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President Bush
Have you noticed a difference in the salute given by our military men
and women as President Bush walks by? Most folks would not notice
anything. But military people see it right away.

Watch: When President Bush leaves his helicopter or Air Force One, the
honor guards salute and face him as he disembarks, then turn their
faces toward him as he passes by. They continue to salute his back as
he walks away. This kind of salute has not been seen in the previous
eight years, though it is customary courtesy to the
Commander-in-Chief.

You see, soldiers aren't required to turn and face the President as
they salute. They are not required to salute his back. They are only
required to salute. They can remain face-forward the entire time. And
that is what they did during Bill Clinton's entire Presidency. Our
soldiers were forced to obey Clinton's orders, but they were not
forced to respect him. From their salutes, we can surmise that they
did not.

Why is such respect afforded to President Bush? He doesn't even know
how to bite his lower lip and not get teary-eyed whenever he speaks!
The following incident from Major General Van Antwerp may give us
insight. Gen. Antwerp is president of the Officers' Christian
Fellowship. He lost nearly all his staff when the Pentagon was
attacked Sept. 11. You may recall his executive officer Lt. Col. Brian
Birdwell was badly burned and in the hospital when President Bush
visited
him.

Our President spent time and prayed with Brian. As he was getting
ready to leave, he went to the foot of Brian's bed and saluted. He
held his salute until Brian was able to raise his burned and bandaged
arm, ever so slowly, in return. The Commander-in-Chief never initiates
a salute, except in the case of a Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
The injured soldier did not have to return the salute. But he did, out
of respect to his President--a Soldier's President.

Congressman JC Watts (R. Oklahoma) said, "Character is doing the right
thing when nobody is looking." The nation and world learned some of
what our last President did when nobody was looking. That President
has been disbarred--the worst disgrace (other than imprisonment) to a
lawyer. CNN will have a difficult time shining his or his wife's
tarnished images.

In this time of war and danger, I am so grateful to have a President
whom the soldiers salute--fully. On Special Report with Brit Hume
(hosted by Jim Angle), at the close of the show when they normally
have some funny video clip, they showed President Bush and the First Lady on their way to Marine One to leave for Camp David for the
weekend.

As the video starts, the First Lady is leading the way into the
helicopter with the spaniel dog on the leash, and the president is
right behind her with the Scotty on the leash. As the First Lady
entered the chopper, the Marine at the gangway saluted and held his
salute. The Scottie the President was walking decided it wanted to
squat right when he got to steps. The president pulled on its leash,
but the stubborn Scottie persisted in squatting. The President bent
down and scooped up the pooch and entered Marine One.

After he entered, the Marine cut his salute and returned to the
position of attention. Moments later the president re-emerged from the
helicopter and out onto the steps. The Marine was standing at
attention, head and eyes straight ahead. The president leaned over and
tapped him on the left arm. The startled Marine turned his body toward
the president and received his returned salute! I was so impressed by
this true act of respect for our military people by our president! He
really does get it.

Most any other person of his stature would have just continued his
journey, disregarding the neglected return salute. Not George W. Bush.
He is earning the respect of the military community, not expecting
it--as most have and would.

President George W. Bush--the man who admitted to having a drinking
problem in younger years, and whose happy-go-lucky lifestyle led him
to mediocre grades in college and an ill-fated oil venture, who
mangled syntax, and whose speaking mis-steps became known as
"Bushisms." He came within a hair's breadth of losing the election in
November. While votes were counted and recounted, Bush quietly but
confidently waited at his ranch.

Make no mistake, his orders were carried out, but he stayed in the
background, faithful and confident. Bush named Jesus Christ as Lord
of his life on public TV. Not an oblique reference to being
"born-again" or having a "life change." He actually said the
un-PC-like phrase, "Jesus Christ!"

On September 11, he was thrust into a position only known by
Roosevelt, Churchill, Lincoln, and Washington. The weight of the
world was on his shoulders, and the responsibility of a generation was
on his soul. So President George W. Bush walked to his seat at the
front of the National Cathedral just three days after two of the most
impressive symbols of American capitalism and prosperity virtually
evaporated.

When the history of this time is written, it will be acknowledged by
friend and foe alike that President George W. Bush came of age in that
cathedral and lifted a nation off its knees. In what was one of the
most impressive exhibitions of self-control in presidential history,
President George W. Bush was able to deliver his remarks without
losing his resolve, focus, or confidence. God's hand, which guided
him through that sliver-thin election, now rested fully on him.

As he walked back to his seat, the camera angle was appropriate. He
was virtually alone in the scene, alone in that massive place with
God, just him and the Lord. Back at his seat, former President George
H. Bush reached over and took his son's hand. In that gesture his
father seemed to say, "I wish I could do this for you, son, but I
can't. You have to do this on your own." President George W. Bush
squeezed back and gave him a look of peace that said, "I don't have to
do it alone, Dad. I've got help." What a blessing to have a professing
Christian as President.

Please take a moment after you read this to pray for him. He truly
sustain him and give him wisdom and discernment in his decisions. Pray
for his protection and that of his family.

