We do not call ourselves ‘Native American,’ because our blood and people were here long before this land was called the Americas. We are older than A… - Thomas E. Ricks

Ask an American soldier to identify himself, and he probably will say he is “in the Army.” By contrast, a Marine — especially if he is one of the better ones — is likely to say, “I’m a Marine.” The small linguistic difference is significant: The first is a matter of membership or occupation; the second speaks to identity.

What bothers him most about today’s military, he goes on to say, is careerism. It has eroded the other services, he warns, and is creeping into the Corps. The only thing you should worry about, he tells the assembled second lieutenants, is taking care of your people. In fact, he recommends adding one new little box to the officer evaluation reports: It would say, Does this officer care more about his career than about his troops? A “yes”mark would terminate that officer’s career.

Any Marine veteran can reach back thirty or forty years and summon the names of his drill instructors. Flying in a Marine jet over Parris Island, Brig. Gen. Randy West looks down on the swampy land and simply says , “I was born there.