TheBlaze.com – Marines Punished for Posing With Flag Resembling Nazi SS Symbol

See below link. Thought I’d share an article with all you HOGS. Haven’t we gone through this like 5 times in the past 20 years? Isn’t there enough history and documentation to show that the use of the lightning bolt SS has nothing to do with Nazi Germany and everything to do with motivation, history and traditions. All important things that keep these young warriors heads held high and give them a sense of honor and pride. Just my .02 cents.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/u-s-marines-posed-with-flag-resembling-nazi-ss-symbol-in-afghanistan/

Semper Fi,
(name withheld)

For every one hundred men you send us, Ten should not even be here. Eighty are nothing but targets, Nine are real fighters,
We are lucky to have them, they the battle make. Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior, And he will bring the others back.

Heraclitus, 500 BC

---

Dear (name withheld),

You are correct and offer a very coherent and concise explanation that even the uninitiated should be able to understand. I will forward to the site that originated the slander on our Brothers.

I doubt the SS in question get an apology as the political agenda of the website misreporting the facts will probably have priority. Minimal due diligence on their part would of quickly uncovered the truth of the matter.

S/F
“SS”
(name withheld)

---

Dear (name withheld),

“Minimal due diligence” would have prevented the adoption of a Nazi symbol in the first place. There are a billion different fonts and style options that have no connection with genocide. Some of these guys may be ignorant of the context, but the only place to get that SS lightning bolt flag they have is a Nazi paraphenalia website.

Dustin Chalker
Military Religious Freedom Foundation

---

Dear Sirs,

I see that Mr. Chalker has already responded, but I wanted to address some of your points from a Marine perspective.

First, thanks for your letter and for your service. We at the MRFF understand the service — 90% plus of our members, staff, and volunteers are veterans. We include active duty, Reserve, or retired, from all branches, holding ranks from enlisted through flag officers, with MOSs in all fields, and representing service eras from WW II, Korea, Viet Nam, and on through Gulf I, OEF, OIF, and the present GWOT. Many have been in close combat, and have been decorated for wounds received in action and / or for valor with medals ranging from the Purple Heart, Bronze Star w/V, Silver Star, and the Army, Navy, and AF Crosses. One holds the Medal of Honor.

One of our Jewish members was in the infamous Lodz Ghetto, and later Auschwitz as a child of 10. Amazingly, he survived, though his parents were both brutally murdered by the SS. (His mother was gassed and he saw his father’s head beaten in with a shovel by an SS guard.) After liberation, he became a “mascot” of the US Army, and later emigrated to the US and joined our armed forces, fighting in Korea.

Mr. Weinstein himself was an Honor Graduate of the AF Academy, and served for 10 years a JAG officer, including service in the Reagan White House as a Special Counsel. His family has over three generations of service, and a number of distinguished members of the US Armed Forces. His nephew is a GYSGT in the USMC in a combat MOS. He recently returned from his fourth tour in the Iraq. He is also a member of and supporter of the MRFF.

My own family has a long history of military service dating back to the Revolutionary War and Civil War, WW I, and WWII, and on through Vietnam and Gulf I, which included five generations of Marines. My service included close personal ground combat in several of the major operations in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968, including Operation Scotland at Khe Sanh (before, during, and after the Tet 1968 assault and the Siege, and later in the Hue-Phu Bai area, during the mopping-up actions after Tet. I also served in various infantry and artillery units, and in 1st and 3rd Recon (in capacities through platoon commander) and at MARDET CINCLNTFLT. I later lost a limb, which ended my active career, but I subsequently went on to teach in the USMC JROTC program for several years, using my GI Bill to attain a BA, and later a Master’s degree, after which I taught grades K-12 and Adult education in public and private schools, including at-risk inner city, the Neglected and Abused Children’s home, and Juvenile Hall, and incarcerated adults in medium and high-security jails.

As to the “significance” of the runes; the rune “*sōwilō” (one of the Elder Futhark runes) was later adapted as the “Sig” rune in the “Armanen Futharkh” — 18 runes supposedly “revealed” to the Austrian occult mystic and Germanic revivalist Guido von List in 1902 while he was blinded after a cataract operation. The Sig rune was later used by Karl Maria Wiligut (Himmler’s official occultist) in his own runic row (Wiligut runes) in the bizarre Nazi mysticism rituals.

In 1931, Walter Heck, a Sturmführer in the SS (and yet another Nazi occultist), drew two reversed and inverted Sig runes side by side. He noticed the similarity to the SS initials, and sold the rights to his rendition to the SS, which were then adopted as their official insignia, which permanently tarred that rune, along with the swastika and the term “Aryan.”

However, these ancient runes and their meanings have nothing to do with our concerns. The use of the Nazi version by our Marines is our concern.

