MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Guest of honor at Miramar Marine Corps Ball is out in favor of Marine tradition

• Posted by Beth on October 28th, 2006 filed in General, Support the Troops    

Tags: Marine Corps, USMC

There are only two weeks left until the Marine Corps birthday, and the air station in Miramar doesn’t have a guest of honor for its ball. [Note: they apparently do now? --Ed.] Ultimate Fighting Championship brawler Tito Ortiz was slated to fill that chair at the beginning of the month, but canceled on Thursday after air station officials asked him to un-invite his girlfriend and date for the event, porn star Jenna Jameson.

Larry’s quoted in the article, speaking about his reaction when he read that Ortiz was to be the guest of honor:

That news didn’t go over well with at least one senior enlisted Marine. Master Gunnery Sgt. Larry Kuzniak, assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., said he couldn’t sleep that night after reading the news on the Internet. He said that at his sergeant major’s meeting the next morning, he made a point to relay the news to his unit’s senior enlisted Marines, who he said heard it with dropped jaws, and expressed his concerns about the commandant’s health in the event he’d already heard the news, too.

“These guys in Miramar are making a mockery of what is supposed to be tradition,” Kuzniak said. “It should be about the Marine Corps, not about the movie stars and the athletes. If you’re not going to observe tradition, you might as well just let it die. Next thing you know, Barbra Streisand will be out there.”

On Kuzniak’s list of animals, minerals and vegetables that would have been more appropriate as guests than the lover and the fighter Miramar invited: Any one of the 13 living Marines who have received the Navy Cross since Sept. 11, 2001. “Or maybe this is that year that we take that lance corporal from the convoy that’s out there every day,” he said.

Kuzniak said it is regretful that the Corps even got itself in this position, but that Miramar’s decision to backpedal on its invitation is the right move.

The article sorta makes it look like he objected to Jenna Jameson specifically, but Larry says (via email) that’s not the case at all.

I didn’t get upset because of Jenna Jameson, but because they would invite this guy to be the guest of honor at the single most important function of the Marine Corps year. If you aren’t a Marine you can’t possibly understand how important the birthday is. No other service takes its birthday as seriously as we do. Think of all the wounded Marines and their families that could have been honored. Look him up in Wikipedia:

[Wikipedia] After most of his UFC fights in which he wins, he wears a t-shirt that features a message. The t-shirt ordeal has become a staple for him. Here is a past list of the t-shirts he has worn:

Nice, huh? (We say sweary words here, but I can assure you, I don’t wear sweary t-shirts out in public. That’s something BEULAH MAE and her crowd would do.)

Larry continues:

Notice the “Bring our troops Home” shirt. Look at the other ones. Is this the guy we invite to be our guest of honor, then court martial Marines for killing someone who was shooting and killing them?

Damn right, Master Gunny. Damn right. And really, had the brass at Miramar not noticed there are a few Marines over in the sandbox spilling blood? None of the Navy Cross recipients? None of the former Marines who were disabled in combat and are no longer able to serve because of it? None of those who have fought through their injuries so they could return to the battlefield with their brothers in arms? Nobody who’s even served?

I’m sure this Ultimate Fighting dude and Jenna Jameson would get a lot of attention–but then, the ball is sold out anyway, and attention shouldn’t be on them. Like Larry said, this is a Big Deal™ every year. (He’s right–it’s taken way, way more seriously in the USMC than in other services.) Hell, if you’re gonna bring Hollyweird into it, invite someone like Gary Sinise–someone who’s really dedicated to supporting the troops. But Hollyweird isn’t necessary at all, anyway; that’s what the USO is for.

See, that’s why you have senior NCOs in the military like Larry around–they never forget what it’s all about. It’s about the Marines, not a sideshow. It’s about 231 years of duty, honor, country. Marine Corps Commandant General Hagee said last year upon the 230th birthday celebration:

The sense of honor, courage, and patriotism that epitomized those who answered that first call to arms two hundred and thirty years ago is still indelibly imprinted on our ranks today. In commemorating our anniversary, let us strengthen our ties to the past by paying homage to those who have gone before us. As we honor the sacrifices of our wounded and fallen comrades, our commitment to one another remains unshakable. We take special pride in the actions of the Marines now serving in harm’s way, and rededicate ourselves to the service of our Nation and our Corps.

THAT is what you honor at a Marine Corps ball, not silly Ultimate Fighting Championship dudes (and their porn star girlfriends). If you decide to throw tradition out the window in favor of the celebrities du jour, you may as well abandon the tradition altogether.

P.S. For those of you who have been wondering where Larry’s been, he’ll be back to the blog in a month once he’s finished with school. (IOW, he’s not back in Iraq right now.)