Nov 11 is Veterans day, a day to honor everyone who had served the US in the past. Today is also the Birthday of the Marine Corps. The Corps of marines was created by a resolution of the Congress on November 10, 1775. Today, it is 233 years old!

One of the things that always intrigues me is the motto of the Marine Corps, Semper Fidelis. Latin for "always faithful," Semper Fidelis became the Marine Corps motto in 1883. It guides Marines to remain faithful to the mission at hand, to each other, to the Corps and to country, no matter what. Sometime this phrase is also abbreviated as "Semper Fi."

There were other mottos that USMC had adopted before settling into this current motto, including "Fortitudine" (meaning "with courage"), "Per Mare, Per Terram" ("by sea, by land"). But over the years, Semper Fidelis became the official mottle of the Marines. Why do they decided on "Always faithful"? It isn't "Sometimes Faithful." Nor is it "Usually Faithful," but always. It is not negotiable. It is not relative, but absolute. In a world where unfaithfulness is the norm, how does a person stay faithful and never weaver?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Recently Col John W Ripley (ret) had passed away. He was awarded the Navy Cross - the nation's second-highest award for valor in combat - for single-handedly blowing up the Dong Ha Bridge in Vietnam, and thus blunting the North Vietnamese Army's Easter Offensive on 4/2/1972. His troops was outnumbered by the enemy by the thousands and was ordered to "hold and die." Instead of giving up hope and die, Ripley hold off the enemy by blowing up the bridge spanning the Don Ha River. He accomplished this by dangling from the bridge's I-beams, climbing along the length of the bridge hand-over hand, his body weighted down with hundreds pounds of explosives while under heavy enemy fire. And eventually, he was successful in destroying the bridge, although he was wounded from the explosion as well.

In an interview for Americans at War (U.S. Naval Institute), Ripley said, "The idea that I would be able to even finish the job before the enemy got me was ludicrous. When you know you're not gonna make it, a wonderful thing happens: You stop being cluttered by the feeling that you're going to save your butt."

I'm sure that because of him, many American soldiers are still alive today. What prompts a person to perform an act of bravery? Is this what faithfulness is? My husband will be leading his troops to train for their Iraq deployment starting this week, in a place that's far away from home. I pray that God will bless them with wisdom and strength, and equip them with the skills they will need for their missions in Iraq. It will not be easy, but I believe that with faith, they will be able to accomplish the task just as thousands of Marines had done before them.

God Bless and Semper Fidelis.