You gentlemen claim years of use for this symbol in Scout-snipers. While that may be true, it in no way makes it any more acceptable. Personally, I never encountered it during my time in (1966-77), and in several instances, I worked right alongside snipers. At Khe Sanh, in particular, we had one assigned to my corner of the lines, and no Nazi logos were to be seen anywhere on his person or equipment.

I attach a letter by a former Marine Scout-sniper officer who describes the exact time and place the emblem was adopted. He also makes very clear that it was WELL KNOWN to be neo-Nazi from the start, because the instigators were members of a vicious neo-Nazi cult led by the notorious Metzger brothers at Fallbrook near Camp Pendleton. (I remember those scum myself, and the trouble they caused the Marines.)

However, again, length of use is not the issue. If it had been used since WW II (unthinkable for any of us who grew up in that era or the years immediately after the war), it would STILL be wrong.

As to the nature of the emblem and flag itself, and whether those Marines knew what they were getting — there can be no doubt that at least some of them knew this was a Nazi Schutzstaffel flag, since they obtained it from a web-site called “Traders of the Lost Surplus” (which one waggish reporter has dubbed “Nazis ‘R’ Us”), a site that specializes in Nazi replicas and memorabilia. Have a look for yourself:

http://www.totls.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=16:close-out-corner&catid=1:home&Itemid=30

For your convenience, I attach a picture of the identical flag from that site, and the accompanying description:

7180. ss double runic flag, a favorite and well know (sic) ss flag, 3′ x 5′ $7.50

You (along with me and many others) would like to believe that these Marines somehow chose this emblem and flag without noticing that it was a Nazi SS flag, or its history or origins. That would entail believing that these carefully selected, highly trained individuals are somewhat dumber than the average box of rocks.

(And yes, I know that members of other services sometimes suggest that about us — usually when there are no Marines present — but I like to think that not all Marines, particularly those of us who served in elite units, are quite THAT stupid.)

As Exhibit 2, I would like to attach the text of a letter we recently received from a man purporting to be a Marine scout-sniper. I have redacted his name and E to protect his privacy (not that he deserves it), but his name shows that he is obviously of Germanic origin.

From: K******@***.com
Date: February 10, 2012 1:48:36 AM MST
To: [email protected]
Subject: Waffen SS Flag

Mr. Michael Weinstein,
Yes, we knew what that flag meant. We are mainly composed of white people of European descent (blacks can’t swim and it is too tough for jews). We have always acknowledged true fighters and the Waffen SS are an elite brotherhood of warriors, much like we are. More than 99% never saw a concentration camp or participated in Einsaztgruppen actions, much like the vast majority of the USMC has never perpetrated any war crimes. Many of our members are of German descent and not a few have ancestors who were in the Waffen SS. We certainly do not have the combat distinction of your Israeli Commandos (if I were a 12 year old Palestinian boy throwing rocks I may be scared) or the Air Farce. You are correct; we knew what that flag meant.

(Name Redacted)

As you can clearly see, this Marine sniper not only admits to knowing the history and meaning of the flag, but excuses the behavior of the Waffen SS (a lie much circulated by modern neo-Nazis), and indeed glorifies those murderous bastards, while simultaneously making racially charged lies about blacks and Jews. He says he knows the meaning of that fag and symbol, and not only doesn’t recant and apologize for its use, but actually glorifies and celebrates these bloody murderers of millions of unarmed men, women, and children. I cannot find any excuse for this, or any way to exonerate him, or any like him. Can you??

Likewise, the recent discovery of a “Camp Aryan” (another highly symbolic term Hitler appropriated and sullied, like the swastika and the runes) makes it clear that there are people in the Marines and other branches of the Armed Forces who are stealthily pursuing a racist neo-Nazi agenda. We had them when I was in — though they didn’t dare display their ugly racism openly in my day — at least not in any units I led!

There is clearly no way this can be excused by saying the men “did not know.” Though doubtless some did not know, there are obviously a substantial number who knew very well what they were doing from the start. For at least some of these men, this is the totally unacceptable racial and religious “supremacy” that has plagued our Corps and nation for many years, again raising its despicable head.

I have long been concerned with the direction of the Republic in many areas, and one of these areas has been the creeping advance of racist, fascist and totalitarian elements in our military and government. I remember being concerned when we adopted the PASGT (aka “Fritz”) helmets in the 80s — not for their protection capabilities (obviously advantageous), but for their strong resemblance to Nazi helmets. I asked myself whether men who had fought the Nazis would have liked to have worn that helmet. I cannot think of any I knew who would have.

Even though this may have gone on for 30 years (see Kent Gooch’s letter, attached), it was never acceptable, because it has made use (knowingly and otherwise) of a symbol that was used by the most brutal units of the fascist, totalitarian Nazi regime — sworn enemies to the death of this country, who our fathers and grand-fathers fought a long and tough war to defeat once and for all.

