The latest photo outrage
DirtyMick sends us this article about a group of Marine Scout Snipers who used the symbol that was also used by the Nazi Germany secret police, Schutzstaffe;
The logo appeared on a flag in a photograph of the platoon taken in September 2010 in Sangin district, a hotly contested area in Helmand province. The Marines were with Charlie Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., and are shown sitting in combat gear with the U.S. flag and a blue flag with the stylized “SS” logo hanging behind them.
“We don’t have all the information, but we know enough to know the Marine Corps needs to open a full investigation,” said Mikey Weinstein, the [Military Religious Freedom Foundation] president. “If these guys just get a non-judicial punishment, it’s absolutely absurd.”
On the MRFF’s website they state;
The fact that United States service personnel were caught proudly posing with the emblem of the Nazi SS, which symbolizes the vile ideology of Hitlerian fascism, sends a menacing signal to religious minorities within the United States Armed Forces.
So I guess we’re back to the pre-war days when everything that some people in the military do demands a full investigation. Do you know who else used that symbol?
I think we need to investigate the music industry and 80s hair bands. We should also investigate those people who want to rock and roll all night and party ev-er-y-day.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:06 pm
2010? Seriously? This is just now becoming an issue?
Yeah, it’s in bad taste I would say, but Mikey, seriously, religious minorities? You **ARE** aware that the largest religious group in the military is NRP, yes?
Sounds like someone is on a witch-hunt (or is that Wiccan hunt?) I get so confused sometimes. And what of those members who have separated and gone onto civilian life? Shall we haul them into court for thought crimes, or because you got a little butt-hurt?
Again, bad taste, but court-martial offense? Even NJP? Let it go, man. Let it go.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:16 pm
You remember what KISS was said to stand for, don’t you?
“Knights in Satan’s Service.”
And if you will also remember, there was quite the hue and cry from the religious left, right, and center about the evil influence Kiss would have on the younger generation.
Great band. I loved Kiss!
As for the Marines and their SS flag?
Jarheads.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Well, as for KISS using the special letters…….. if they ain’t upset about it; why should anyone else be, considering the 2 main founding members of the band are Jewish and Gene’s mom was in a concentration camp.
I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re muslim or jewish; you have to find something to bitch about.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:20 pm
The level of outrage will be predictably overblown….but what is the dumbass thought process that goes into a photo like this?
February 9th, 2012 at 7:21 pm
I also remember that Germany wouldn’t let Kiss in the country and play because of their symbol.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:26 pm
I don’t know.
If there isn’t some other explanation for the flag then this is incomprehensibly bad. It’s anti-military hyperbole realized.
EDIT:
I guess this is some sort of old thing in the Scout Sniper community? If so this is the first I’ve heard of it. I can’t believe it’s flown under the radar so long.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Sorry but this just shows an unfathomable level of stupidity. The men who are selected for these type of units are highly intelligent and professional yet they IDIOTS pose with this? In this connected world where nearly anything you do can be posted for others to see one should be much more circumspect. I don’t think this can be compared to any ind of which hunt but this is just amazing. I can’t wait to hear what the explanation for it is.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Sorry but this just shows an unfathomable level of stupidity. The men who are selected for these type of units are highly intelligent and professional yet these IDIOTS pose with this? In this connected world where nearly anything you do can be posted for others to see one should be much more circumspect. I don’t think this can be compared to any kind of which hunt but this is just amazing. I can’t wait to hear what the explanation for it is.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:35 pm
IMHO six of one, half dozen of the other. My youngest nephews barely remember their ‘tata’ who was at Utah beach on D-Day. As a kid most of the fathers in our neighborhood were WWII vets. By the time my brothers and I could serve (late ’60s thru middle ’70s) it was less common. My two nephews on active duty right now rareties among their peers. I think these boys just didn’t know. NHSparky’s right, youthful indiscretion not racist intent.
Now let’s have a group hug and sing Kumbaya!?
