. So if you are going to be an aviation technician, before you go to learn how to fix aircraft, you first learn how to be a rifleman in a platoon. Hence the axiom, every Marine a rifleman, so in reality every Marine has two MOS’s; rifleman and then whatever. In contrast if you join the army, you go through basic and your MOS at the same time, not every soldier is a rifleman, but every Marine is a rifleman. I would also argue that it is much more difficult to become a United States Marine than a soldier.

Another difference between The Marine Corps and the army is fighting style. If a Marine Corps platoon moves ¾ of the way up a hill they will hold that position to the very best of their ability. In contrast, if a group of soldiers moved ¾ of the way up a hill they would seek the most defensible position for the nigh. This may be several yards backward. Marines do not want to give an inch of ground back that they have taken. Soldiers often wind up taking the same ground several times. This contrast comes from the era of fighting on ships, where no ground was able to be given back, hold your position and kill the enemy or drown.




The Marine Corps is a department of the navy, the mens department. Huurumph.

Navy Corpsman are loved and respected by Marines.



Thank you.

Oops... rereading this I realized that I'd forgotten to give props to the Marines.

The Marines rock your face. Respect!

Oh... and don't call a Marine a "grunt". That's an Army thing too.

Navy... squid

Marines... jarhead

Army... grunt

Air Force... fag

Coast Guard... puddle pirate


I kid... I'm such a kidder. Air Force peoples are "bus drivers".

[BIV]

Wasn't the air force a branch of the Army until they were made an official branch of their own?

[Turtle]

Wasn't the air force a branch of the Army until they were made an official branch of their own?

yes. the army air corps or something like that.

[Vyce]

I was an active duty Marine for 5 years (MOS 1811) and there are huge difference between the The United States Marine Corps and the US army. Historically a marine is a professional warrior who fights on a ship or fights on land but comes from the sea. The USMC maintains this tradition to this day. Every, yes every single Marine, attends basic training and then is shipped off to The School of Infantry, regardless of what their day to day job in the Marine Corps will be. So if you are going to be an aviation technician, before you go to learn how to fix aircraft, you first learn how to be a rifleman in a platoon. Hence the axiom, every Marine a rifleman, so in reality every Marine has two MOS’s; rifleman and then whatever. In contrast if you join the army, you go through basic and your MOS at the same time, not every soldier is a rifleman, but every Marine is a rifleman. I would also argue that it is much more difficult to become a United States Marine than a soldier.

Another difference between The Marine Corps and the army is fighting style. If a Marine Corps platoon moves ¾ of the way up a hill they will hold that position to the very best of their ability. In contrast, if a group of soldiers moved ¾ of the way up a hill they would seek the most defensible position for the nigh. This may be several yards backward. Marines do not want to give an inch of ground back that they have taken. Soldiers often wind up taking the same ground several times. This contrast comes from the era of fighting on ships, where no ground was able to be given back, hold your position and kill the enemy or drown.


You're not getting me. I take nothing away from the Marines, I have the utmost respect for them and their accomplishments.

I'm just stating, "soldier" is basically just the general term that is applied to ALL "professional warriors" employed as part of our military. It's just a general term. To make an analogy, if you're an American citizen traveling abroad, and the foreign citizen of whatever nation you're visiting calls you an American, you wouldn't necessarily turn around and go "FUCK YOU, asshole, I'm a NEW YORKER" or "I'm a Floridian!" or whatever. "American" is just the general term used to describe what you are.

I guarantee you that 99.99% of the time, when a Marine is called a "soldier", it's not done with any sort of knowledge that that word, for some reason, offends them. It's just used as a general term to describe them as part of the U.S. military.

[MrBogey]

yes. the army air corps or something like that.

Yea, I think that's why the Marines hate the AF. They've been around for 200 years and are still waiting while the Air Force gets its own in less than 20.