I personally don’t consider Hitler’s Nazi thugs of the SS to be “worthy” of anything but my contempt! As to “adopting their logo” — As I have clearly demonstrated, the adoption was at the behest and instigation of known neo-Nazis in the Marines. (See Kent Gooch’s letter, attached) I personally would rather cut off my arm rather than display the logo of those infamous cowards and butchers!

While not Jewish myself, I grew up in the years following WW II, when there were still many who had seen the Holocaust (which, BTW, included communists, Gypsies, political opponents, Poles, Slavs, and other non-Jews) first hand.

A close family friend was a combat photographer in Europe. He was of German (non-Jewish) descent, and was one of those detailed by General Eisenhower to make a photographic and film record of the death camps, so that nobody could ever deny what had happened. As Eisenhower later wrote to Mamie,

“I never dreamed that such cruelty, bestiality, and savagery could really exist in this world.”
(For the full story, see: http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/stories/death-camps.htm )

I saw these pictures as a kid, and many others, and have spoken with soldiers who liberated the camps, as well as survivors, including non-Jews, one of them a Pole who saw it all first-hand from within. I have read the histories, and memoirs of survivors, both Jew and non-Jew. I am well acquainted with every sordid detail of the camps and the deeds done.

In addition, my wife (who is of Jewish heritage), lost over half of the European branch of her family in the Holocaust. Among them was a young cousin, Hanus Hachenburg, a bright young boy who wrote plays, stories, and poetry of great beauty while he was incarcerated in Terezin (aka Theresienstadt) while awaiting transport to the death camps. (This was the city billed by Nazi propagandists as “Hitler’s gift to the Jews.”) What he might have accomplished in later life will never be known, as his young life was snuffed out at 15 at Auschwitz, along with his entire family, by the murdering monsters whose logo these Marines so “proudly” wear and use. (If you would like to see some of his work, Google his name. It is all over the Net.)

Therefore I have absolutely NO doubt that the Holocaust happened, and of the SS role in that tragedy.

Sadly, most of that generation are now gone, and it seems that Ike didn’t factor the IQ (“Idiot Quotient”) into the equation. (Hiatus deflendi est, since the hyper-exponential increase in world population since the war has apparently vastly raised the number of ignorant fools who don’t believe it happened. )

I don’t know your age, but I must assume from your attempts to excuse this situation that you may have grown up in the 70s or later, so perhaps you lack you the vivid first-hand memories of that period and the post-war years, and thus did not react as Mr. Weinstein and I did — with revulsion and disgust at the sight of that blatant symbol of the Third Reich’s most hideous death machine — the SS — in the hands of American Marines. As a Marine myself, I was both shocked and revolted at the sight.

The sight of that logo still causes great pain and revulsion in the hearts and minds of many people who fought against, or who directly suffered under these monsters, and among their families. For example, it pains our WW II veterans, especially our POWs and Jewish members (including the man who was in Lodz and Auschwitz as a child), as well as Mr. Weinstein and his family (who also lost family in the Shoah), and my wife and her family (of Jewish heritage), whose mother got out of France where she had been a student just before the Nazis, and who lost over half of their European relations to these brutal murderers.

The real question is this; do you, or our fellow Marines, REALLY want to cause great mental anguish and suffering to the remaining men and women who survived, and to their families and survivors, by continuing to display an emblem of a horrendous regime that murdered millions of innocent men, women and children.

Even if the snipers did not mean to inflict such harm originally by intentionally choosing this logo (and as I have shown you, there are those who did), can anyone justify the continued use of such an emblem now that they know the truth?

This was a leadership failure! These emblems should never have been selected or allowed. They are NOT official USMC emblems – as you should know. We have ONE authorized emblem – the EGA, and our authorized flags are first and foremost, the Stars and Stripes, followed by our own proud Marine Corps Battle Colors with streamers, our Regimental Colors, and our unit guidons – all of the latter bearing the EGA.

As one Marine officer put it, in commenting on this case, these guys are not “special snowflakes” – they are US Marines. These gentlemen need to realize that they are Marines, not the SS. Otherwise, they need to look for a new employer.

CMC agrees with us, and has issued an order banning all use of this and similar emblems in all Marine units. It may take a while to purge the Marines of this odious symbol and others. While we may never succeed in purging racial and religious intolerance. Nonetheless, it is a goal we should all be striving for.

Of course, you are free to disagree. If you think that their service gives anyone the “right” to fly a flag and emblem representing one of the most beastly, cowardly, and murderous regimes in human history, and which our fathers’ and grand-fathers’ generation fought to obliterate, then we must agree to disagree, as IMO, that would be disrespecting the Greatest Generation, who gave so unsparingly of themselves to defeat that regime and those symbols.

I think that you gentlemen are not neo-Nazis, nor are all Scout-snipers. However, I fail to see how, given the full facts, you or any other Scout-sniper could continue to justify the use of that bloody abomination as a logo.

I remain, gentlemen,

Semper Fidelis,

F. J. Taylor