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 "The marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale and the lowest morals of any group I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marines."  MARINE'S DEDICATION TO DUTY By Anonymous The following commentary was submitted anonymously and recently appeared in "The Scout," the command newspaper serving Camp Pendleton, California. A foreign diplomat who often criticized American policy once observed a United States Marine perform the evening colors ceremony. The diplomat wrote about this simple but solemn ceremony in a letter to his country:
The Marine was dressed in a uniform which was spotless and neat; he walked with a measured tread from the entrance of the Chancery to the stainless steel flagpole before the Embassy and, almost reverently, lowered the flag to the level of his reach where he began to fold it in military fashion. He then released the flag from the clasps attaching it to the rope, stepped back from the pole, made an about face, and carried the flag between his hands--one above, one below--and placed it securely on a stand before the Chancery. He then marched over to the second flagpole and repeated the same lonesome ceremony. On the way between poles, he mentioned to me very briefly that he would soon be finished. After completing his task, he apologized for the delay--out of pure courtesy, as nothing less than incapacity would have prevented him from fulfilling his goal--and said to me, "Thank you for waiting, Sir. I had to pay honor to my country." I have had to tell this story because there was something
impressive about a lone Marine carrying out a ceremonial
task which obviously meant very much to him and which, in
its simplicity, made the might, the power and the glory of
the United States of America stand forth in a way that a
mighty wave of military aircraft, or the passage of a super-
carrier, or a parade of 10,000 men could never have made
manifest. In spite of all the many things that I can say
negatively about the United States, I do not think there is
a soldier, yea, even a private citizen, who could feel as
proud about our country today as the Marine does for his
country. One day it is my hope to visit one of our
embassies in a far-away place and to see a soldier fold our
flag and turn to a stranger and say, "I am sorry for the
delay, Sir. I had to honor my country." My thanks to "A Texan" for providing me with the above article. And...Following that, this dispatch concerning the embassy guards on duty at the time of the embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Just as I was getting the below message ready to mail to Hack and the SFTT trustees Sunday afternoon, I got a call from a young man who was boarding a bus one hour later for the journey of his life - a trip to Parris Island, SC. By the time you SFTT'ers read this he'll be in-processing for USMC Recruit Training. He called to tell this older Marine that his November reporting date had been moved up and that he would be graduating from Marine Corps Recruit Depot before Thanksgiving. The simultaneous timing of the two events stunned me a bit and caused a little reflection (as rare as one of Carl's spare hours). The call and the following message made me stop and consciously acknowledge that too often I take for granted the enduring reality of the 20th Century. That as I write this Update, at Army posts and Air Forces bases, on Navy ships and in "posts and stations of the Corps" around this troubled globe, young men and women (and some not so young) stand duty every day, every minute of every day. In addition to Marine Sgt. Jesse N. Aliganga (21, of Tallahassee, FL) who died in the embassy bombings, the Air Force lost Senior MSGT Sherry Lynn Olds (40, of Panama City, FL), and the Army lost Sgt. Kenneth R. Hobson II (27, of Nevada, MO). (NB: We all grieve for everyone of the innocent who died, both American and others. I don't mean to imply that the deaths of those who were not active serving US military were not sacrifices worth noting by the communities they represented.) Semper fidelis,
Subject: Marine Security Guard in Africa
On Friday morning, 8 August 1998 at 10:30 am local Kenyan time (03:30 EST), Corporal Samuel Gonite was standing Post One in the American Embassy In Nairobi, Kenya. At approximately 10:35, Marine Sergeant Jesse "Nathan" Aliganga walked into the embassy to cash a check. Corporal Gonite watched Sergeant Aliganga walk past Post One, get onto the elevator, and ascend to the bank. At the same time and unbeknownst to anyone in the embassy, two men pulled up to the rear guard shack of the embassy, which was manned by the local Kenyan security force. This parking lot, which was sandwiched in between a 60 story bank building and a smaller bank building, was also the entrance into the underground garage for the embassy. Reportedly, a man approached the local guard and demanded he open the gate (leading into the embassy's underground garage) to