(BTW, I’m Hispanic and was a victim of racism in the early ’60s)
February 9th, 2012 at 7:43 pm
So, one train of thought could be that Scout Snipers chose a stylized way to display their initials, using the same stylized letters used by a band. Or, they just showed what some have known all along, everyone in the military is (not so secretly) a Nazi?/sarc
I think I’d vote for the first.
February 9th, 2012 at 7:49 pm
I know this post is going to make me troll fodder but here it goes:
I know this might’ve escaped a lot of people notice but the Waffen SS are considered some of the best soldiers. Ever. Michail Whitman stopped an entire division with ONE TANK. think about that for a second.
Believe it or not the Waffen SS was also the most cosmopolitan units in history, incorporating whole units from countries all over Europe. French, Finnish, Croats, you name it. Also it might be important to note that they did not participate in class discrimination as the Wehrmacht did. You did not have to be part of the Junkers class to advance in the Waffen SS, and thus as an organization it appealed to many common soldaten.
The reason the Waffen SS is thought so poorly of is that their parent organization was . . . well you know the story. As a Soldier, I respect other Soldiers, even if they were at one time (or will be in the future) my enemy. I wish the rest of America could understand that.
February 9th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Well, as I recall, the Waffen SS and the SS-SD (Sicherheitsdienst)were 2 separate organizations. The SS-SD worked for Himmler and was the intel / enforcement arm of the Nazi Party. The Waffen SS, on the other hand, was part of the military forces, and the record shows that it was in opposition ot the SS-SD.
Besides, in the “official” reports I’ve read, the words used were “bears a resemblance to . . .”. Are we to start prosecuting everyoine who uses words, pictures, phrases, symbols that ONLY bear a resemblance to some disliked . . . thing?
Well, hell. Waht about people who bear a resemblance to . . .?
February 9th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
I thought it was a 44… in honor of Henry Aaron, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, and Pete Maravich.
February 9th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
Hey, you know a little Google-fu goes a long way (from Google images when I searched for scout snipers):
http://www.freewebs.com/genericdraven/ssmembers.htm
http://webspace.webring.com/people/eu/um_4195/
Looks like it has been in use by the Scout Sniper community for a while.
Nothing to see here.. move along.
February 9th, 2012 at 8:10 pm
Just a quick note to Doc Bailey-It was the Waffen SS the committed the Malmedy massacre during the Battle of the Bulge. They needed non Germans because there were not enough pure Aryans to fill the ranks. In the East the were able to turn hatred of the Soviet Union to their advantage when they recruited Estonians, Ukrainians, etc. Any Frenchmen the were in the Waffen SS were nothing more than traitors. I fully understand their fighting prowess. I don’t think these Marines were or are Nazi sympathizers but they are incredibly stupid. The information I’ve been able to find indicates that these letters including their style have been used by Scout Snipers for some time. If so there is a terrible lack or historical knowledge in the Marines if not our country as a whole. When one forget history what can our future hold?
February 9th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
…just as an aside, it seems the media smells blood in the water. This is about the third article I’ve seen in as many days that has been deliberately inflammatory about the military. I’m thinking we’re seeing a series of articles that are calculated to make the military look very bad, and hence, any political party that supports the military (you guessed it — Republicans) look bad.
Why do I think that? The picture in question was taken in 2010. Where has it been hiding since then?
Things to make you go “hmmmmm.”
February 9th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
I know guys in the scout sniper community. This has been common practice for over 20 years. Most scout snipers have it tatted or branded on them. Those guys are not nazi’s they just use the same logo. Big fucking deal.
By this rational armor units shouldn’t have pictures of Erwin Rommel or Heinz Guderian in their tracks or CPs
February 9th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
The lightning bolt “SS” has been a marine scout sniper trademark for a quite a while.
One question, whether it’s pissing on meatsacks or putting up SS flags – are the troops doing this to wave their middle fingers at the hyper-sensitive, permanently-offended activists who are f*cking the troops over?
