greenlink%gn@cdp.uucp (10/08/89)
/* Written 6:44 pm Oct 2, 1989 by gn:greenlink in cdp:gp.press */
/* ---------- "MARINES USE RAPE SLOGAN DURING BASI" ---------- */
Subject: MARINES USE RAPE SLOGAN DURING BASIC TRAINING
Date: October 4, 1989
Via GreenLink:
==============
By DIANE DUSTON
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee said Tuesday he was outraged to find Marine recruits at
Parris Island, S.C., using the slogan "kill, rape, pillage, burn"
during basic training.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a heavily decorated retired Navy
captain and ex-prisoner of war, said, "The Marines ought to be
ashamed." He has asked the commandant of the corps to
investigate.
McCain's reaction stemmed from a photograph sent to him by the
parents of a man who graduated in August from the Marine Corps
Recruit Depot at Parris Island.
The 8x10 color photograph was a formal platoon graduation
picture showing the recruits standing at attention on risers with
the officers who trained them in the foreground.
Eight of the men held four hand-painted signs bearing pictures
and slogans, which one of the recruits said were used as signs
for the men to march behind during training.
One showed a naked woman. Another had a skull and crossbones
with the words "kill, rape, pillage, burn."
"I was in the service 22 years and never saw anything like
this," McCain, who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for 5
1/2 years, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"It's outrageous," he said.
Capt. J.R. Mill, public affairs officer at Parris Island, said
the signs "were done in bad taste which represents neither the
policy nor the philosophy of this command or the United States
Marine Corps and we are taking corrective action concerning this
situation."
Mill said that the sign was made under the supervision and
approval of a drill instructor, but that "this is not a normal
occurrence and I would consider this isolated incident."
McCain said the blame lay with the officers.
"It shows a lack of supervision," he said. "We are paying those
officers with taxpayers' dollars. We want them to be honorable
fighting men."
The senator, in a letter sent Monday to the Marine commandant,
Gen. Alfred Gray, said, the signs "violate the values which
Americans expect their Marines to carry with them in defense of
the nation."
"While platoon mottoes are important to motivation and morale in
the boot camp environment, the high standards of the Marine Corps
demands a philosophy, a set of values, a dedication and a resolve
with which the enclosed photograph is simply incompatible,"
McCain wrote.
He asked Gray to look into the incident and ensure that the
commanders of the the platoon in the photograph "understand and
embrace proper Marine Corps values."
McCain also asked Gray to make sure that the recruits in the
photograph were contacted and "that they understand why this type
of conduct is inconsistent with the Marine Corps' values and
tradition."
---
Patt Haring | United Nations | Did u read
patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | misc.headlines.unitex
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-=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-jessea@dynasys.UUCP ( Sysadmin.) (10/12/89)
In article <3374@ccnysci.UUCP> greenlink%gn@cdp.uucp writes: > >/* Written 6:44 pm Oct 2, 1989 by gn:greenlink in cdp:gp.press */ >/* ---------- "MARINES USE RAPE SLOGAN DURING BASI" ---------- */ > >Subject: MARINES USE RAPE SLOGAN DURING BASIC TRAINING >Date: October 4, 1989 I don't know if this a moderated newsgroup or not so forgive me if this is not correct ettiquette. I'm an Electronic Warfare Tech. in the Naval Reserves While training for this I constantly heard this same motto used when they were jogging or doing other exercises. This was three years ago. It is actually encouraged by Marine drill sergeants and I was wondering how long it was going to take someone to realize how sick and stupid this was. -- Jesse W. Asher Dynasys (901) 382-1705 6196-1 Macon Rd., Suite 200, Memphis, TN 38134 uunet!dynasys!jessea --- Patt Haring | United Nations | Did u read patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | misc.headlines.unitex patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | today? -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-