I don’t want to find out, even though I posed the question. Yours truly, Ms. Christmas would be lost without Christmas! The question came to me because of this post by C-Square reminding us about the Marines Toys for Tots annual Christmas drive.  In past years I helped with that and ironically just two days ago, I found a copy of an e-mail that I had sent to my local Marines post asking how late they were accepting toys. My e-mail is dated 12/21/2003. Yes, I am a semi-packrat. I hold onto meaningful stuff. The e-mail response from “my” Marines was worth holding onto.  I was told that toys would be accepted until December 23.

I remember hustling down there with the toys. The country was about two years into the “War on Terror,” and our troops were out there fighting the friends of the cowards who had attacked us. Christmas without the Marines for kids who look forward to receiving those toys, would be like taking Christmas out of Christmas. This is my roundabout way of asking that we donate to Toys for Tots before December 23, 2010 – after we take care of our Marines through Project Valour-IT.

For the adults, what would Christmas be without the Marines, or our other branches of service, to protect us? We certainly would not be “land of the free” or “home of the brave.”  Instead of singing “Rocking around the Christmas Tree,” and all of the other songs of merriment, “we the (ordinary) people” would have to become our own line of defense, because those who feel that the US is too “dominant,” exactly because of our Military, will seize the chance to invade. I had better get out of this vision of a “Marine-less” Christmas, and move onto the history of the Marine Corps.

The landing of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Da Nang in 1965 marked the beginning of large-scale Marine involvement in Vietnam. By summer 1968, after the enemy's Tet Offensive, Marine Corps strength in Vietnam rose to a peak of approximately 85,000. The Marine withdrawal began in 1969 as the South Vietnamese began to assume a larger role in the fighting; the last ground forces were out of Vietnam by June 1971. The Vietnam War, longest in the history of the Marine Corps, exacted a high cost as well with over 13,000 Marines killed and more than 88,000 wounded. In the spring of 1975, Marines evacuated embassy staffs, American citizens, and refugees in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Saigon, Republic of Vietnam. Later, in May 1975, Marines played an integral role in the rescue of the crew of the SS Mayaguez captured off the coast of Cambodia.

The mid-1970s saw the Marine Corps assume an increasingly significant role in defending NATO's northern flank as amphibious units of the 2d Marine Division participated in exercises throughout northern Europe. The Marine Corps also played a key role in the development of the Rapid Deployment Force, a multi-service organization created to insure a flexible, timely military response around the world when needed. The Maritime Prepositioning Ships (MPS) concept was developed to enhance this capability by prestaging equipment needed for combat in the vicinity of the designated area of operations, and reduce response time as Marines travel by air to link up with MPS assets.

There was the inevitable loss of life, and this time around more than 88,000 were injured. I wonder how many of them would have benefited, from what we can now offer current Marines in the form of voice-activated laptops, through the Project Valour-IT program. We will never know what more we could have done to help those in the Vietnam War, but we know what we can do to help now. Yesterday morning the theme of the devotionals that I was reading was “Do It Now.” I agree. Let us donate now.

I found yet another reason why I love the Marines. Throughout its history, there has always been an ongoing thrust to improve and develop. One example was given above, with the description of the “Rapid Deployment Force.” Speaking of reasons to love the Marines, here are some more excerpts from 232 reasons to love the Marines:

62. If it ain’t raining, we ain’t training.

69. Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He left his four-star insignia with his fallen comrades at the Vietnam Wall when he retired. Nice move.

166. If you ambush Capt. Brian Chontosh’s boys, he’s going to take off his Navy Cross and kill you. Then, he’s going to pick up your rifle and kill your buddies. Then, he’s going to pick up your buddy’s rifle and kill your buddy’s buddies. Then, he’s going to pick up a rocket-propelled grenade launcher …

167. Speaking of the Navy Cross, a combat award second only to the Medal of Honor, Marines have earned 15 so far in Iraq, plus one in Afghanistan. Of the six awarded to sailors for those combat zones, five went to SEALs, and one went to a corpsman who exposed himself repeatedly to enemy fire to evacuate and treat wounded Marines. Along with Chontosh, the other recipients include:

168. Gunnery Sgt. Justin D. Lehew.

169. Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Perez.

170. Sgt. Scott C. Montoya.

171. Cpl. Marco A. Martinez.

172. Sgt. Willie L. Copeland.

173. Capt. Brent Morel (posthumous).

174. Sgt. Anthony L. Viggiani.

175. 1st Sgt. Bradley A. Kasal.

176. Cpl. Robert J. Mitchell.

177. Cpl. Dominic Esquibel.

178. Sgt. Jarrett A. Kraft.

179. Cpl. Jeremiah W. Workman.

180. Cpl. Todd Corbin.

181. Sgt. Aubrey L. McDade Jr.

182. Pfc. Christopher Adlesperger (posthumous).

183. Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Louis E. Fonseca.

Carrie, one of our leaders of the Marines Team, as usual, gave team members a good roundup of links to other posts. Among the links was this one from No Sheeples Here blog. Coincidentally, I follow this blog on my Twitter page. The following sentences from the post, nicely sum up what this endeavor is all about:

These heroes don't need our pity. They need our support as they begin to deal with a world, which for them, has been forever changed.

We the protected owe America's military and their loved ones a great debt. You can send these soldiers a loud and clear message that you are grateful for their service and stand by them by giving them the tools they need now to live fulfilling, meaningful and productive lives by giving generously to Project Valour-IT.

“We the protected” will have “raindrops on roses,” gifts under the Christmas tree, pies in the oven, eggnog in our glasses and all of our other favorite things, because  our Marines are out there protecting us. Let us show them that they are among our favorite people.

Here is a nice calming ditty about the Marines.The Few.The Proud.The Bad... I dedicate it to those who are foolish enough to mess with our Marines!

And….this one, courtesy of Cassy,  our other Marines Team leader, is for those of us who love cuteness!