On Nov 12, 12:57*pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
>
> > Folks, the U.S. Marines came about because the early US fighting ships
> > needed marksmen in the "fighting tops" to shoot the enemy officers on
> > ships they were fighting. They were almost always ship board Marines
> > that could go ashore and fight on foot.
>
> The history of Marines pre-dates *the USA. I know it is contrary to
> American sensibility to acknowledge that so many of its traditions stem
> from the days when the British had 13 colonies. The British had marines
> as early as 1664.Many of the early American commanders had previously
> served in the British army, so it was only natural that they would
> develop their armed forces along the same lines as the British.
>
> When naval ships engaged the enemy he sailors manned the guns and the
> marines made up the boarding parties. Marines were also used as security
> forces, protecting the officers from mutineers.
>
> > In WWII the Marines were primarily amphibious assault troops in the
> > Pacific theater and did well against some of the elite Japanese troops.
> > Nowadays they are just like the other armed force branches, they fight
> > in the air, on ships, and on land, excelling in what they do best: First
> > to Fight and First In.
>
> I thought the deal was that the marines did the amphibious landings and
> led the initial assaults, and then the army came in and relieved them.

My resident authority, DH (the former Marine), agrees that, in the
early days of the Corps, "the Navy did the sailing and the Marines did
the fighting," but today's Marine covers a lot more bases. He reminded
me that a US Marine unit provides security services aboard Naval
vessels - much the same duty they provide at American Embassy
locations throughout the world. Today, depending upon the ship,
Marines may also be involved in shipboard gunnery duty and Marine
pilots are often assigned to duty on Naval Aircraft Carriers.

It's a source of pride to him that all Marines are cross trained to a
degree that allows them to adapt & serve in a wide variety of
situations - air, sea, and land....in DH's words "Marines are trained
to go where they're needed and get the job done." Suppose, that's why
DH is so gosh darned handy to have around.

Nancy T