VMFA-122 Crusaders

Dear MRFF,

This unit was the Crusaders for many years and the name should not have been changed. The Marine Corps should have told you where to go and how to get there. Another example of liberals getting what they want. I have the unit t-shirt and well continue to where if for no other reason I know it will piss off the liberals.

(name withheld)

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Dear (name withheld),

First thanks for your service (and pardon me for not including your rank in the salutation, but you neglected to give it).

Also, thanks for your letter to the MRFF expressing your concerns about this issue. I see you are laboring under some misapprehensions about the MRFF, so perhaps some background is in order.

Mr. Weinstein tries to answer as many letters as possible personally, but thought it appropriate that I respond here, since I am a retired Marine, and though not an aviator, I do have close personal ground combat experience, which will hopefully count for something.

My family also had a long history of US service, which includes 5 generations of Marines, as well as the other service branches. My thrice-great grandfather fought in the Revolution and my great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. We also had representatives in WW I, WW II, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf I and the GWOT, as well as most of the smaller wars and conflicts.

My Marine great-uncle served in WW I, while my father was a Marine in the Pacific in WWII, serving in the major island campaigns in the Marianna, Marshall, and Solomon Islands (incl. Tulagi, Guam, Guadalcanal, etc.). He was seriously WIA and evacuated to the US just prior to Iwo Jima.

One uncle was stationed in Shanghai with the 4th Marines, then transferred to Corregidor in the PI, later becoming a Japanese POW. He was then shipped to Japan on one of the “Hell Ships,” where he worked as a slave laborer for the duration. (He weighed 98 pounds on release.)

After recuperation, he was on Occupation duty in Japan, when he was mobilized for Korea, along with another of my uncles (also a Marine). Both survived, and Chet (the Corregidor survivor) went on to serve until the early years of Vietnam, eventually retiring as a MGYSGT. (The Marine Corps League named a post in Florida for him after his death.)

My own service included close personal ground combat in several of the major operations in Vietnam in 1967 and 19 68, including Operation Scotland (Khe Sanh), before, during, and after the Tet 1968 assault and the Siege, and in the Hue-Phu Bai area both before and after Tet 1968.

I also served in various line infantry units (2/2 and 3/9), and in 1st and 3rd Recon, in capacities through acting platoon commander. My MOSs included 0311, 0321, and 0369, and as a NCO at MARDET CINCLNTFLT, with responsibilities for the security of the command which included (in addition to CINCLNT) FMFLNT, SACLNT, SUBLNT, NATO, and the Nuclear Warfare School.

I later lost a limb which unfortunately ended my active career, but I subsequently went on to teach in the USMC Jr. ROTC program for several years, before using my GI Bill to attain a BA, and later a Master’s degree in Education, after which I taught K-12 and Adult education at a number of levels in public and private schools, including at-risk inner city, and in the Neglected and Ab used home, and Juvenile Hall, and later, incarcerated adults in medium and high-security jails.

My story is not unusual. Most of the MRFF clients and volunteers are veterans, often from multi-generational families, and include active, reserve, and retired, from all branches of the US Armed Forces, holding ranks from enlisted through flag officer, with MOSs in all fields, including combat arms, representing eras from WW II, Korea, Viet Nam, on through Gulf I, and the present GWOT.

MRFF members’ awards and decorations are numerous, and include the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star w/ V, the Silver Star, the Army, Navy, and AF Crosses, and one Medal of Honor.

Mr. Weinstein is also a veteran, being an Honor Graduate of the USAF 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 that in clude distinguished service academy graduates, and members of the US Armed Forces.

Mr. weinstein’s (Christian) nephew is a GYSGT in the USMC in a Combat Arms MOS, who recently returned from yet another tour in the Sand Box. He is also a supporter of the MRFF.

I think you might agree that we are all very familiar with the military services, including the USMC.

We are also very familiar with the Constitution, which is the focus of our mission. The MRFF supports the Constitutionally and legally mandated requirement that there will be no established religion (i.e. no official state religion), and no religious test for office, as clearly intended by the Founders both in their words and documents, and as supported by subsequent decisions of US courts through the Supreme Court.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . ” (1st Amendment)

“. . . no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” (Article VI, Section III)

The MRFF is committed to ensuring that this boundary between church and state is maintained, and that the Constitutional rights to freedom of conscience for all Americans (particularly our servicemen and women) are not violated, and that they are not subjected to unwanted proselytization by any religious group whatsoever.

If upholding the Constitution constitutes being “liberals” than so be it.

(And just for the record, some of us are at the MRFF are very conservative politically. I myself am an independent, and judge each case and candidate by its merits. Some of my positions are what you would probably call “liberal” while others tend to be more what you might refer to as “conservative.” However, what we do at the MRFF has nothing to do with any political partisanship, but with upholding the Constitution.)

MRFF’s Position on Faith

Neither Mr. Weinstein nor the MRFF are “for” or “against” Christianity, Islam, Judaism, or any other religion. On the contrary, as the name implies, the MRFF supports religious freedom and pluralism for service personnel of all faiths (or none), in accordance with the US Constitution and public law. Our founder, members, and supporters include peop le of many different faiths and belief systems, as well as free-thinkers and skeptics.