February 9th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
The SS Stylized in the same way has been around At least since the mid 80s. It is documented multiple times in the Chandler Brothers’ books DEATH FROM AFAR -MARINE CORPS SNIPING. VOL 1 published 1992 pages 171-175. VOL 2 published 1993 pages 28 – 29 specifically details how an investigation about MARINES branded with the SS on their chests were found not to be Nazis, but proud MARINE SNIPERS. There are many more references in Vol 2 and in Volumes 3-5, but it should be obvious to all, these are just proud Marine Scout/Snipers.
Semper Fi
February 9th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
I find little excuse for this. the SS was Hitlers personal Bodyguard, ran the concentration camps, were the Einsatzgruppen which roamed eastern europe shooting Jews, the SD who were the security police assisting the Gestapo, & the Waffen-SS who fought and murdered US Soldiers captured at Stoumont, Malmedy, Stavelot, La Glieze, Honsfeld, Bullingen, Ligneuville, Trois Ponts, Cheneaux, during the Ardennes and US 507th PIR troopers in an aid station at Graignes in Normandy who worked to death 350 Jewish US Soldiers from the 28th & 106th division captured in the ardennes.
but its no big fucking deal. Maybe someone should have the insignia of Japanese SNLF who Murdered Marines before these schmucks would understand how ignorant they are.
February 9th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
And news is out–no charges, no NJP.
February 9th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Maybe we all should get our panties in a twist because Mitsubishi’s new car commercial has them driving in inclement weather with The Weather Underground. Now I’m pretty sure it is not Bill Ayers and Bernadette Dorn and their terrorist group, but probably a group of storm chasers. We may just have to contact the president to make sure.
February 9th, 2012 at 9:34 pm
I assume, with almost universal certainty, that not a single man amongst them in this photo GAVE A GOOD GOD DAMN about the SS flag, other than the fact that it was cool… soley based from the fact that the SS symbol is totally bad-assed.
What everyone needs to fucking forget is that long term thinking from anyplace like SANGIN is non-existant. Anyone else here spend some time in the green zone in Sangin, or city center, its literally hell on earth. Dont even get me started on the 3/5 or 1/5 BSA, up to Kajaki or Musa.
Fuck these cunts with the “Mouths” after the fact, your “opinions are meaningless”. I do not recognize your complaints, or thoughts, or anything.
If those men chose to defecate in the frozen open mouth of their by their recent hand dead enemy I would applaud it without a second thought.
You know what Truman said after he was asked what he did the night after he authorized the bomb “I drank a glass of milk and slept like a baby”.
Semper Fi, to all you paper tigers, suck an AIDS infected cock and choke on the chunder of public indifference.
Cheers to the warriors. Bad taste, yes, just like my words, however its the truth. You want to be the stone silent killer types, there are other units for that, want to be dumb shit horseshoe hair cut mohawk warriors, there is a unit for you, box counter, same thing.
To anyone who has never felt the fear of the military application against you from a very skilled enemy like the taliban in SANGIN/RAMADI/FALLUJAH, suck a cock.
Fuck you, goodnight.
Most importantly, anyone else want to venture that “SS” slightly looks like… SCOUT SNIPER…. you fucking tards. Fucking fuck!
Marines dont have “Agendas” fucking morons. fuck!
Godbless these men. Long live Marine SS.
February 9th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
BFD. Christ on a crutch we’ve become to damned PC.
February 9th, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Isn’t there one leader in this unit- the sergeant major, a first sergeant, platoon sergeant, company commander- even a platoon commander- with enough knowledge/sense of history to tell the scouts/snipers, “I understand you want some kind of an emblem to demonstrate espirit, but this particular symbol stands for nazi evil. Find something else.”
February 9th, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Hmmm Semper seems Orally fixated typical I suppose
February 9th, 2012 at 9:46 pm
As a parting shot. I want to know how so many can complain against so few for doing so much, for so little, for so long, for near nothing, with no promises.
