[fatbuckRTO]

For anyone who has read the story (I refuse to link to that garbage the AP is trying to pass off as a legitimate news article), bear this in mind:

Marine Corps Scout Snipers have used a double lightning bolt "SS" as their unofficial symbol for decades. For them is has nothing to do with Nazi Germany. And, as much as the press wants to use this note as a further indictment of the Marine Corps, most of those snipers who embraced their "SS" symbol probably had no idea it was a symbol of the Schutzstaffel. Blah blah blah, "dumb Marine" comments aside, I'm willing to bet 75-80% of the American public (and 90% of the world) doesn't know that the Nazi SS used that symbol.

When I was stationed on MCB Hawaii in the late nineties, the snipers there had the "SS" on their T-shirt. The base commander learned of it and ordered them to cover it with duct tape if they wanted to continue to wear the shirt. There is a reason groups like scout snipers stick to their symbols despite opposition. It represents a history of honorable and effective service for them as a group, and individually it represents a culmination of more effort and hard work than most people can even conceive. Ask any Ranger who served from the 70's to the 90's what they think about their black berets and being forced to share them with the entire Army now. I don't know how the Scout Sniper "SS" came about, or exactly when, but I know what response you'd get if you asked a Marine sniper to give it up.

Now, after seeing a photo of some Marines from 2010, who have done more to defend this country than than over 99% of us, Jewish groups want "heads to roll." Ironic. So do the Muslim fanatics those snipers are fighting.

/soap box