After you have prayed, please consider sending this to everyone on
your e-mail list. Our President needs Christians around the world to
be praying for him. As this makes the e-mail rounds, eventually there
could literally be millions of people praying for him. It's the
smallest thing we can do as citizens of this fine country and for the
man that is leading it in a very honorable way. As WE mount up on
wings of eagles, WE are one nation under God!

-author unknown


I would like to add also, please say a prayer for our beloved troops!!! They need our prayers right now to keep them safe from harm!!! I SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT AND OUR TROOPS!!! BRING OUT THOSE WARTHOGS!!! lol!




Instructors do it best!
"Wif"

Great post Wif, we appreciate the contribution

"We shall leave no man behind"

Ditto

Sorry but this falls into the Urban Legend catagory. It just is not true and the Marine Corps has said as much. Read on.

Claim: Marines surreptitiously failed to observe the proper protocol in saluting President Clinton all throughout his eight years in office.
Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001]


Military courtesy change
I picked up on something very funny this morning. CNN showed George W. leaving HM-1. The Marine at the front step saluted, GW returned it, and as he walked away, the marine executed a right face to stand facing GW's back . . . something that was missing in eight years of the Clinton presidency.

The traditional Marine Corps mark of respect was rendered to the new president. That one goes back to the days in the rigging, when the Marine orderly to the ship's Captain always faced him, no matter his direction of movement, to be ready to receive an order.

Who says that enlisted men can't hold back when they don't respect someone? . . . And for eight years, they did.




Origins: Okay, now we're to believe that the Marines, to a man, decided they didn't respect President Clinton the minute he took office, and so for eight years they all declined to observe proper protocol in his presence. Moreover, no officer ever objected to this behavior, and not one member of the Presidential entourage ever noticed or reported it.

The best way to answer this one would be to ask a Marine. So we did:


If the question is "Did the Marines who greeted the President willfully show disrespect by failing to execute a "facing" movement after the salute?" the answer is no.
Proper protocol is for the Marine to snap a salute to the President. The President may or may not return the salute at his discretion. If the President returns the salute, the Marine immediately "cuts" or "posts" by bringing his arm sharply down to his side from the salute and remaining at a position of attention. If the President does not return the salute, the Marine will wait until the President passes him, then he will cut and remain at a position of attention. This is the protocol when greeting a senior officer, including the President.

With the new Presidency comes a changing of the Presidential Detail. The new command of the Presidential Detail may have chosen to add a facing movement to the protocol. This is at the complete discretion of the command. A Marine does not have the luxury of choosing whether or not he follows proper protocol. He is given an order and he follows it to the letter. If the order does not include a facing movement, the facing movement will not occur. If the order includes a facing movent, the facing movement occurs. It is that simple. Whether or not this movement becomes a standard part of protocol remains to be seen.

Marines do not act as individuals, we act as a team. Marines follow procedure and protocol. The Marines you saw followed their orders. That is a Marine.




This piece was also refuted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:


Snappy little story. It has only two problems:

"It's absolutely false," says Staff Sgt. Keith Milks of the public affairs office at Marine Corps headquarters.

If it was true, the Marines would see it as an insult to their own honor, not to Bill Clinton. Milks said crew members of the presidential helicopter "are chosen for their professionalism."
In a phone interview, Milks said crew members of HM-1 - Marine One, the presidential helicopter - had followed the same protocol with Clinton that they used for all presidents, to wit:

The Marine at the bottom of the steps salutes the debarking president. As soon as the salute is returned, the Marine does a right face to face the president's back. The Marine holds that position until the president "has moved a comfortable distance away," Milks said.




Even if one dislikes the man who is currently President, protocol dictates that he be shown the proper respect in order not to dishonor the office of President of the United States. Marines know that as well as anyone.

Additional information:

Presidential Tradition (RonaldReagan.com)

Last updated: 22 March 2001



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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources:
Levins, Harry. "Don't Believe Your E-Mail: The Marines Didn't Show More Respect to Bush Than Clinton."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 10 March 2001 (p. 2).

Fender

Don't tell me what you think, what does the T.O. say.

Edited by - fenderstrat72 on Mar 24 2003 3:19 PM

The part about the salute to the injured Col. Birdwell is true.

Fender

Don't tell me what you think, what does the T.O. say.

Fender, that WAS a nice story, and you had to go and intrude with the facts dammit!!!



"We shall leave no man behind"

Speaking of President Clinton and the Military.... I swear I remember watching Clintons second inauguration parade and when the Veterans from the 1st Cav (Vietnam) marched past Clinton turned his back on them. I don't recall the movement as seeming vicious, but more along the lines of someone asked him something and he turned around. However he did not turn back until all the vets had marched past. I remember seeing this, and getting angry about it, but no one I've talked to recalls the event. Does any one here remember something like that?

1. Don't look conspicuous; it draws fire.
2. Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.

_________________
\"One of you is gonna fall and die, and I'm not cleaning it up\"

Sorry Snipe. There is enough factual good stuff out there that we really don't need this kind. Besides any self respecting Marine would never dishonor his/her self the way described in the "story". By the way the Marines are not the only ones to pull Honor Guard duty for the Pres.

Fender

Don't tell me what you think, what does the T.O. say.

Fender, Your wisdom shines brightly

Onward to Baghdad!!!

I didn't pay much attention to the Marine story, I just liked the fact that Bush visited with the injured Col.