Monday, March 21, 2005

Guilt by Association

Aparently, the Marines are having a PR problem with their Dress Uni.

Slice:

With the toll of Marines killed in Iraq mounting, the Marine Corps is no longer requiring the Marines notifying families of such deaths to wear the Corps' distinctive dress blue uniform.

The change, authorized by Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee, was made because the public was beginning to associate the blue uniform, usually worn during ceremonial or joyous occasions, with death and tragedy, officials said...

...But Gunnery Sgt. Cindy Grubb, operations chief for the Corps' casualty branch, said wearing the dress blues while notifying families had begun to associate the uniform unfairly with bad news.

"We want to keep that positive image of the blues," she said.

The latest casualty count shows 1,513 members of the U.S. military killed in Iraq, including more than 460 Marines. Most of the Marines were part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton.

End slice:

I know many a military family dreads the silent approach of a men in dress uniforms.

2 comments:

The Cure said...

On one hand I can understand why they are doing this...

However, the blues show respect and honor something these families deserve. Also, in a time like this where our friends and even family members are getting killed why so much focus on image... who really cares. I think it is sad.

I say you take all the military's image consultants and send them to the families that lost someone and have them do any odd jobs, help out, whatever is needed... that might actually help out the military's image.

Anonymous said...

Blowback

It's not a military problem.

Military dead are the responsiblity of the civilians who sent them to fight. These civilians are the one's discomfited by the delivery of bad news. Why else don't they want to show pictures of arriving coffins?

The miliary doesn't need help with their image.

Cowardice at the highest levels of government, no image consultant can fix a lack of backbone.