Mr. Weinstein, the founder of the MRFF, is of Jewish heritage, and his family circle of blended faiths includes observant Christians.

The MRFF staff is approximately 75% Christian (mainly Protestant, followed by Catholics), 15% Jewish, and 10% other.

While we have people of faith among us, we are (like the US itself) strictly secular in nature, and we defend all US service personnel against violations of their Constitutional rights to freedom of conscience.

Who We Represent, and Why

All MRFF cases are filed because of complaints brought by active duty or reserve service personnel.

Currently, 96% of the over 27,000 MRFF cases are brought on behalf of professing Christians, (mainly Protestants), followed by Catholics (including Roman and Eastern Orthodox).

The 4% balance of cases includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs, as well as Pagans, a few atheists, agnostics, and other free-thinkers.

The great preponderance of our cases involve abuses of authority and violations of the Constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience by a specific sub-set of aggressive radicals who style themselves “Christians” and who are becoming increasingly entrenched and powerful in the military in all braches and MOSs at ranks up to and including flag officer ranks. They are known by a number of names, but we use the generic term of one of the main branches (“Dominionists”) for convenience. I attach some specifics re: Dominionism below.

I hope that this information will help you to better understand the nature of the MRFF and the nature of the struggle we are waging against a large and growing enemy with deep pockets and strong political and economic backing, and who constitute a far greater and more ur gent threat to the Republic than a handful of rag-tag radical Islamic fundamentalists either here or elsewhere.

You might be surprised to learn that there have been Muslims in the US services since the beginning of this country. Among them are Marines — including aviators.

For example, Colonel Douglas Burpee was the highest ranking Muslim officer in the Marine Corps when he retired, with a career that included combat tours in the Sandbox, flying helicopters in Afghanistan and elsewhere. As he said to an interviewer;

“Everyone knows I’m a Muslim. When I fly, attached to my dog tags, I wear a pendant with a passage from the Koran,” he says. “I try to set a good example based upon what I believe…. I can be a soldier and a Muslim at the same time. I have no problem with that. These people who commit terrorism have just adopted the face of Islam – nothing they say or do have anything to do with Islam. The Taliban is a terrorist organization – they are bad people doing bad things and they’ve attached religion to it. They are ruthless when it comes to killing people, but that’s how you move helpless people around – you use fear.”

Among the enlisted ranks, we have APAAM (Association of Patriotic Arab-Americans in the Military) founder Marine GYSGT Jamal Baadani.

Our position on the name-change is that it is un-Constitutional and unnecessary.

As you may know, the squadron was commissioned on 1 March 1942 at Camp Kearny, CA. Originally known as the “Candystripers” the squadron quickly (and understandably) adopted the “Werewolves” moniker before embarking on its first combat tour. They flew through WW II and Korea under that nickname.

It wasn’t until 1958, with the adoption of the Chance-Vought F8U-1’s (F-8A) “Crusader” that the squadron acquired the “Crusader” nick-name. A new patch was designed to go with the new aircraft, and in 1959, LT Desmond F. Browne procured the “Mach-Altus I” mascot in a second hand shop in lower Manhattan.

However, the “Crusaders” saw no combat until 1 September 1967, when they were flying sorties in Vietnam. They retained the “Crusaders” handle even though they had by this time transitioned to the new F-4B “Phantom” and been re-designated a VMFA squadron.

Following Vietnam, they flew a number of aircraft, (none of which were “Crusaders”) and didn’t fly again in combat until forty years later — when they deployed as the “Werewolves” again.

Therefore, of their entire history, they were first the “Candystripers” and then the “Werewolves” for the first 16 years, during which period they flew their most distinguished combat sorties under their most famous leaders. During their “Crusaders” incarnation, they flew only four years in combat (albeit valiantly), and the ensuing years until 2008 were not in combat again until 2008 — at which time they re-adopted their original moniker, under which they flew until their return.

While I understand LCOL Weigel’s interest in tradition (both as a retired Marine from a Marine family and as an historian by training and inclination), his ostensible reason for re-adopting the “Crusaders” handle, despite its longevity, really doesn’t “fly” (if you’ll pardon the expression). Of the 12 years of its combat history, only four were flown under that nickname — and NONE of them in the aircraft that gave rise to the name in the first place.

Also, given the dramatic increase in numbers and power of those affiliated with the Dominionist movement in the military, we don’t feel that this is a step in the right direction.

Finally, the MRFF has absolutely no interest pro or con in your wearing any T-shirt of your choice, whatever its emblems. As a US citizen and a retired member of the armed forces, it is your Constitutional right to wear whatever you please.

I hope that this gives you some insight into the MRFF’s perspective on this matter.

Again, thanks for writing us with your concerns. We wish you a safe Memorial Day, and hope that you will join us in remembering and honoring our brethren in all services who were wounded or who did not return.

I remain, sir,

Semper Fidelis,

F. J. Taylor
USMC (Ret.)

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