The Marine Corps is under fire for a misstep that may be an honest mistake and if that is the case, then our “leaders” need to find out and not just hang these young men out to dry.
This time the mess involves Marines who apparently adopted the Nazi SS logo. However, the Marines maintain they didn’t realize what it really meant.
And, considering the state of American education, they may be right.
This week, the Associated Press reported that “a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS — a special unit that murdered millions of Jews, gypsies and others.”
But officials maintain the Marines weren’t trying to connect with a Nazi symbol.
“However, it was a naïve mistake made by Marines who believed the SS symbol was meant to represent sniper scouts and never intended to associate themselves with a racist organization, said Maj. Gabrielle Chapin, a spokeswoman at Camp Pendleton.
“The Marines in the image will not be disciplined because investigators determined there was no malicious intent, Chapin said.
“Instead, the Corps used the incident as a training tool to talk to troops about what symbols are acceptable after it became aware of the photograph last November.”
Now that is a good idea.
They could, of course, start with a round of classic motion pictures, such as “Judgement at Nuremberg,” “Schindler’s List” and “The Hiding Place.”
They could bring in some survivors of the Nazi camps to talk with the young men.
They could, in short, try to catch up.
And the rest of the nation can take a lesson, too.
This is a nasty heritage that we dare not allow to lapse. We, as a free people, cannot afford to ever forget.
— Chuck Smith