Just say thank you, buy the free round, get out of my way, leave me alone, and dont expect a semi buzzed dramatic encounter at a random place.
I’ve never been “thanked for my service” in a bar out of uniform, because I’ve never talked about work, out of uniform…in a strange bar with stranger people than myself all around. When in uniform for weddings at a bar, its clockwork… “hey man…thanks for what you do, what did you get that one for?? heres a room temp bud light”…no problem…other than those rare-acute encounters… I’m super happy to be working at “Best Buy” anytime a civ asks me “so what do you do?”…leave me alone.
Keep your teeth together. The outrage is that we were not allowed to totally destroy our enemy. I cannot believe I’ve spent years of my life in Iraq and Afghanistan…
For me, personally, Im a disgrace to every other Marine who has ever lived. Fucking joke it all is. I love the Corps, and my brother Marines, but I cannot for one minute understand why I’ve been on so many “nothing will change” deployments. I’ve burned untold caloric units of energy in pursuit of the job and returned to the same smoldering cancerous field from which I left time and time again.
Iraq…Afghanistan… thanks for the career boost, but I got dead friends/brothers, struggle too much with the “what did it all mean”, like a NASCAR driver who is forced to repeat the same “near win”, for an entire career.
Sorry guys, just at the end of my rope. Glad I’m EAS’ing. The party IS over.
February 9th, 2012 at 9:47 pm
@24
Symbols stand for what we allow them to stand for, hence ‘symbol’.
These guy’s job is the delivery of stripped bare truth of power. You think they give a rats ass what the socially sensitive think?
My opinion, you ask a man to do a certain kind of job, you have an obligation to allow them wide latitude in the expression of their pride.
Only an absolute idiot would think they identify with Himmler’s goons, or those LOOKING for a reason to bitch.
February 9th, 2012 at 10:17 pm
Yeah. Jew-killing Marines were in Afghanistan because it’s such a target rich environment.
February 9th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
They are fucking Scout Snipers, fuck the media fucks for not caring for forty plus years! I mean they have had the runes since at least Nam. My father was in that life, and btw, he says that 1st Recon Battalion are the JV of Marine SOF capable units. He says 2nd Force is the top tier, but there is nothing wrong with those runes, just that they made them into a flag and photographed it.
February 9th, 2012 at 10:36 pm
#29 Off topic but I thought that MARSOC was the top tier today and that all Recon was JV?
February 9th, 2012 at 10:39 pm
wait until the media flips when they find out guys have it tatted on them or the german eagle holding mil dots. This shit is blown way out of proportion. Wait until the media finds out that a lot of paratroopers refer to themselves as Fallschirmjägers or that armor units have pictures of heinz guderian or rommell. POGs, Civilians, and the media seem to forget that combat arms units are in the business of killing people.
February 9th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
That is the point of what my old man said, Recon is the JV, Dad is a retired SOF Marine, in his younger days he was a Company Command with 2nd Force at Lejeune and a couple other places…. In his post Force Recon days he was the Sniper Employment Officer for TF Mogadishu as well. So yeah, for recap: let the Snipers keep their Runes, fuck the Media, and 1st Recon are JV
February 9th, 2012 at 11:17 pm
When I was in basic at Lackland in 1980, our TI mentioned one day that the cops (SP’s) in training wore hats that had SS on the front when off duty. It stood for Security Specialist but he noted that he hated it because of the history of SS, meaning the Waffen SS. I don’t know the Marines’ motivation for such a symbol but I agree with a previous commenter who lamented about those who don’t know history…..
February 9th, 2012 at 11:56 pm
The sole reason for this is the Scout/Sniper initials. Has been that way for decades. The PC police are trying to stamp it out, along with just about anything else that makes trigger-pullers proud to be part of their units. Don’t have the tattoo or brand myself, (target indicator) but I’ve been a part of the sniper community for almost four years now, so I’ve gotten the lectures, too.
