Editor’s Note: This letter was inadvertently left out of Saturday’s edition of the LaGrange Daily News.

On Nov. 10, 1775, congress authorized the raising of two Battalions of Marines.

Recruiting started in Philadelphia and since that time Marines have “fought in every clime and place where we could take a gun.”

In November of 1915 Parris Island was designated a Recruit Training Depot.

This year is the 70th anniversary of one of the best known battles Marines have fought. Guadalcanal and Tulagi.

Marines have been awarded nearly 300 Medals of Honor and over 2100 Navy Crosses, not to mention thousands of other lesser medals. Our history is a storied one.

Marines have been in command of many joint task forces to include Afghanistan and the current Southern Command. A Marine general will soon, once again, command all NATO troops. A Marine has also been Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

Recently an aviation squadron commander was killed with a rifle in his hands while fighting off a terrorist attack on his base.

All of this simply tells this country Marines are well trained and ready to fight any battles that are assigned to us. In this modern age of robots and UAV’s Marines still use bayonets and in special cases even horses. I recently heard a story of a reporter asking a Marine sergeant about he and his men being sent into harm’s way. He replied “we’re U.S. Marines. We ARE harm’s way.”

To understand us you must have been one of us!

Semper Fidelis,

G.E. Loveless

Major, USMC (Ret)

LaGrange