Remembering one of America’s military greats

Presidential spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre is being deservedly pilloried by Conservative pundits for her stumbling, bumbling, patently disingenuous (all of which qualities she exhibits perhaps in emulation of her boss) remarks on the loss of three American soldiers (and dozens more wounded) in a drone strike Sunday night in Jordan, near the Syrian border.

Her cluelessness reminded me of another tragic news story, just a week or so earlier, that two U.S. Navy SEALs who were missing in action in the Arabian Sea off the Somali coast had been declared dead. The two had been on a mission to interdict Iranian weapons, which are supplied to various terrorist militias such as perpetrated the aforementioned drone attack.

What struck me about how that story was reported was this: the Navy ship to which the SEALs were assigned, an “expeditionary mobile base vessel” for such operations, was identified in some of the reports as the USS Lewis B. Puller. And yet I found it odd that in none of the news reports that mentioned the name of the ship was there a single remark as to the significance of that name, Lewis B. Puller.

That significance is one of those things that you either know or you don’t.

I’m not a Marine, nor am I any kind of serious student of military history, but—by Golly!—I certainly know who Lewis B. Puller was! We’re speaking of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC, aka “Chesty” Puller, the “Marine’s Marine,” the most decorated Marine in history (among his decorations are five Navy Crosses!) and possibly the toughest Marine ever.

Many are aware of his legendary exploits at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea, but his record of service goes back to World War I and includes four campaigns in World War II; he also served in China, Haiti and Nicaragua. The respect and reverence that Marines hold for Chesty Puller (who retired in 1955 and died in 1971) is exemplified in the way that, for many Marines, the phrase that accompanies “Lights Out” is “Goodnight, Chesty, wherever you are!”

My awareness, even as a civilian, of a Marine Corps legend comes from a time when every American had either served in the armed forces or knew someone who had; that can no longer be presumed, and it’s too bad. The esteem, respect, and even love of Americans for their military has been seriously eroded, perhaps even deliberately. Such awareness appears to be missing from the Mainstream Media, and one can’t help but wonder if there’s any such awareness in the Biden White House.

Image: Chesty Puller in 1950. Public domain.

Author’s Note: Stu Tarlowe is a dinosaur who has, since 2010, contributed over 150 pieces to American Thinker. He has a Substack newsletter, Stu’s Stack o’Stuff, which he has allowed to lie dormant for a year or so, but which he has been threatening to resurrect.