There is some admiration for the fighting prowess of the Waffen-SS in the Marine Corps. There is also widespread hatred of the ideology that the Waffen-SS fought for. But that doesn’t matter to the back-benchers who have to make an issue out of anything remotely “offensive” that we do downrange.
“Single men in barricks don’t turn into plaster saints.”
February 10th, 2012 at 12:05 am
Jesus, I mean, there’s PC, and then there’s just “cut my balls off spank my ass and call me fuckin Sally” emasculated.
Were these guys committing atrocities like the Nazis did? Fuck no. Were they neck deep in mud, blood, and shit? Probably every fucking day.
Knowing that, I’d be willing to cut them some slack as long as they understood the origins of that symbol. Like their chain at Pendleton said, it certainly wasn’t worthy of punishment, just a little ignorant of history. Christ, like our enemies are well aware of history.
Tell these PC fucks a little something–ask a Japanese teen or young adult what went on during WWII. See the response you get.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:30 am
The PC crowd are like little ankle-biter dogs, that yap at anything that frightens them. And that is what all the noise is about; they fear men like these.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:39 am
[...] SS. Supposedly using the lightning bolt SS sign is something the scout snipers have been doing for quite some time. Tags: Afghanistan, U.S. Marines – 0 views Related PostsAllen West On Marines Urinating On [...]
February 10th, 2012 at 12:39 am
Maybe it is because of my family’s history of killing Nazis, but really???? Come on guys nobody looked at this and said hey dudes maybe you want to rethink your design a little… Besides Kiss sucks.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:41 am
I like how “SG” seems to feel he/she/it is the “thread monitor” and needs to post something every few comments to reinforce he/she/its first comment.
Yeah, zampolit, we got your message the first time. You are in lockstep with the PC politzei and want everyone to “feel your pain” over this issue.
I have a better idea: Why don’t you shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down and let the Marines get on with the business of killing our nation’s enemies. mkay?
February 10th, 2012 at 12:43 am
Sorry, I meant “GRB/SG” and not just “SG”, as I think it’s one and the same self-appointed thread monitor.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:46 am
You don’t really think Kiss was up there to make MUSIC, do you? They knew — what? — maybe three whole chords?
They were showmen, not musicians.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:58 am
As an historical aside, what two other ethnic groups were interned by America during WWII?
Germans and Italians.
With all the Iron Maiden cover art out there, I’m surprised the marines didn’t go for that. Or did they need the two S’s to remind them that they’re Scout Snipers? A fancy mnemonic in case they suddenly got the urge to bake a souffle?
February 10th, 2012 at 12:59 am
Really guys? This is just too easy for idgits to exploit. Come on I can’t get over the fact that noone looked at this and said hey guys… I got nothin, marine, joe, zoomie, shipmate, don’t do something this easy to be exploited. How about a nice scull with crosshairs? Or a bullet and a dragon… but really? You didn’t see a potential problem here?
February 10th, 2012 at 2:18 am
I really got nothing, I don’t really see a huge problem here. Troops in heavy combat do some weird things. Things which POGs and Civvies stop and say “WTF those dudes are crazy” they’re not crazy, they’re doing all they can to stay sane.
I think this is a non-issue but that’s me
February 10th, 2012 at 3:24 am
just a stupid thought, maybe that SS is standing for “scout sniper”… but no one will ever really know.
February 10th, 2012 at 4:25 am
#28– Best comment award.
So, I guess we need to target the buddhists next since their religious symbol is a swastika. Hitler took it from them and turned it a little, but it’s the same damn thing. Maybe they’re a spin off of the Kiss Army and Kiss Navy. Kiss Marines, “Semper we don’t give a fuck what you think”.