which the local guard refused. At this time, the man hurled what was believed to be a grenade in the direction of the guard. Inside the embassy, people heard the explosion and reportedly got up to look out of their windows when at 10:40 am, a truck filled with explosives crashed into the rear wall of the embassy adjacent to the underground garage, and exploded. Corporal Gonite was immediately knocked to the ground by the concussion of the blast. The glass surrounding Post One was shattered but remained in tact. The detachment commander, Gunnery Sergeant Cross, upon hearing the first blast, immediately went for the Ladder well and was shielded from the main blast. The Chancery was in shambles. When the truck exploded, the small bank building behind the embassy collapsed onto the chancery's emergency generator, spilling thousands of gallons of diesel fuel into the basement of the embassy. The diesel fuel ignited and smoke and fire were billowing throughout the embassy. As injured and confused people were running out of the chancery screaming and choking, the Marines were running into the building looking for survivors. With no thought for their own lives, having no idea what else may happen, or whether or not the shattered structure would cave in on them, the Marines immediately reacted and began a sweep of the building. Sergeant Briehl, who was waiting outside the embassy in the car, immediately darted into the building looking for Sergeant Aliganga. He ran to the elevator shafts behind post one, which were completely destroyed, and fell two floors down into the shaft, breaking three ribs and sustaining multiple lacerations and bruises. Sergeant Briehl managed to climb out of the elevator shaft and continued his search for Sergeant Aliganga. Sergeant Outt, who was in Nairobi from Bujumbura for a dental appointment, as well as Sergeant Harper, who was on COT leave in Nairobi from Accra, immediately reacted with the Marines and manned posts around the embassy. At this time, we had Gunnery Sergeant Cross, Sergeants Russel, Jiminez, Briehl, Outt, Harper, and Corporal Gonite on board. These Marines immediately made their way through the rubble, fire and smoke looking for survivors, fended off local looters who swarmed the embassy moments after the blast, secured classified material, and most importantly to them, began the search for their brother, Sergeant Aliganga. To provide a bit of situational awareness, the embassy in Nairobi is a seven floor concrete structure with five above ground and two below ground levels. It was situated on two major avenues of approach with minimal stand off distance between the road and the structure. When the bomb exploded, the force of the blast was so devastating that it blew out almost every closed window and frame on the building. 12 inch thick concrete walls on all floors of the embassy were shattered like thin plates of glass. Solid wooden doors mounted on steel frames were sent airborne landing throughout the structure. Windows on office buildings over a quarter of a mile away were shattered. There was not an office space that survived inside of the embassy. Bodies were spread all over, most of which were buried under up to eight feet of rubble. At the same time, the Regional Security Officer for the American Embassy in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, John DiCarlo, a former Marine Security Guard, had taken post one from Corporal Johnson in order for him to make a head call. At approximately 10:40 am, a truck bomb exploded outside the security gate, ripping through the embassy. Corporal Johnson was knocked to the deck. He stood up, and immediately ran to Post One where he found it intact, but inoperable. Corporal Johnson immediately reacted the Marines, which were all at the Marine BEQ during the explosion, and informed all mission personnel to evacuate the building. Corporal Johnson donned his react gear and took control of the Command Center. The detachment commander, Gunnery Sergeant Kimble, arrived at the Embassy approximately 4-5 minutes after the blast and began checking offices throughout the chancery to insure all personnel were safely out of the building. One of the casualties of the explosion was Gunnery Sergeant Kimble's wife Cynthia, who sustained bruises and eye injuries from flying glass. While Cynthia was flown to London to receive eye surgery, Gunnery Sergeant Kimble never lost focus on the mission at hand. Within Eight minutes of the blast, Sergeant Sivason, and first poster's Corporals Bohn, Hatfield, Johnson, and McCabe began working through the chancery clearing all rooms of personnel. No direction was required as each Marine knew exactly what had to be done. Due to the enormous amount of smoke and fire, the decision was made to evacuate Post One and the Marines fell back to their secondary positions. Corporal Johnson took security for the mission personnel at the rear of the Embassy, and all other Marines took up perimeter security around the building. The