The Legend Of Arlington Ridge

The Legend Of Arlington Ridge

Its has been said that ever since the dedication,
Of the Iwo Jima Memorial on Arlington Ridge,
A ceremony takes place each morning
In the hours just before dawn.
As a low, knee-high ground fog
Sweeps across the Ridge in the cool morning air,
A band is heard playing the "Marines Hymn".
From an unknown distance and very low at first,
The music becomes increasingly louder.
Yet, no band is ever seen.
It is then said,
That out of the tree line of Arlington Cemetery,
A company of Marines clad in dress blues appears from the mist,
Marching through the ground fog toward the Memorial.
Flags at the head of the column stand straight out,
Snapping in the wind, yet not even the slightest breeze is felt.
The Marines march to the Memorial in perfect cadence,
While no orders are heard by those who witness this event.
Like "The Silent Drill Team",
the Marines execute each move in flawless synchrony.
As they reach the Memorial,
They suddenly halt, right face, and "order arms"
As the lights from the monument
Ricochet off of their fixed bayonets.
The Marines possess an eerie transparency
That sends shivers down the spines of onlookers,
Yet there is no fear.
In fact, a feeling of pride and honor
Sweeps over those who gaze upon the apparition.
Four Marines ceremoniously step out from the ranks
And lay a wreath of red and white roses at the base of the Monument.
It is believed that these four men
Are Sgt. Michael Strank, Cpl. Ira Hayes, Cpl. Rene Gagnon,
(three of the six flag raisers on Iwo Jima),
And Medal of Honor winner John Basilone.
Strank and Basilone were killed
On that hellish black sand island in 1945
While Gagnon and Hayes were destined to relive that fateful day
Until mercifully relieved them of their posts.
Two buglers are heard playing "Echo Taps",
But once again, there are no buglers in sight.
The ceremonies conclude just before the break of dawn
As the Marines come to right shoulder arms, right face,
And silently march back to Arlington Cemetery.
It is said that they are from all eras of Marines buried in Arlington,
And they are charged with guarding their Memorial
And the honor for which it stands.
All of this may be difficult for some to believe,
But legends are, after all, only legends.
Yet, ask any Marine if they believe the legend,
That Marines guard the gates of heaven
And see what they say.
The "Legend of Arlington Ridge",
Is no more than the belief in honor.
Marines live it every day of their lives.
Honor is what we were taught when entering the Corps;
Honor is what we took when we left.
Throughout life and beyond,
It is our most cherished possession.

©2001 - L/Cpl Bruce Knipp

FORGED BONDS

To say the relationship is unique between two opposites is an
understatement. Like two pieces of steel fused together in the
furnaces of combat, they have forged an unbreakable bond.
The Fleet Marine Force Navy Corpsman who are trained to save
lives, working together with Marines who are trained to take
lives, each looking out for the other. The Corpsman job is to
patch up wounded Marines, in some cases they giving the worst
of the wounded, time, time to get on a medevac and to a doctor
an a operating room.

For some, their is nothing they can do, except hold a hand and
pray, and watch a life slowly slip away into the obis of war. The
thing about Corpsman is, they will go far past their job description
to just render first aid to the wounded, they have been known to
crawl out into no-mans land, beyond the wire, into a free fire zone,
through bullet and shell to get to a fallen Marine, they seem to be at
times just fearless about the danger around them in doing there job.
And now you know why all corpsman are called devil docs, and they
are the only service personnel that can wear two different uniforms if
they choose. This Bond as been around for decades, and so to the
respect, one for the other, and the chain remains unbroken.

Bruce Knipp

 

February 19, 1945

This date will come and go and not many will know of it's meaning in American
history. On this date 68 years ago U.S. Marines and the forces of Japan would meet
on an island in the Pacific Ocean 700 miles from the Japanese main land. The island
just a speck of land, just eight squire miles of hell, void of most all vegetation. It was
grey in color with black sand beaches, rocky and smelled like sulfur and thus it's
name was sulfur island, in Japanese Iwo Jima, if there was a hell on earth, this was it.

Five days into the battle The Marines took  Mount Suribachi, raising the flag on top,
and the photograph taken on 23 February 1945 by Joe Rosenthal. The photo has been
one of the most copied photo in history. The picture was used by Felix de Weidon to
sculpt the Marine Corps War Memorial adjacent to Arlington Cemetery.

Unfortunately the taking of Mount Suribachi was not the end, the battle lasted till
March 26, 1945 with 26,000 American casualties, including 6,800 dead. The
Japanese lost around 21,844 with about 216 captured. Their was 27 Medals of
Honor 13 awarded Posthumously, 22 awarded to Marines 5 to Navy Corpsmen.

I made this little video to honor the men of Iwo Jima. In the end the survives would
ask each other this one question. Was it worth it?

 


 

Destiny

Do you believe in destiny? or maybe providence, or how about fate, and of course
free will. So let me ask you, did you ever have a little voice in the back of your
head telling you that you had something to do, or something more to do, but that
little voice didn't tell you what it was you had to do. Well this is the true story of
a man that had a voice in his head and what happened because he followed that
voice. Then you can be the judge on if it was destiny or not. I also believe in free
will, that doesn't tell you whether your choice is good or bad, just that you have a
choice, to do it or not to do it. And of course, the outcome is always in doubt.

RAYMOND M. CLAUSEN, JR was his name, but if you met him he'd tell you to
call him Mike, my name is Mike, just call me Mike he would say. Mikes tour in
Vietnam had ended and he was back home, but he put in a request for another tour
in Vietnam. His mother ask him why do you want to go back, why. Mike said I have
something I got to do, I don't know what but theirs something I still have to do.