[seeinred]

Love that medal. Hope I'm never in a situation where I could be awarded one though :action-sm. And I know all about this whole Marine/Navy/soldier/blah business since my cousin just got out of the Marines, and he's told me all about it many times.
http://www.patriotguard.org/Portals/0/pictures/Navy%20Cross.jpg

[VMS]

I'm just stating, "soldier" is basically just the general term that is applied to ALL "professional warriors" employed as part of our military. It's just a general term. To make an analogy, if you're an American citizen traveling abroad, and the foreign citizen of whatever nation you're visiting calls you an American, you wouldn't necessarily turn around and go "FUCK YOU, asshole, I'm a NEW YORKER" or "I'm a Floridian!" or whatever. "American" is just the general term used to describe what you are.

Well, it gets a little more complicated than that. This is a lot of military psychobabble that most of you wouldn't be interested in, but what the hell:

For much of history, "soldier" and "warrior" are very distinct and seperate terms. A warrior was, typically, a naked Pict running with a battleax while a soldier was your classic Roman legionarie.

Classically, a warrior fought for honor and glory and to show his courage. He took chances to show off. The purpose of war was plunder and to show the rest of his society that he was a badass. When the chips were down, and things started going badly, warriors typically broke and ran because they didn't have anything invested in their fellow warriors. War was (and is, for the terrorist "warriors" of today) a mostly selfish matter.

A soldier fought for the "cause" (whatever that happened to be) and for his comrades. Typically, "soldiers" didn't take wild chances but would take VERY high casualties before breaking. In a lot of ways, that's the basis for the classic "military automaton" stereotype of soldiers.

The Marine Corps has always cultivated what's come to be called the "modern warrior". It helped that the Corps very, very, very rarely accepted conscripts into its ranks, and even then tried to make sure they got the very best. The Corps was able to make their "soldiers" into "modern warriors": troops with all the skills and cohesion of classic "soldiers", but who also had personal initiative and "can do" drive to accomplish their goals. Marines were (and are) kept as fully informed as practical, so even the lowliest Private could work to accomplish the mission.

In the past, the Army's reliance on draftees/conscripts made that kind of intensive training impractical.

One of the big buzzwords around the US military today is the "Strategic Corporal": a VERY low-rank NCO who has both the knowledge and the responsibility to make strategic decisions without orders from above. The Army has been working towards that for a while: the Corps has effectively had that for decades.

[VMS]

Yea, I think that's why the Marines hate the AF. They've been around for 200 years and are still waiting while the Air Force gets its own in less than 20.

Say what you will about the flyboys, but their predecessors damn well EARNED the perks they enjoy today.

When 90%+ of the WWII bomber crews were expected to be killed during their tour of TWENTY FIVE missions, that buys a shitload of political capital for LeMay and the generals to cash in after the war was over.

Yeah, the flyboys get their swimming pools and O-clubs and pretty toys, but their predecessors damn well EARNED that for them. Not to say the Marines didn't, but LeMay and his guys were able to do a lot more politicking for their boys while the Marines' big shots were busy politicking for supercarriers and nuclear submarines.

Oh, and I still think this is a much better commercial than the old chessboard or magma monster ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhuKV0Y--ZI

[Voss's Tumor]

You're not getting me. I take nothing away from the Marines, I have the utmost respect for them and their accomplishments.

I'm just stating, "soldier" is basically just the general term that is applied to ALL "professional warriors" employed as part of our military. It's just a general term. To make an analogy, if you're an American citizen traveling abroad, and the foreign citizen of whatever nation you're visiting calls you an American, you wouldn't necessarily turn around and go "FUCK YOU, asshole, I'm a NEW YORKER" or "I'm a Floridian!" or whatever. "American" is just the general term used to describe what you are.

I guarantee you that 99.99% of the time, when a Marine is called a "soldier", it's not done with any sort of knowledge that that word, for some reason, offends them. It's just used as a general term to describe them as part of the U.S. military.

****** shouldn't offend black people if it's said with love.

[TrybalRage]

I'm surprised that standard training doesn't include how to operate enemy weapons.

[Voss's Tumor]

I'm surprised that standard training doesn't include how to operate enemy weapons.

