Marine Gunnery Sergeant: “My oath is my word of life – the surrender of my life
“As long as we draw breath, our oath remains a prime directive …. We honor it, not only as a covenant to the living and our future posterity, but also as a sacred vow to our glorious dead that their sacrifice for our individual freedoms and liberties will never be in vain.“ – Jimmy Ward, GySgt / USMC (ret.)
Listen up! Gunny’s got something to say.Oath keepers,
As a retired Marine Gunny of 22 years, my duty took me all over the Far East, Middle East, and parts of Europe; Desert Storm, Bosnia, and Iraq, with several stops in between to keep the frost off.
When I gave my oath to support and defend the Constitution, I knew it was my duty to fully understand both the letter of the law, and the history behind the founding spirit of that law. This especially applies to the final guarantees of individual liberties contained in the Bill of Rights – the last check against tyranny.
My oath is my word of life – the surrender of my life – to insure the survival of our Constitution against all enemies “foreign and domestic.” That includes guardianship from those at our local, State, and Federal governments who seek to hijack or subvert our collective Constitution.
Whether we are the tip of the spear or in the rear with the gear, Marines know that our oath does not have an expiration date, regardless if our status is active, reserves, or retired. As long as we draw breath, our oath remains a prime directive.
This is because our oath runs deeper than words. It is a profound conviction that serves as an interrogation mark to the moral courage that reflects our dignity of soul. It is the preferred virtue, second only to our personal faith and trust in God.
We honor it, not only as a covenant to the living and our future posterity, but also as a sacred vow to our glorious dead that their sacrifice for our individual freedoms and liberties will never be in vain.
And I remain unwavering in that belief.
Your Compatriot,
Jimmy Ward GySgt / USMC (ret.)
COMMENT FROM OATH KEEPERS: Now that’s what you call LEADERSHIP. Gunny, that is one of the most eloquent and stirring expressions of love of country and commitment from the heart of an American warrior we have ever had the honor to post on this site. VERY well said. Welcome aboard! Semper fi.
Thank You
Would you please run for office? We need men like you! And women with the same sense of honor and duty.
All i can say is oohrah, gunny. i too am a Marine, and believe be, gunny, there are many of us within the Corps today. tyranny will fail, but our sacred Oath to our Constitution will always hold firm. Oohrah and Semper fidelis!
AW, the Phantom Patriot
way to go Gunner. I am not a vet. but I am American (Texan). I love this country the way it was as I was growing up. I have seen our freedoms slip away over the years but never have I seen the trampling of our Constitution as I have lately. I have e-mailed my Repr and Senators to no avail. I have attended t-parties but still feel hopeless until I came across you guys. YOU give me HOPE this country will be saved our Constitution and Bill of Rights respected. Thank GOD for your service. Thank GOD for your safety. Thank God for YOU.
This Marine wants to say, Thank You and Semper Fi.
As you well know the Marine Motto is “Semper Fidelis” and it is Latin for “Always Faithful”. Many of us who took that Oath to protect and defend the Constitution against ALL ENEMIES foreign and domestic meant it and we will stand and defend the CONSTITUTION as long as we have breath.
Remember Semper Fi, and mean it.
Hillard E. Foster jr
Governmental incursion into our lives hasn’t happened overnight; it is slow and insidious. A little law here, another there; the proverbial “they” will never come at us full frontal, that is, door to door rounding us up or taking our firearms. They cannot afford to do so because they have neither the manpower to do so, but more importanly because such an overt action would draw serious reprecussuions. The attack(s) on us come in small incremental steps.
Therefore, it will be interesting, to me, how many will REALLY standup to, and/or against those in active law enforcement who will, for the sake of their job/paycheck follow the orders they are given BECAUSE it IS the law(?), and the man/woman we’re going to drag out of the house with our para-military trained Swat Team we are told is a suspected criminal; the Cheif, Sheriff, or District Attorney says so, and I’ve got a family to support. The volunteer military personnel have a greater fear/threat hanging over their heads; don’t obey and we’ll send you to Leavenworth. Granted, military personnel ahve the right, also the obligation to disobey an unlawful order, BUT who decides the order is unlawful; and if one does disobey the order, the BURDEN, when being court martialed, is on the accused to demonstrate, prove the order is unlawful, and few, at the enlisted level, have the capacity of knowledge and understanding to defend themselves.
The rhetorical question being posed here is simply this; WHO among us WILL place ourselves in a position of becoming outlaws, potential felons, according to the governmental entity, by saying NO? Who among us will give up our income, lsoe the hosue, car, boat, even family IF we stand up against the Chief of Police, Sheriff, or in the extreme, Commanding Officer? In the first wo cases one is merely fired, in the second, one go’s to prison.
We shall see, if and when the day comes, if the rhetoric of, “from my cold dead hands” crowd is purely rhetoric, or, if it will be backed by action. It is simple, and non-threatening to one to speak against government over-reach, actually tyrrany, when no physical force(s) are moving against us; it is another to stand in the face of that tyrrany when the tyrrany is backed by armed swat teams allegedly enforcing the law(?), or military check points created under unconstitutional martial law, all of course on the “pretense” of keeping the peace. Which while on the subject of martial law, who has considered the following;
if martial law supsends the constitution, and those who issued the order for martial law, as well as those who enforce it, derive their jsut power(authority) from the Constitution, then the very act of suspending it is a violation(actually it is “perjury”) of their respective oath(s) and at that moment each and everyone one of them are acting in direct defiance of the Constituion for they have set asdie the law(s) in defiance of that docuement.
I feel as all other on this site do; I fear that a day of reckoning is coming. I’ve made my decision where MY figurative line in the sand is. My faith is that there will be enough of those who feel as we do will, when and if the time coems, will not backup, because there are those who, in the face of adversity will; because the adversities we’ll face will not be clear cut.
Semper Fi;
I think it will be sequential, as in a gunshot. The trigger is pulled,the primer sparks, the powder ignites and the bullet is headed down range. Someone’s line in the sand will be violated, the incident will strike a cord, a few leaders will start and then all those waiting for direction will be coming out of the woodwork and then it will be Katy bar the door. The damn fools in government just don’t know what they’re messing with.
Semper Fi
Thank you sir, and all such as you for what you have done, and what someday you and myself included may have to endure and do..I can only pray that my children grow to have the kind of convictions and morals that this man has displayed here and throughout his life experiences, all in the name of Liberty for all..
LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!!!
Semper Fi, Welcome aboard…we must stand strong in this time of blatant disregard for our Constitution. Thank you for your service, from one Marine to another.
Keep the Faith
Many intense comments and I wish to just add my thanks for your spirit and service.