So I guess the little voice in his head was telling him where, but not what, and so Mike
went back to Vietnam for another tour. On January 31, 1970 Mike and that little voice
met head on. This is where the little voice, fate and destiny and free will converged.
Participating in a helicopter rescue mission to extract elements of a platoon which had
inadvertently entered a minefield while attacking enemy positions. Mike skillfully helped
the pilot to a landing in an area cleared by one of several mine explosions. And now we
have come to the free will of this story, because at this point Mike had to make a decision
and Mike's decision was to jump out of the helicopter and run into the minefield under
heaver fire and help carry out the wounded as other Marines would follow in his foot
steps out of the minefield to the waiting helicopter. He did this six times till all Marines   
were safely aboard, then he had the pilot lift off  Mike saved eighteen Marines that day.

And for the action Mike took on that day, he would receive the Medal of Honor. And so
the question remains, was it destiny, or fate, or providence? Well you could drive yourself
crazy trying to figure out all the what ifs. What if Mike hadn't gone back to Vietnam what
if. It seems that no one leaves the battlefield unscathed, all leave a piece of themselves
there, and in turn, a piece of there, comes here. Mike Clausen passed away in 2004,
and that one action, on that one day, would define Mike for the rest of his life, as hero.
Most every Marine who ever met Mike, liked Mike, for he was the living example of,
no man left behind.  




 

Again They Serve

This is the story of Marines who are serving again as an Honor Detail at one of our
National Cemeteries. Semper Fi #1 is a all Marine unit of Marines not on active
duty, but serve again to make sure that every veteran, know matter what branch of
service he or she served in have a funeral with full honors. Over the years this unit
has grown, it now has three full honor details to conduct funerals. The first video is
from 6 years ago, the one after is about a year old. If this interest you and you want
to know more about Semper Fi #1 go to their website at.
http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/websites/index2.php?username=genochs&page=17

We are Marines, and this is what we do!

 

237th Marine Birthday

NOV.10, 1775 HAPPY 237 BIRTHDAY MARINES

 

THE MEMORIAL

I wrote this some years ago, we are now at the 30th year, and we still
remember October 23, 1983. For they came in peace.                                 



                                  THE MEMORIAL

Three wreaths now stand as a silent witness to Ceremonies that took
place here two days ago. Their many pedals softly falling to the
pavement, as the breeze slowly moves them across the ground to
destinations unknown. Two days ago this place was filled with memories
of the past, and grief for those two hundred and forty one men lost,
who's names appear on this wall of stone, for the vows been made to
never forget, October 23, 1983 when they perished in a far off land.
A sentry in bronze stands guard between the break in the wall a place
where flowers and other items show up every now and then, just to prove
they have not been forgotten, the Marines of 1/8 Beirut Lebanon, for
THEY CAME IN PEACE.

Bruce Knipp

This it a video I made at Memorial Park in Jacksonville, N.C which includes
Beirut Memorial, A beam from 9/11 and the Vietnam Glass Wall. My camera
work is a little jumpy do to a sticky tripod, so my apologies in advance. But if
you get down here, this is a place you should visit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExEn4Ew8wmc 

The Title

The title Marine was not just bestowed upon anyone, you earned it, you had to want it deep down to obtain it. Once obtained, it can never be taken away. From that point on you are part of a brotherhood very few
can understand. Your dues were paid during active duty, your membership will never expire, it does not end with your honorable discharge, the title and brotherhood are forever.

The words honor,commitment and pride are still with you, for they are part of you. Fired in the furnaces
of boot camp, forged on the battlefields around the world. Passed on to those who would follow in your
footsteps, as the title moves down through the generations and the brotherhood lives on.

Never forget the title you now claim, was brought with blood, pain and death, wounds of the body and
wounds of the mind. The title comes at a high cost., it is not maintenance free, it comes with responsibilities.
Your honor or dishonor will reflect upon those that came before and after you. As it's said in the
Marines Hymn "to keep our honor clean we are proud to claim the title of United States Marines

Bruce Knipp

MY NAME IS PARRIS ISLAND

MY NAME IS PARRIS ISLAND

If you have been here, you know my name, My name is Parris Island.
Better known as PI, you may know my younger brother San Diego better
known as SD. Between us we have seen recruits come and go by the
millions. I was officially started in 1915 if you were here when you
got here by ferry boat, then you are truly old Corps. All recruits see
my main gate only twice, once on the way in and once on the way out.
Mostly you come by bus in the middle of the night. Tall, short, fat,
skinny, Black, White, long hair, short hair. You come through my main
gate laughing some scared, mostly you act like teenagers, hell mostly
you are teenagers. You each come here for your own reasons, but most
come to test themselves, most need a direction in their lives.
As you pass through my main gate your lives will change from that point
on. I hope to see you leave as Marines, but you will not all leave
together as Marines. Some will leave by themselves ,not Marines. They
did not make the goal, my heart goes out to them, but not everyone can
be a Marine.
Today my heart is full of pride, for the next graduation of recruits,
now Marines, are leaving my front gate, teenagers no more, but young men
and women with a history to live up to. 13 weeks and just look at the
change. You know this is a happy day for me, but my best days are yet to
come. That's when these Marines come back to see me 20, 30, 40, years
from now. Oh yea, a lot of the old ones come back to see me, they have
not forgotten Old Parris Island and I have not forgotten them. Former Marines
and I have this bond, it's in our blood, it's Pride, it is where it all started for
both of us. My sad days are remembering the ones that can't come back to
see me those that were killed in WW1, WW11, Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, Iraq,
Afghanistan and all the little actions around the world. Hey, i've got to go,
have a bus load coming in tonight and some new Marines leaving in the
morning. Semper Fi!! You all come back to see me, you hear!

Bruce Knipp