You'd be very surprised at half of the training they force you to do in the military, and at most of the training you thought you'd get but don't.

[MrBogey]

I think IIRC that Geneva Conventions prohibit using weapons captured by enemy combatants. So they just don't bother training them. Now this is a real minor rule so on the individual level it gets ignored.

Though I can easily be wrong on this and am just going off of memory from long ago.

[TheDrip]

I think IIRC that Geneva Conventions prohibit using weapons captured by enemy combatants. So they just don't bother training them. Now this is a real minor rule so on the individual level it gets ignored.

Though I can easily be wrong on this and am just going off of memory from long ago.

Wow, I really hope you're wrong. Otherwise that's the worst fucking combat rule I've ever heard of.

[Xyn]

This is video game 101 shit. You always gotta pick up the enemy weapons.

Great news story.

[MrBogey]

I'm most likely wrog. If anything Hague might have it as that's the treaty that prohibits hollow tip bullets. Though US policy is to destroy any captured enemy weapons. So there's little reason to train them on them.

[Turtle]

I'm just stating, "soldier" is basically just the general term that is applied to ALL "professional warriors" employed as part of our military. It's just a general term. To make an analogy, if you're an American citizen traveling abroad, and the foreign citizen of whatever nation you're visiting calls you an American, you wouldn't necessarily turn around and go "FUCK YOU, asshole, I'm a NEW YORKER" or "I'm a Floridian!" or whatever. "American" is just the general term used to describe what you are.

I guarantee you that 99.99% of the time, when a Marine is called a "soldier", it's not done with any sort of knowledge that that word, for some reason, offends them. It's just used as a general term to describe them as part of the U.S. military.

I understand your point; this is a difference in language. A sailor is not a soldier. An Airman is not a soldier. A member of the US army is a soldier, but not all soldiers are warriors. A good example is the army recruiting ads. They tell would be soldiers that they have over a hundred jobs to pick from, only a small handful are a combat support MOS and an even smaller number are actual combat arms MOS but all of them are called soldiers. The combat arms MOS are professional warriors, all the rest are support geeks. In contrast all Marines are a combat MOS plus whatever job they do on a day to day basis. Every Marine trains several times a year (as a rifleman in a platoon) in field combat exercises to better their fighting skills. This is simply not the case for every soldier in the army.

A better term for anyone in the military is a member of the US Armed Services

[Budyzir]

.... Oh, and I still think this is a much better commercial than the old chessboard or magma monster ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhuKV0Y--ZI

The Marines seem to have the best commercials. You can never go wrong with the Silent Drill Team, they always give me a proud chill (and I was a squid!) :D

[Three Hole Puncher]

A better term for anyone in the military is a member of the US Armed Services

Or 'baby killer' if you're a useless pathcouli-stinkin' hippie.

[Capt.Caveman]

I'm surprised that standard training doesn't include how to operate enemy weapons.

no that time is filled with sexual harrassment and sensitivity training.

[Capt.Caveman]

I understand your point; this is a difference in language. A sailor is not a soldier.

that's cause us sailors are silly geese:action-sm

[Three Hole Puncher]

Love that medal. Hope I'm never in a situation where I could be awarded one though :action-sm. And I know all about this whole Marine/Navy/soldier/blah business since my cousin just got out of the Marines, and he's told me all about it many times.
http://www.patriotguard.org/Portals/0/pictures/Navy%20Cross.jpg

^That is a bad ass medal.^

They gave me some pretty cool looking medals when I was in. These two:

The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/ima/medals/afexp_front.jpg

and this one:

The National Defense Service Medal.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/NDSM.jpg


I'm pretty sure they gave me the first one because I didn't burst into tears when they gave me my mumps and measles shots in boot camp, and the second, and more far more auspicious, was awarded to me for managing to stand upright at every morning muster despite frequent, crushing hangovers.

I think I wore the actual medals exactly once... during the ceremony where they handed them out. I'm not even sure I still have them... I probably lost them during the last move. I stink.

I should've given them to my kid... let him pin them on his G.I. Joe's.