Release the Hounds
I have a lot of emotions running through my veins right now. One of those emotions is sadness. I’m sad because my brothers and sisters have been dying in Afghanistan for the past 20 years — seemingly for no reason.
Some of them were people I knew and loved, and even more that I could only read about from a distance without any other ties than the uniform and title we both wore. Today, more of my fellow Marines were needlessly killed.
Today, specifically, I’m sad for them.
I’m also sad for their families because I remember what it was like after 9/11 when my mother couldn’t get in touch with me for several days.
I can’t remember why, but the phones were not working and this was before the widespread use of cellphones.
I remember hearing the relief in her voice after we finally spoke, even though I was nowhere near NYC. I was safely on one of the most secure bases the military has, as we all took turns patrolling the base with our loaded M16A2 service rifles.
That same relief my mom felt will never find the loved ones of these Marines and their Corpsman.
The sons, husbands, and brothers (along with any daughters, sisters, or wives) will never take another breath.
Those loved ones will now have a gaping hole left where their Marine was.
I’m sad for them. But there is a lot more than just sadness ripping me apart as I type this out.
The thought of their preventable, needless deaths turns my sadness into something else entirely.
Anger …
Rage.
It’s hard to describe but it wells up inside of me.
I know I’m not alone with these feelings. My veteran brothers and sisters all over the country feel this way, too. Maybe not all of them, but enough feel this sentiment that it matters.
A lot of us have a “release the hounds” sort of feeling. This is something that you usually only feel if you wear the uniform, though I know several of my fellow America-loving patriots feel this way too.
Many of us are pissed, angry, sad beyond belief, or just unable to process what just happened.
What exactly happened? I can only surmise. Here is my take:
Marines died today because our commander in chief should be in a retirement home somewhere living out the rest of his days in peace. This man, no matter how well-intentioned he is, has clear signs of dementia.
He is not fit to lead. And because he isn’t fit to lead, and because he has woke, weak-kneed generals in positions they shouldn’t be in, our warriors are dying deaths where they cannot even participate in the fight.
Listen to what I’m about to say very carefully: For a Marine, there is no worse death than just dying because a bomb exploded near you. A Marine deserves a warrior’s death. Let them fight to live. Marines are what they are because cowards need not apply.
Biden, however, is a coward of the worst kind who is in need of picture books to get him through his pre-screened press conferences. He is weak. Severely so.
Of course we were just attacked! C’mon man! Why wouldn’t they attack us as he projects his weakness on the rest of the country?
He makes even the fiercest of us, the United States Marines, look like weaklings.
The enemy “acquired” our gear, our guns, our trucks, and our aircraft.
Once they did that they did the unthinkable: They posed for a picture to mock the Flag Raising at Iwo Jima in gear they clearly stole from us (or better yet, were given by the incompetent fools running things).
Then this unworthy enemy killed a dozen or more of these warriors who, even though I’ve never met them because I’ve been out for 18 years, would still be called brother and sister.
They mock us. Then they kill us. But they don’t know what I do. Every US Marine is a killing machine no matter the MOS (job) they were given. Every Marine a rifleman is not just a saying, it’s a way of life.
The funny thing is that most of these modern day terrorists have never met the full force of the United States Marines. And to be honest, even the terrorists back in the day didn’t fully get it.
Even back then we were muzzled and leashed. Even then we were unable to fully demonstrate what we were capable of.
We weren’t allowed to do what we are trained for because we are so very brutal on the battlefield. If we were allowed to play by the rules they set, things might be different.
Because if they knew, if they really had an understanding of what even one unit of Marines could do if we were let off the leash and unmuzzled, they wouldn’t mock us.
They damn sure wouldn’t be blowing us up. They’d be afraid, and rightly so.
If there is something Marines are good at it is killing enough of the bad guys until they give up. Yes, some of us would die, and that is something we all understand when we sign up.
Sometimes death is the cost for freedom.
This is one of the reasons why the Germans gave us a nickname that would stay with us forever: Teufel Hunde, which is translated simply as “Devil Dog.” They saw what Marines off leash were capable of.
In all honesty, I think it’s time to release the hounds. Or, maybe as the Germans would have feared in the Battle of Belleau Wood, die Teufel hunde freilassen.
I leave you with a couple quotes from Navy Seals to ruminate on. First from Chris Kyle: In my experience, Marines are gung ho no matter what. They will all fight to the death. Everyone of them just wants to get out there and kill. They are bad-ass, hard-charging mothers.
Finally from Marcus Luttrell: Best thing you can do is jerk the chains off those guys and let them go to work. With 300 Marines, you could probably take over Iraq if you wanted to and get rid of ISIS completely. Make no mistake about it, Marines are war fighters. I mean they are really good at what they do. The only time they are not good at what they do is when someone puts the shackles on them.
Release the Hounds.
(I’m not a combat vet.)
