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Stolen from my son's website... A touching story by Rob Thomas


Web Edition - NewsGator Online: "Happy 230th Birthday Marines! In honor of the Mar...
Happy 230th Birthday Marines!

In honor of the Marine Corps 230th birthday, I thought I'd share one of my favorite stories. I performed the colors ceremony at Camp Pendleton more times than I could possibly remember, so I'm always touched by this story whenever I read it.

A foreign diplomat who often criticized American policy once observed a United States Marine perform the evening colors ceremony. The diplomat wrote about this simple but solemn ceremony in a letter to his home ministry:

During one of the past few days, I had occasion to visit the U.S. Embassy in our capital after official working hours. I arrived at a quarter to six and was met by the Marine on guard at the entrance of the Chancery. He asked if I wouldn't mind waiting while he lowered the two American flags at the Embassy. What I witnessed over the next 10 minutes so impressed me that I am now led to make this occurrence part of my ongoing record of this distressing era.

The Marine was dressed in a uniform which was spotless and neat; he walked with a measured tread from the entrance of the Chancery to the stainless steel flagpole before the Embassy and, almost reverently, lowered the flag to the level of his reach where he began to fold it in military fashion. He then released the flag from the clasps attaching it to the rope, stepped back from the pole, made an about face, and carried the flag between his hands--one above, one below--and placed it securely on a stand before the Chancery. He then marched over to the second flagpole and repeated the same lonesome ceremony. On the way between poles, he mentioned to me very briefly that he would soon be finished. After completing his task, he apologized for the delay out of pure courtesy, as nothing less than incapacity would have prevented him from fulfilling his goal, and said to me, “Thank you for waiting, Sir. I had to pay honor to my country"