Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)

Jonathan Lighter wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Tue Jun 30 21:12:13 UTC 2009 

Yes. All the more reason to pin down the source - or at least get the quote
into YBQ.

Hint hint.

JL

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> Getting off topic, but the movie "Full Metal Jacket" addresses this:
>
>
> HARTMAN:  The deadliest weapon in the world is a marine and his rifle.
>
> And later on in the film . . .
>
>
> HARTMAN:  Do any of you people know who Charles Whitman was? . . . None
> of you dumbasses knows?
> COWBOY raises his hand.
> HARTMAN:  Private Cowboy?
> COWBOY:  Sir, he was that guy who shot all those people from that tower
> in Austin, Texas, sir!
> HARTMAN:  That's affirmative. Charles Whitman killed twenty people from
> a twenty-eight-storey
> observation tower at the University of Texas from distances up to four
> hundred yards.
> HARTMAN looks around.
> HARTMAN: Anybody know who Lee Harvey Oswald was? . . . Private Snowball?
> SNOWBALL:  Sir, he shot Kennedy, sir!
> HARTMAN: That's right, and do you know how far away he was?
> SNOWBALL:  Sir, it was pretty far! From that book suppository building,
> sir!
> HARTMAN:  All right, knock it off! Two hundred and fifty feet! He was
> two hundred and fifty feet away
> and shooting at a moving target. Oswald got off three rounds with an old
> Italian bolt action
> rifle in only six seconds and scored two hits, including a head shot! Do
> any of you people
> know where these individuals learned to shoot?
> JOKER raises his hand.
> HARTMAN:  Private Joker?
> JOKER:  Sir, in the Marines, sir!
> HARTMAN:  In the Marines! Outstanding! Those individuals showed what one
> motivated
> marine and his rifle can do! And before you ladies leave my island, you
> will be able to
> do the same thing!
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:40 AM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>  > Subject: Re: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ---------------
> > --------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --------
> >
> > Well, Bill, that cite certainly casts doubt on Pershing's coinage of
> > the
> > phrase, especially since it's
> >
> > a) the earliest known version and doesn't mention him
> > b) almost twenty years after he was supposed to have said it - giving
> > it
> > time to get into print earlier
> > c) doesn't mention Marines specifically.
> >
> > Since at least 1917 Marines have received intensive marksmanship
> > training in
> > boot camp. Marksmanship training in the other services traditionally
> > has
> > been less demanding, hence the association of the quote with Marines.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 12:03 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
> > Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> > > Subject:      Re: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> > >
> > >
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > ----------
> > >
> > > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > > Caveats: NONE
> > >
> > > [unsigned editorial] "To Test Trench Warfare" _Reno Evening Gazette_
> > Sep
> > > 18 1937 p 4 col 1
> > > "Where the practice abroad has been to build military strength about
> > > automatic weapons, such as the light machine gun, this nation still
> > > holds that the rifle in the hands of a marksman is the deadliest
> > weapon
> > > in the world."
> > >
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> > > > Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
> > > > Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 4:18 PM
> > > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > > Subject: Quotation: "a marine and his rifle"
> > > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > ---------------
> > > > --------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject:      Quotation: "a marine and his rifle"
> > > >
> > >
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --
> > > > --------
> > > >
> > > > Not in YBQ - as far as I can tell.
> > > >
> > > > 38,000 raw Googlits for the phrase "The deadliest weapon in the
> > world
> > > > is a
> > > > U.S. Marine and his rifle," attributed to AEF commander Gen. John
> > J.
> > > > Pershing in 1918. There are, of course, a number of variant
> > wordings.
> > > >
> > > > Every U.S. Marine since WWII has been exposed to this quote.
> > > >
> > > > The earliest ex. I can find is in a news item apparently based on
> a
> > > > Marine
> > > > Corps press release:
> > > >
> > > > 1942 _Paris (Texas) News*_ (*April 5) 47:  Creed of Marine and His
> > > > Rifle
> > > > Written By Officer ... When the reports on the battles of Chateau
> > > > Thierry
> > > > and Belleau Wood came into A.E.F. headquarters at Chaumont,
> France,
> > > > back in
> > > > 1918, officers reported General Pershing said, "The deadliest
> > weapon
> > > in
> > > > the
> > > > world is a United States Marine and his rifle."
> > > >
> > > > The immediate source of the quote may have been Brig. Gen. William
> > H.
> > > > Rupertus, Commander of the San Diego Marine Base and author of the
> > > > "Creed."
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > My search of the Web, Google Books, Newspaperarchive, and ProQuest
> > > > failed to
> > > > reveal either an earlier appearance of the remark or any
> definitive
> > > > connection to Gen. Pershing.
> > > >
> > > > An Internet search also failed to reveal whether Rupertus (a
> > > lieutenant
> > > > during World War I) was stationed at Pershing's headquarters in
> > 1918,
> > > > where
> > > > he might have heard (about) the remark himself.
> > > >
> > > > 38,000 is a lot.
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
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> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> > >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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