force of the blast blew out every window in the chancery, and all doors except post one. The hard-line doors, which are located on the opposite side of the embassy, were forced open by the blast. Emergency fire exits on the opposite side of the building in which the blast occurred were blown off the hinges. Concrete walls within the Embassy were knocked down and safes were moved and in some cases knocked over. During the search of the building the Marines had to bust through walls in order to get to areas unattainable during their sweep. Within four hours of the truck bomb, which damaged diplomatic properties and houses up to 1000 meters away, the embassy was secure with MSGs maintaining 24 hour security on the building until the arrival of the FAST team. In Nairobi, Marines continued to work throughout the day clearing the embassy, providing local security (as the local constabulary proved worthless), moving the injured and the dead from the rubble to safety. The condition of many of the dead was horrific, making the task of search and rescue that much more difficult for all concerned. By 03:00, I arrived on the scene with my XO, 1stSgt, and admin. chief, all of whom had been stationed in the Nairobi embassy for over a year and knew the ground, and two MSGs from the Pretoria det, who quickly took up posts around the embassy. By 04:00, a number of Army special forces NCOs had volunteered to stand post to give the Marines a much needed break. 1StSgt Guzman took the post from the det commander and I ordered the Marines home to shower and sleep. At first light, all of the Marines were back to continue their Mission while looking for Sergeant Aliganga. After hours of digging by hand through tons of rubble, behind Post One and in the elevator shafts, we moved to the area of the bank. This was one of the hardest hit areas as it was one floor up and only about 50 feet from the blast site. Twelve inch slabs of reinforced concrete were piled up to the ceiling, while desks, computers, and file cabinets were reduced to scrap. The Marines and Army S/F personnel, along with DOS personnel worked frantically against the clock. By this time, over thirty bodies had been recovered from the rubble, including ten Americans. Finally, at exactly 14:30 local time, after 27 hours and fifty minutes of relentless digging with their bare hands, the body of Sergeant Aliganga was recovered from the rubble. Once positively identified, the Marines then gently wrapped Sergeant Aliganga in the American flag, and very purposefully marched him through the rubble and out of the embassy to the waiting vehicle. Although there were no cameras present, nor was there any music playing, the crowds seemed to still, and people stood erect, with tears running down their faces, as the body of another United States Marine, who gave his life in defense of his country, was ushered away. By nightfall, the FAST team arrived and quickly took up the perimeter security of the embassy, freeing the MSGs to return to the still ongoing task of recovering classified material and equipment from the rubble. Sir, I apologize that my words are insufficient to more accurately describe the true essence of this horrific tragedy. What must not be missed is the incredible bravery and heroism displayed by our Marine Security Guards. Without any regard for their own lives or safety, they maintained incredible presence of mind in the face of tremendous devastation. Each Marine continued to serve our country and our Department of State with distinction. Even through the chaos and the fog, our Marines never lost focus of their mission. They were models of strength to be emulated by all. As you finish reading this synopsis, the Marines from Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, augmented by Sergeant Harper from Accra, Sergeant Lawlor from Bonn, Sergeant Outt from Bujumbura, Sergeant Boudah from Dublin, Corporal Graff and Sergeant Wolf from Frankfurt, Sergeant Salizar from the Hague, Sergeant Alberto and Corporal Durden from London, Sergeant Jackson from Paris, Sergeant Smith and Corporal Cornell from Pretoria, and Sergeant Reynolds from Rome, are manning makeshift embassies as our MSGs continue to support our Department of State. They have not missed a beat and will continue guarding Americans and America's interests abroad, as Marines have done for over 222 years. Semper Fidelis and Very Respectfully, (NB: Since the message has already been posted on the Internet, I decided not to redact the proper names.) Dennis Sabal 
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It has been almost 96 hours since the devastating blasts ripped through
the American Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. With
the situation at both embassies now somewhat stabilized, I want to take a
few moments and attempt to paint a picture of the events leading up to the
blasts as well as provide you with a commander's perspective of the actions
of our Marines subsequent to the explosions.