General Krulak Obituary

This Obituary from the Wall Street Journal tells a history that I never knew.

Read to the end to see how he was rescued by then Navy Lt. John F. Kennedy.

His proposal for a strategy in Vietnam sounds much like the one used to achieve success in Iraq.

Sad to see this. But we will all come to this. He swore me in as a regular 1967. Then I stepped on his toe. He was a family friend through my father, chaplain. Inchon, Chosen and the rest. As a kid 5th grade in area 13 of PamPen we all played together. His kids, Bill, Karty, Vic, before Korea, dumpster diving, bringing home things that EOD had to come and pick up. It was great. Wore a Marine utility cap for many years before being awarded one. Lanny

Another thing: I got a skater's wound in '66. I requested that no one be notified, I would do it myself. Gen. Krulak went over the KIA/WIA info every day. He saw my name on the list and summoned my father (He was still on active duty in Hawaii) to his office. He told him.

Does the United States Need a Marine Corps? by LtGen Krulak

Argument: Does the United States Need a Marine Corps?
By LtGen Victor H. Krulak, USMC (Ret)

When you talk of the Marine Corps and the United States, you are not operating in the realm of technicality. You are operating in the realm of reality.

Technically it probably can be demonstrated that we don't need a U.S. Senate there being some 400 odd Representatives ready and willing to do all the legislating needed. Technically it probably can be demonstrated that we don't need woman suffrage that our elective processes would produce the same results whether women voted or not, and that it is thus just a needless expense. But women do vote not because of any technical reasoning but because of something deeper, stronger and far more compelling because the American people want it that way!

And that is the case with the Marine Corps. We exist today we flourish today not because of what we know we are, or what we know we can do, but because of what the grassroots of our country believes we are and believes we can do. Essentially, as a result of the unfailing conduct of our Corps over the years, they believe three things about the Marines.

First, they believe that when trouble comes to our country there will be Marines somewhere who, through hard work, have made and kept themselves ready to do something useful about it, and do it at once. They picture these Marines as men individual components of a lean, serious, professional outfit. I am sure that the grassroots reaction to our recent evidences of readiness vis-à-vis Suez and the Middle East were instinctively accepted by the American people as a matter of course. "How else would Marines act?"

Second, they believe that when the Marines go to war they invariably turn in a performance that is dramatically and decisively successful not most of the time, but always. Their faith and their convictions - in this regard - are almost mystical. The mere association of the word "Marines" with a crisis is an automatic source of encouragement and confidence everywhere.

The third thing they believe about the Marines is that our Corps is downright good for the manhood of our country; that the Marines are masters of a form of unfailing alchemy which converts disoriented youths into proud, self reliant stable citizens citizens into whose hands the nation's affairs may safely be entrusted.

The people believe these three things. They believe them deeply and honestly to the extent that they want the Marines around in either peace or war. They want them so much that they are ready to pay for them and to fight for them too, if need be.

Now we have heard it said that it isn't really the people who do all this that they really don't much care but that it is actually the Congress; or more properly a group of avid Marine bitten, Marine influenced, Marine guided Congressmen who maneuver to keep the Marines on the top of the heap in the face of counter maneuvering on all sides.

Nothing could be further from the fact. Oh, there is no doubt that the Congressmen are a powerful soundingboard, but they are by no means just puppets dancing to Marine controlled strings. They are doing exactly what they believe the people want them to do; no more, and certainly no less.

I believe the burden of all this can be summarized by saying that, while the functions which we discharge must always be done by someone, and while an organization such as ours is the correct one to do it, still, in terms of cold mechanical logic, the United States does not need a Marine Corps. However, for good reasons which completely transcend cold logic, the United States wants a Marine Corps. Those reasons are strong; they are honest, they are deep rooted and they are above question or criticism. So long as they exist so long as the people are convinced that we can really do the three things I have mentioned we are going to have a Marine Corps. I feel that is a certainty. And, likewise, should the people ever lose that conviction as a result of our failure to meet their high almost spiritual standards, the Marine Corps will then quickly disappear.

Well the post was very informative.Your article is really great and I truly enjoyed reading it.

Thanks.

LtGen Krulak

Check your Air Medal certificates. You may find that LtGen Krulak signed off on them.