February 10th, 2012 at 4:45 am
I’d also like to throw out, that you want to project an aura of being the baddest mutha F**kers out there. When you’re a sniper, or really anything moderately elite you WANT your enemy to be shitting their pants thinking “I have to fight those guys? No way man they’re F**king crazy!”
I think Shakespeare said it best:
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour’d rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect
February 10th, 2012 at 5:31 am
Back in the day, at Bad Tolz Germany (Flint Kaserne) it was 1st battalion’s (10th Group) duty station. Prior to 1st Bn locating there, Flint Kaserne was the SS Officer’s school (WWII). Don’t think for a minute that the Soviet (reds) didn’t play that up. We received intel that the Soviets would present us (U.S. Army Special Forces) as equivalent to NAZI SS. Food for thought.
February 10th, 2012 at 7:53 am
@48…Indeed. My better half went to PLDC in Bad Tolz and learned all about the SS. Kind of revered and hated at the same time…
The things that get investigated just stymy me and yet, the really important shit gets ignored.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:17 am
Marilyn Manson used to make use of the SS symbol too.
But I still can’t stomach the sight of our troops posing with Nazi symbols. Yes, I think something should happen to these Marines.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:36 am
How many times do we have to say that the SS runes with the Marines mean Scout Sniper? It’s all over the beginning comments. Marine Snipers put those runes on everything, rifles, shirts, theory own bodies…. Read the DEATH FROM AFAR series of books about the history of Marine Corps Scout Snipers and you’ll see that it has been in use since Vietnam…. Of you have issues with OT, go notch to Gene Simmons of KISS, his mom is a Haulocost survivor and he used the runes to take the stigma away from them…. Media: STFU, Marimes are going to be Marines! Don’t like it? Move to Canada
February 10th, 2012 at 8:39 am
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February 10th, 2012 at 8:48 am
@50: Something should happen to these Marines? Like what? It’s a Nazi symbol if you want it to be. However, it isn’t if you don’t want it to be. Let’s all stop with the hurt taint bullshit and just leave it alone. The letters are a symbol; do you think something should happen to the band KISS, since they have been using the letters since the early fucking 70′s? Like I said, if Gene Simmons doesn’t have a problem using the lightning bolt S; why should anyone else? Get over yourselves.
February 10th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Fucking android phone, but you get my point and OT is right. Stop going after Grunts, get a life or follow this very special plan for PC people that the SF Weapons Committee Cadre came up with. It’s called EATADIC…..
February 10th, 2012 at 9:48 am
I’m like 99 percent sure that they picked the SS logo because of the combat prowess of the Waffen-SS rather than the ideological views that the SS acted to support. Of course no one outside the military will get this and this will cause all sorts of uproar for silly reasons.
February 10th, 2012 at 10:41 am
Hey AW1 Tim, first of all I dont think Im a monitor for anything. I just dont make stupid excuses for using a symbol that was worn by filth while Murdering US Prisoners of War.
My Father Fought the scum wearing that. As to being a Zampolit thanks i guess. Can I say you are an internet asshole? I served 27 years, I’ve been wounded in Iraq but Im not allowed an Opinion because some ignorant morons use Sigrunes that anyone on the fucking planet knows is a Nazi insignia? Cool you support them. I support the American G.I.’s who arent morons, who dont dishonor themselves or their units. YMMV
February 10th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Was what the Germans did to the Jews horrible? Hell yes! Should it ever be forgotten? Hell no! But how long do we keep using it as a barometer to measure someone’s racial philosophy?
In the mid ’50s the US Government initiated operation “Wet Back”, an attempt to remove illegal aliens, but many American citizens of Mexican descent, including my uncle, were deported because they couldn’t prove their citizenship quickly enough or thoroughly enough for INS/police involved in the raids. Many were beaten and some killed during this operation. Should I keep looking behind every tree for Anglo racists? Isn’t ironic that now racists are the ‘minority’?
Was this the smartest move ever? Naw but then who ever said Marines were smart?!
Semper Fi!
