Americans are back to eating their own. The outrage de jour is a photo being circulated of a platoon of Marine scout snipers posing with a scout sniper flag. For those of you that don’t know, the Scout Sniper emblem is a lightning bolt shaped “SS”. The logo isn’t exactly the same, but it is very similar to the double lightning bolts of the Nazi Schutzstaffel, commonly known as the SS. When I was in the fleet, I served in a weapons company that contained a Scout Sniper platoon. I remember thinking that the logo did seem like a public affairs nightmare waiting to happen, but it never seemed a problem as far back as 2000 when I first saw it. I have no idea how much further back it has been around.
Why has it only now become an issue? Well, for starters, MARINES AREN’T NAZIS, NOR DO THEY IDEALIZE THEM! Secondly, this highlights how disconnected the military is from the rest of society. The lighting bolts have been around a very long time and only now has been dispensed and met with public scrutiny. Finally, perhaps it has something to with the fact that there are only so many ways you can stylize two S’s. Even KISS has failed to be more creative(apparently the logo isn’t even used in Germany). I can only think of one more creative option to draw two S’s, but it requires, “An S, then a more different S”.
Even the Commandant has come out an apologized. “Always Faithful” indeed. At the very least these Marines will not face disciplinary action, though blood has been called for. America, I warn you, you are not immune to history. Do NOT alienate your warrior class. Your government, with your consent, already violates the document we have sworn to uphold and protect. You cannot throw enough parades or buy enough drinks at the bar to make up for that. To relate some of the finest shooters in the world with a universally recognized evil is salt in the wound.
