The world thinks the US Marine Corps is built only to break things.
March 2011.
An entire island off Northeast Japan—Oshima—was completely cut off from the planet.
Tsunami fires burned the harbors to ash.
Electricity dead. Fresh water gone.
Hundreds of freezing Japanese villagers, elderly and children, were trapped in the dark.
The coast was a slaughterhouse of submerged shipwrecks and razor-sharp pine trees.
Japanese authorities said: "No ship can dock. It's impossible."
Then the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Essex heard the distress call.
Their commander asked for volunteers to assault the beach with landing craft (LCUs) packed with freshwater and food.
Do you know how long it took to fill the volunteer roster?
TEN. MINUTES.
Every single Marine on board stepped forward.
They didn't have a dock.
They dropped the ramp into 30-degree, freezing Atlantic-cold Pacific water.
Nineteen-year-old Marines plunged WAIST-DEEP into the ice-black ocean, slipping on diesel oil and jagged debris, physically muscling tons of clean water and generators onto the sand.
When an old Japanese grandmother saw them soaking wet and shivering, she fell to her knees weeping.
A Marine wiped the mud off his face, grinned, and said:
“DON'T WORRY, MA’AM. THE MARINES ARE HERE.”
You hear politicians argue about military budgets.
You hear critics talk about American arrogance.
Let me tell you something:
When hell swallowed Japan, America didn't send a sternly worded statement.
AMERICA SENT HER BEST SONS INTO THE FREEZING SEA TO DRAG OUR PEOPLE BACK TO LIFE.
Happy 250th, America.
Oshima will remember your Marines for a thousand years. 🇺🇸🤝🇯🇵