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Politics & Government

The Marines Have Landed

The Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Combat Center Band brought their wonderful sound to Sun Lakes at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.

This is the second year in a row that I have taken the time to get in my golf cart, ably driven by my friend Clare, and found a space to park at the Sun Lakes driving range.

This free performance by the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Combat Center Band was at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.

They brought great sound and lots of memories to the people who surrounded the band. Some sat on the veranda, others sat on the ground and many of us used our favorite vehicle: the golf cart.

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We arrived early to secure “good seats.” With a great deal of time remaining before the performance, it was easy to strike up conversations, as people were there for the same reason. Many of those gathered were former Marines. Just so you don’t make the same mistake I did many years ago, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. Former Marine, yes. Ex-Marine . .. never.

I chatted with a man whose cap identified him as USMC. Since I have an inability to determine people’s ages, I asked him when and where he had served. He said he had graduated from high school in 1955 and enlisted the next day.

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I gulped as I recognized my late husband would be 86 years old had he lived. World War II had recently broken out and like many youngsters of the day Bill enlisted in the Marine Corp. He would serve with honor in the Pacific Theatre as a member of the 22nd Marine Division, 5th Amphibious Corps. While he spent four years defending the honor of his country, the fact was that when he returned, he was barely old enough to order a drink legally!

Bill told me some of his deepest thoughts before he passed away. Many of his bad dreams were still caused by thoughts of wartime events. Tom Brokaw described this group of people as “The Greatest Generation.” They did their service, were often welcomed home as heroes, than assimilated back into society, often never heard from again.

I looked around at the silver-haired people gathered at this Sun Lakes concert. How many had served in a war? How many had seen comrades killed? It made me happy for those who had survived and profoundly saddened for those youngsters who died in a country whose name they could not pronounce.

Recent statistics show that of those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, one in five returns with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Too many of the veterans do not seek treatment. This not only affects them, it affects their families.

I am not naïve enough to think that wars around the world will cease anytime soon. Most of them have been fought for thousands of years. What I am hoping for is the cessation of loss of American lives. We are killing off too many generations.

I am fully supportive of our troops serving in distant places: I just wish they weren’t there. In a perfect world, the men and women who serve in our arm forces will no longer be put in harm’s way. With any kind of good fortune, music will replace the guns of war. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

Semper fi.

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