Semper Fi!

Semper fidelis means always faithful! That is the motto of the United States Marine Corps.

Let’s backtrack a little. You might not actually know me in real life. I have a mind full of useless information, or a useless mind full of information, which ever way you want to look at it. This is an example….with apologies to my brother-in-law, because I know that the history of the USMC is not useless information--OO-RAH!!

I am fortunate to have been brought up in a very patriotic family. I have a twelve foot flag pole in my yard with Old Glory flying. My husband is a police officer. My dad is a retired fire fighter, and a veteran of the US Navy (USS Little Rock). My brother-in-law is a “once a Marine, always a Marine”. My paternal grandfather was a US Navy veteran. My maternal grandfather was career military, “a full bird” Colonel in the Air National Guard. He actually was in the Army before WWII and helped start “the Guard” in North Carolina.

Our choir is rehearsing a song that our pastor has requested for the Sunday after Independence Day. It is a medley of the anthems for the United States Armed Services. I love singing this song. It is a song that I sang in the choir at our previous church for many years. We sing the songs for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. It is a lot of fun.

There are many things we see/say/sing/hear that we may not understand the “full measure of devotion” that it required. Such is the anthem of the USMC.

“From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli, we will fight our country’s battles in the air, on land and sea.” This is the first line of the USMC anthem. We will sing it this Sunday. Many will sing it throughout the week as we celebrate our nation’s birthday. Do you know what it means??

“From the halls of Montezuma” is a reference to Chapultepec Castle, also known as the Halls of Montezuma. There was a decisive battle fought by the US Marines here in the Mexican-American War in September 1847. The Marines overtook the castle and occupied Mexico City after this battle. The Marines also remember this battle with the red stripe of the dress uniform, it is known as the blood stripe.

“The shores of Tripoli” remembers the first US battle fought on foreign soil in the First Barbary War in April 1805. It was a war against terror. America refused to be terrorized by the Barbary pirates. America showed itself capable of being a player on the world stage, even as a young country. The USMC remembers this battle through the tradition of officers receiving a Mameluke sword, which resembles the sabers carried in this battle in Derna, Tripoli (modern day Libya).

This is just the example from the USMC. Each of the other branches has a story to tell, one of honor, bravery, brotherhood and freedom.

“Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13