This post was written by Sgt. Billy Knipper, who has joined Gunz Up as one of the writers. We moved this powerful post to the top of the blog because it defines the men we want to honor on Gunz Up. Sgt. Knipper was the Chief Instuctor for Camp Pendleton's Divisional Machine Gun Classes.
There are some who might ask if a young man today is as 'Rough and Tumble' as they were 60 or 70 years ago. If the iron will of the greatest generation has seeped away and left us with the shabby ram-shackle gathering of video gamers and I-Pod enthusiasts. Can Wars be won by such men?
Without a doubt the answer is YES!
All people are preprogrammed with survival traits and that fury of centuries old-anger and oppression that all people felt at some point in the earth's history, and the right kind of tempering will drive that Warrior to the surface. After that he will become an outcast, an anachronism seen amongst his former peers as an oddity. So we congregate together in our legions as "Brothers-of-the-Sword" have for millenia and wait.
And then a War strikes. And a person must decide if the metal and steel is sharp and hard enough.
Among who show merit-
We are gunslingers of the highest order. The Gear we carry is heavier than the others just as the burden which rests on our hardened shoulders. We know when the gunfight breaks out, whether it is reactionary of deliberate, our task will not change. We must become a ghost, a phantom, an in-human monster, that is not simply relegated to being part of the bullet-here, bullet-there, poke and hope rifleman way of the business. Our task will involve us leaving a covered area to get in to the fight with our two or three man team which is of one mind, one goal. To lay withering fires across the field and dominate the enemies real estate and their will. We know that the number of enemy we will destroy is tempered by the number of brothers that will not have to lay down their lives today because of the dragons fire we bring to the field.
We are not simply servicemen. We are not only Marines. Nor, or we just Marine Infantry. WE ARE MARINE MACHINE GUNNERS.
We will live by five truths.
The Marine Machine Gunner...
...Does Not Know Fear
...Does Not Know Pain
...Does Not Suffer From the Fog of War, but Creates It
...Seeks Position to Destroy Evil
...Is Not Human
We are avenging angels who will destroy the will of our enemy and bolster the spirits of our brothers for they know we watch the walls and dark places tonight. We are not simply a throwback to WWII or Korea, but the incarnation of all warriors who chose the path gauranteeing further destruction of those who would do their kinsmen harm. Like the perfect Spartan Phalanx in ancient times where each shield covers the man to your left or right thereby securing the safety of the whole we will become that perfect mesh of metal and iron will that will win the battle.
We are United States Marine Machine Gunners.