February 10th, 2012 at 11:36 am
Will people ever learn that a camera in a combat zone is not necessarily your friend? Some things are simply best not photographed.
February 10th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
S.g.
Get over yourself. My grandfather also fought them in WWII, but you don’t see me getting upset. My wife’s family changed their name to avoid the haulocast, but you don’t see them getting butt hurt.
ONCE AGAIN, SS STANDS FOR SCOUT SNIPER. Has as long as I have been in the Corps, and God willing…I hope it continues. Scout Snipers, Recon, MARSOC have all earned their right to be a little cocky…
February 10th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
SG, I have a second cousin who fought in the Screaming Eagles in WW2, jumped into Normandy, fought at Bastogne and liberated a Camp. I grew up hearing the stories of fighting the Nazis, my FATHER ran the Snipers out of the Olympic stadium in Mogadishu in 1992-3, and helped write a couple of the books in the Death From Afar series with the Chandlers. I grew up knowing that Scout Snipers used those Runes, and that the SS did in the past, but that the Marine use of those runes was not the same. Now, if a fucking six year old can grasp the concept, then your Dick-licking self should be able to as well, but I guess that’s too much to hope for. Fuck you, and if you were in the military longer than a day you would know its not really wise to pissy off Marine Scout Snipers. Your argument is thereby rendered invalid, fuck off and thanks for playing…
February 10th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
I know more of the story and I am not trying to judge the guys. I am not a fan of the SS, but I get the scout sniper symbology.
February 10th, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Does this mean the ancient Etruscans were eeeevil Nazis too? That’s all that symbol is, two “S” runes.
Over-reacting to Nazis has a long history in Europe. Scale models manufacturers are prohibited by law from selling kits with (accurate) WW2 markings for German aircraft, it being illegal to reproduce the Hakenkreuz in modern Germany.
I suppose we should condemn all those historically-ignorant scale modelers for using an evil Nazi symbol, no?
Oh, and Buddhists, too, those fascist buggers.
February 11th, 2012 at 2:38 am
[...] Marines didn’t know then send them back to school February 11th, 2012 Jonn has already covered the Marine Corps Scout Sniper’s use of a stylized flag using with the emblem “SS” [...]
February 13th, 2012 at 10:58 pm
I just saw this yesterday or the day before. It just appears like runes similiar to the SS not that they were endorsing the “Schutzstaffel” SS. Runes or “lighting bolt”-esque lettering is not unique to the SS. The Waffen(armed)-SS used a black background not a blue for example. frankly I knew what scout snipers were but never knew they had their own symbol/emblem.
It’s not like they had a picture of Sepp Dietrich behind them.
#11 Doc there were SS Divisions which were the armed extension of the Nazi party. They are the elite formations you are referring to. They at least origionally had high standards of induction. Individuals were vetted politically, racially, and had high physical requirements. Then later certain specific foreigners were also allowed in.
Then there were “Divisions of the SS”, who were the foreign legion like component. They were affliated and had SS advisors but they were raised locally and tended to have the character of whatever enthnic body or Army they had come from.
To restate that does not mean there were not foreigners in the formal SS(like Austrains or Scandinavians). Nor that all foreign formations were affliated/sponsored by the SS. The Italians, Romanians, and Finns all fought as allies of Germany in the field but were national separate armies.
“The reason the Waffen SS is thought so poorly of is that their parent organization was…” Thats partly true Doc. They were great soldiers but alot of their reputation came not just because of their battlefield exploits but from the undenialable war crimes they committed. Thats not just the concentration camp guards, or even the eizengruppen, but the actions of the Waffen-SS themselves.
November 8th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Obviously a Photoshop effort. There is no shadow from the sniper to the immediate right of the SS flag. From the sun angle you should have a substantial shadow from the man and his rifle that crosses the SS flag. I am not sure what anyone would have to gain from posting a fake photograph but this is CLEARLY a Photoshopped picture to add in the SS Flag.