PrintFebruary 5, 2010
President Obama honors Navy 'Corpse-Man'
President Obama paid tribute to a Navy corpse-man ( I believe he is Christian Bouchard, of Haitian descent) at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday. It was very moving.
My dad was a sergeant in the United States Marine Corpse during World War II and fought in the brutal Battle for Pelelieu, among others. I was very proud of him.
The President is also the Commander in Chief of the United States Marine Corpse.
My affinity for the military began with my dad's service and my knowledge of the extraordinary sacrifices that our men and women in uniform have made for this great country.
Because of this, I enrolled in Army ROTC while in college so I could earn a commission in the U.S. Army. As such, I was a member of the Corpse of Cadets.
Some of my best memories as an ROTC Cadet was of our parade ground marches, when we were accompanied by our Drum and Bugle Corpse, playing stirring military march music.
Since I love military music and parades, every year I attend the Independence Day parade in D.C. This parade is always led by police and fire units and marching contingents from our services (Army, Marine Corpse, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard).
One of my favorite units is the U.S. Army's Old Guard Fife and Drum Corpse , an element of the 3Rd Infantry Regiment. They are dressed in Revolutionary War era uniforms and play patriotic music from that period. It is very moving.
I want to thank the president for his recognition of Navy corpse-man Bouchard.
I just wish that some one of the dozens of Ivy League educated advisors in the White House would tell the president (himself Ivy League educated, and, we are told, the most brilliant man ever to trod the earth), how to pronounce corps.
On second thought, maybe it was the TelePrompTer's fault.
