When I was 14 yrs old I went to the firehouse one day with my grandfather. He was a volunteer fireman in NY. If you’ve ever been in a volley house in NY you know every one of them has a full, very well stocked bar.

Fireman like to drink at the firehouse. So my pop was the Captain in the Truck Company. We go in and belly up to the bar, I have a coke my pop has a beer. The barman was probably 65 or so yrs old. Tall, slim. Salt & pepper closely cropped hair. The guy

Looked mean as fuck but his eyes were kind. On his forearm he had a very badly faded EGA tattoo with a streamer above it that said USMC. After a while this younger guy comes in, maybe early 30s, sits down and orders a drink. Some small talk goes on and such

Suddenly the young guy says to the older barman “Hey, what’s that tattoo say? USMC? What’s that mean? You suck my cock?” In a flash that old bartender reached over the top of the bar & grabbed this dude by the hair & dragged him over & behind the bar.

He then proceeded to beat the living shit out of this guy to the point he had to be pulled off of him. My pop took me by the arm and drove me back up the street to his house. When I asked him what that was all about he told me that man was a Marine & had

Fought at Chosin & then told me how tough a fight it was and the loss incurred. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to be apart of an organization like that. I knew someday I’d be a Marine. I certainly didn’t like everyone I met in the service but my two

Best friends on this Earth are Marines. We’d do anything for each other. If you be ever been part of something like that I’m sure you know what I mean. What I cannot fathom, cannot get my brain to process is how John Kelly, Joe Dunford, James Mattis,

And Robert Neller have remained silent. The silence as some have suggested may qualify truth but, this is not the time to be silent, play politics, or worry about your board of director job. I think back to how that barman reacted to some asshole

Who cracked wise in some bar, and then I think how could John Kelly possibly stay silent when he lost a son.