[1]1950, Harry’s (President Harry S. Truman) Marines, from Wall Street Journal [2]
On Dec. 6, 1950, [1st Marine Division CO Colonel Lewis “Chesty” Puller] was ordered to break out of Chosin Reservoir and open an escape route to Hungnam port. The 80,000-strong PLA was no longer the only enemy confronting the Marines. By now the temperature had dropped to 25 degrees below zero. Fighting every step of the way, Chesty succeeded in not just bringing out the wounded and the dead but also every vehicle and piece of equipment worth saving. Behind him, spread out for miles, lay the broken remnants of seven Chinese divisions.
In his inimitable way, Chesty refused to call the retreat a defeat, let alone a retreat. As the future general waited to board his ship, he ordered reporters to “Remember, whatever you write, this was no retreat. All that happened was we found more Chinese behind us than in front of us. So we about-faced and attacked.” The Navy rewarded Chesty for Chosin Reservoir with his fifth Navy Cross.
2015, Barry’s (President Barack Obama) Marines, from Military.com [3]:
U.S. Embassy Marines in Yemen handed over their M-9 pistols and M-4 carbines before evacuating the chaotic country with diplomatic personnel, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The Marines also left behind several vehicles at the airport in the capital city of Sanaa before departing on a civilian flight, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
Warren said the Marines destroyed their machine guns and other crew-served weapons before leaving the Embassy for the airport. He also said that it was unclear who now had custody of the weapons and vehicles that were surrendered.
A Marine spokesman could not immediately say whether the surrender of weapons by Embassy Marines in an evacuation was unprecedented.
I don’t doubt for one minute that our Marines in Yemen have any less intestinal fortitude than Chesty’s Marines had at Chosin Reservoir. However John “French” Kerry is certainly no Lewis Puller. In 1950, Chesty retained, his dead, his wounded and his artillery. In 2015 Frenchy could not even retrain a M-9 pistol.