AMERICAN MOSAIC - The Marine Corps Celebrates Its 230th Birt

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - The Marine² Corps³ Celebrates Its 230th Birthday
By Nancy Steinbach and Katharine Gypson

Broadcast: Friday, November 11, 2005

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HOST: Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson.

On our special Veterans Day show: We hear some American military music …

Answer a question about the expression "G.I."

And report about one branch of the United States military force.

Marine Corps Birthday

Today is Veterans Day in the United States. It is the day to honor those who have served their country in the military forces. The smallest part of the United States military celebrates its birthday the day before Veterans Day. Bob Doughty⁴ has more.

BOB DOUGHTY: United States Marines gathered on Thursday to celebrate the Marine Corps' two hundred thirtieth birthday. The Continental⁵ Congress created the Marine Corps on November tenth, seventeen seventy-five as a small military force to serve on ships.

 
A new memorial to World War Two Marines at New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery⁶, during ceremonies on the Marine Corps' 230th birthday
The Marines were to provide security for the ship and to shoot at the enemy in time of battle. Marines also attacked enemy land bases from these ships. They did this for the first time against the British in the Bahamas during the American Revolution in seventeen seventy-six.

The Marines fought the Barbary pirates in Tripoli in eighteen-oh-five. They occupied Mexico City during the Mexican War in eighteen forty-seven. They fought one of their greatest battles at Belleau Wood in France during World War One.

Marines were among the first Americans to take part in that war against Germany and its allies. German troops did not like fighting the Marines. They began calling them "Devil Dogs." The name was meant as an insult. However, the Marines liked the name. They still use it.

During World War Two, Marines landed on the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It was the first American offensive of the war. Marines also served in the wars in Korea and Vietnam and are serving in Iraq.

Today, Marines serve as troops on the ground. Others work in tanks or with artillery⁷. Some Marines fly airplanes or helicopters. Still others perform the traditional duty of providing security on ships. All these groups make up a combat team that is linked. Marines like to say they serve on land, on the sea and in the air.

Marines also provide security for American Embassies around the world. Marines are carefully selected for this duty and must attend a special school. They consider this work important because they know that the first American seen at an American Embassy is a United States Marine.

Question About 'G.I.'

HOST:

Our VOA listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Ngoc Lien⁸ Nguyen asks about words used to describe Americans, especially the letters G.I.

Calling an American a "G.I." means that the person is serving or has served in the military. Stories say that soldiers themselves began using the term during World War Two. They say the term may have begun in a cartoon by Corporal Dave Breger called "G.I. Joe."

These stories do not agree about what the letters represent. They were a short way to say either General Issue or Government Issue. Both terms mean equipment that the government provided for soldiers.

One story says the words General Issue meant a list that told commanders what equipment and how many soldiers each military group should have. If a group did not have the required number of troops, the commander asked for more Government Issue. So the use of G.I. began as a joke to mean that the government was producing soldiers from a factory.

Soon these soldiers began calling themselves G.I.s. Later, others did too. Even government legislation used the term. The G.I. bill of rights was approved in nineteen forty-two. It provided free educations and other aid to those who had served in the military forces.

Some experts on military words have another explanation. They say G.I. came from the words "galvanized iron." The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron, a material produced for its special strength. The Dictionary of Soldier Talk says G.I. was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles of the early twentieth century.

Before World War Two, civilians⁹ described soldiers as "doughboys". A writer had used that word to describe Civil War soldiers. A doughboy was a sweet food served to Navy men on ships. It was also a name for large buttons on soldiers' clothes. Some experts say the buttons were called doughboys because they looked like the food.

Over time, the name came to mean the soldiers themselves. Today, Americans think of doughboys as the soldiers who fought for the Allies in World War One.

Other names have been used to refer to military fighting men over the years. These include "leatherneck" and "grunt¹⁰". But those stories will have to wait for another day.

Military Anthems¹¹

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HOST: That was the Marines' Hymn¹², the official song of the United States Marine Corps. Pat Bodnar tells us about other songs of the American military.

PAT BODNAR: Each part, or branch, of the American military has its own song. These songs are played at official events. The Marines' Hymn is the oldest of the official songs of the American military. A Marine wrote the words were written during the war against Mexico in the eighteen forties. The tune¹³ comes from an opera by French composer Jacques Offenbach.

 
Three Service Members
The official song of the United States Navy is called "Anchors Aweigh." It was written in nineteen-oh-six.The word "aweigh" is an old way of saying "pulled from the bottom," like an anchor of a ship raised from the bottom of the ocean. Here is "Anchors Aweigh."

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An officer serving in the Philippines wrote the official song of the United States Army in nineteen-oh-eight. In nineteen seventeen, the famous band leader John Phillip Sousa added music and the song became very popular. In nineteen fifty-two, it was named "The Army Goes Rolling Along" and became the official song of the Army.

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The official song of the United States Coast Guard was written by Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck in nineteen twenty-seven. Later, some of the words were changed. Here is "Semper Paratus" which means Always Ready.

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In nineteen thirty-eight, the United States Air Force had a contest to see who could write the best official Air Force song. More than seven hundred songs were written for the contest. A group of wives of Air Force officers chose the winner. We leave you now with "The Air Force Song."

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HOST: I'm Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our program.

Our show was written by Nancy Steinbach and Katharine Gypson. Caty Weaver¹⁴ was our producer.

Send your questions about American life to [email protected]. Please include your full name and mailing address. Or write to American Mosaic, VOA Special English, Washington, D.C., 20237, U.S.A.

Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

5 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

6 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

7 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

8 lien   

n.扣押权，留置权

参考例句：

• A lien is a type of security over property.留置是一种财产担保。
• The court granted me a lien on my debtor's property.法庭授予我对我债务人财产的留置权。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

11 anthems   

n.赞美诗( anthem的名词复数 )；圣歌；赞歌；颂歌

参考例句：

• They usually play the national anthems of the teams at the beginning of a big match. 在大型赛事开始前，他们通常演奏参赛国国歌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rise please, rise for the anthems of & . 请全体起立，奏和两国国歌。 来自互联网

12 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

13 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

14 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。