Marines

Dear MRFF,

Please tell Mikey Weinstein to lay off the Marine Scout Sniper Team who posed with a symbol that means “Scout Sniper.”

Just because something fails to look the way he wants it to look doesn’t mean it represents evil as he seems to conclude. People’s intentions are critical to the equation. SS means Scout Sniper to every Marine. Always has…always will.

(name withheld)

Hi (name withheld),

Rick Baker here for MRFF. Mikey is up to his Adams apple with other pressing issues but he wanted to make sure you got the courtesy of an answer to your E-Mail.

I’m a long time supporter of MRFF and a former volunteer.

I fully understand you point; what harm can a scout sniper emblem do?

However, the issue with the SS emblem is not one of freedom to identify your unit with a snappy logo but rather one of associating a US Armed Forces unit with the unspeakable horrors inflicted upon world populations by the Nazi SS. In addition there is the unnecessary burden placed on Jewish Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Sailors, Service Academy Cadets, Reservists and National Guardsmen who serve honorably and do not deserve to serve alongside a symbol which guided the Holocaust.

I am a former Air Force Officer and Rescue pilot having served two combat tours of duty in Vietnam. As a rescue squadron we were often tasked by Special Ops to insert teams of special forces personnel into Laos and Cambodia, wait for radio contact and extract them. Among these teams were Green Beret, Navy Seals, Air Force Commando and my favorite, teams from Marine Recon including snipers. These young men were Marines from head to toe and could shoot the eye out of a Water Buffalo at 1000 yards. Kidding aside, I was glad they were on our side. They had no insignia or identification logo that I noticed.

The SS sign was so indelibly etched into the minds and hearts of people for generations after the war that it remains today a symbol of death and destruction.

I’m sure you can see the similarity between both signs.

Sincerely,

Rick Baker