IGX

tough old man wrote:I get that it looks like a Nazi symbol but the story is it came off the KISS logo.

tough old man wrote:Nazi Marines?

Fat Cat wrote:

tough old man wrote:Nazi Marines?

One can only hope.

The incident has brought scrutiny to a longtime practice in the scout sniper community. Its members have used the “lightning bolt” SS logo for years on patches, posters and tattoos, a nod toward their title. The position is exclusive to the Corps; the Army has scouts and snipers, but separates the duties into two occupations.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation on Thursday distributed the photograph and another from 2004 showing a Marine posing with a 7.62mm M40 sniper rifle inscribed with an “SS,” leading to widespread media coverage. The Corps acknowledged that the inspector general at Pendleton’s I Marine Expeditionary Force was made aware of the “SS” flag photograph in November.

The incident was found not to be racially motivated, and the Marines depicted later acknowledged the symbol could be misinterpreted and “is not in keeping with our Marine Corps ethos and values,” said Lt. Col. Stewart Upton, a Marine spokesman. The Marines’ chain of command determined that disciplinary action was not warranted. They were ordered not to use the symbol anymore, and told that further use of it could result in punishment.

Launching a full investigation is necessary, said Mikey Weinstein, president of the MRFF, an organization that says it’s devoted to religious freedom in the military. He noted that the SS, or Schutzstaffel, was a paramilitary organization that committed a variety of war crimes. It was outlawed by Germany after World War II.

“We don’t have all the information, but we know enough to know the Marine Corps needs to open a full investigation,” he said. “If these guys just get a non-judicial punishment, it’s absolutely absurd.”

In a statement he went even further, calling for the military to condemn the use of the SS logo and “severely punish ALL those responsible.

“This shameful display of SS ‘lightning bolts’ by U.S. service personnel enrages our regional allies, emboldens the extremist Islamist forces with who we are contending, and eviscerates good order, morale, and discipline within the U.S. Marine Corps,” the statement said.

“This shameful display of SS ‘lightning bolts’ by U.S. service personnel enrages our regional allies, emboldens the extremist Islamist forces with who we are contending, and eviscerates good order, morale, and discipline within the U.S. Marine Corps,” the statement said.

The use of the SS logo has proven controversial in popular culture, too. The band Kiss has used similar letters in its logo for years, but denies the practice is related. The point is significant because band member Gene Simmons is an Israeli-born Jew whose mother survived the Holocaust.

Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva, a spokesman at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said the 1 Marine Expeditionary Force inspector general found there was no intent on the part of the Marines to identify themselves with a racist organization.

Oliva said the investigation found that the SS symbol was meant to identify the Marines as scout snipers, not Nazis, but was nonetheless not acceptable.

Source: Marines Posed with Nazi SS Flag | NBC San Diego

Mikey Weinstein is the undisputed leader of the national movement to restore the obliterated wall separating church and state in the most technologically lethal organization ever created by humankind: the United States armed forces.

Turdacious wrote:

Mikey Weinstein is the undisputed leader of the national movement to restore the obliterated wall separating church and state in the most technologically lethal organization ever created by humankind: the United States armed forces.

http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org ... weinstein/

The whole thing reads like it was written by Vince Flynn's half-wit brother.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (http://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org) is absolutely sickened by the disgusting images of members of the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Recon Battalion, Charlie Company, proudly posing in front of the U.S. flag juxtaposed alongside a symbol associated with the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, the genocide of religious minorities throughout Europe, and the forces of white supremacist racial hatred.

The fact that United States service personnel were caught proudly posing with the emblem of the Nazi SS, which symbolizes the vile ideology of Hitlerian fascism, sends a menacing signal to religious minorities within the United States Armed Forces. The symbol’s usage conveys a message that the U.S. Military is an organization within which white supremacists can feel at home, free to espouse their murderous ideology and proudly don their symbols of hatred.

This brazen display of a symbol which is synonymous with death squads, gas chambers, and brutal occupation reflects a sociopathic, marauding attitude which violently jars with the supposed "nation-building" efforts which the NATO forces have embarked upon. It exacerbates the anti-Americanism felt by the people of the region who we claim to be helping in the context of a UN-mandated, NATO-led security mission.

In short, this shameful display of SS "lightning bolts" by U.S. service personnel enrages our regional allies, emboldens the extremist Islamist forces with whom we are contending, and eviscerates good order, morale, and discipline within the U.S. Marine Corps. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation immediately calls for the leadership of the United States Military to condemn this stomach-turning display without equivocation or delay and severely punish ALL of those responsible.