[Mr. I - Man]

81) When asked by the press, an overseas Marine doesn?t say ?I don?t know what my mission is,? ?I don?t know why I?m here? and ?I don?t like it here.? He knows. It?s his calling.

82) The ?Stumps.? The combat center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., is a huge sandbox in California?s desert. It?s where Marines go to play warrior any time of the year.

83) Best environmental motto: ?We?re looking out for a few good species.? They may be charging the beach, but Marines are taking care not to step on endangered critters.

84) Image. Marines get real network coverage, not the kind you need a gridiron and an academy to get.

85) AH-1W Super Cobra gunships. They are lean, mean fighting machines.

86) The ONLY combined arms force. You want jointness? The Marine Corps has been joint for decades, with its own air force, ground-pounders and Navy in one.

87) When the president cares enough to order in the very best, who?s he gonna call? Not ghostbusters ? but Marines.

88) First in, first out. Marines bust in first so the Army can do its job.

89) When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, the number may as well be 9-1-1. Send in the Marines!

90) Boss? night. Every so often, the NCOs or staff NCOs buy the drinks for their charges at their club. Can?t beat that!

91) Physical fitness. You?ve seen portly chiefs, but there are no fat Marines.

92) Everyone?s a Marine ? officer and enlisted.

93) Actor who should have been a Marine: John Wayne.

94) Former Marine who shouldn?t be an actor: John Wayne Bobbitt.

95) .50-caliber sniper rifles! OOH-RAH.

96) Most stickers spotted on America?s highways on car bumpers and windows.

97) The summer evening parade.

98) ?The President?s Own,? the Marine Corps Band. John Philip Sousa, the world famous band master, was the first leader of the band.

99) Value for your tax dollar. The Corps does it all for less ? just 6 cents of every dollar spent on defense goes to the Marines.

100) Best motto: Semper Fidelis, always faithful. That?s Latin, by the way.

101) Best twist on the best motto: Semper Gumby, always flexible. Yeah, he was green, too.

102) Best slogan I: ?Nobody ever drowned in sweat.?

103) Best slogan II: ?Marines go where others fear to tread.?

104) Best self description: Gungy.

105) First in orbit. No, that?s not another gunny losing his temper. John Glenn, that clean Marine, was the first human to orbit Earth. Now he?s a senator.

106) Marines are first on foot and right of the line. Marines form at the place of honor in any naval formation. Secretary of the Navy bestowed that honor in 1876.

107) When the President climbs into a helicopter, he flies Marine One.

108) Most prestigious helo squadron: HMX-1, the president?s fleet.

109) When the Navy needed someone to guard its ships, sailors and nuclear devices, they called on Marines.

110) Best personalized license plate I: ?1775.? It?s on the commandant?s car.

111) Best personalized license plate II: ?SM OF MC,? Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Harold Overstreet?s four-wheel drive Chevy Blazer truck.

112) The Chief of Naval Operations rides in a Lincoln Town Car. Commandant Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr. rides in a sporty Chrysler LHS sedan.

113) When the nation goes to war, the press covers the Marine Corps. During the Gulf War, there were more than 90,000 Marines in the region of a total force of 650,000. But the Corps outpaced the Army, 293 to 271, on articles about the ground war in four major newspapers. As journalist and author John Fialka put it: ?If the PR rivalry between the two services ? had been a basketball game, the score would have been Marines 149, Army 10.?

114) Best Heroes I: Smedley D. Butler. With a name like Smedley, he had to be tough, in self-defense. The Army rejected him, but by lying about his age, he got a commission from the Marine Corps in 1898, at age 16. From the Philippines to Haiti, he was an expert in suppressing revolution. His blunt style was pure Marine, and probably cost him a job as Philadelphia?s public safety director after his first retirement and a bid for the Senate after his second.

115) Best Heroes II: Chesty Puller. It?s more than the name. He started in the Corps with a reserve commission and was released in the drawdown after World War I. He then enlisted as a corporal, served in Haiti and received his second commission in 1924. He retired in 1955 a lieutenant general, the most decorated Marine in history, and probably the most colorful as well.

116) Best Heroes III: Lewis Puller Jr., Chesty?s son. He joined to follow in his father?s footsteps, lost both legs in battle, and went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He ended his own life this year, and he?s sorely missed.

117) Best Heroes IV: ?Manila John? Basilone. A true gunfighter from the word go. The first enlisted Marine in World War II to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Received it for his heroic efforts on Guadalcanal. Later killed on Iwo Jima, and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

118) All the Marines who have received the Medal of Honor. There are 293 in all.

119) Best greeting: Semper Fi, Mac!

120) Best show of pride: After the 1982 Beirut Bombing, Marine Corps Commandant P.X. Kelly visited a wounded Marine in the hospital to present his Purple Heart. Covered by tubes and unable to speak, the Marine simply asked for pad and pen. On it he wrote: ?Semper Fi.?

121) Best recruiting station: Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, 1775. It?s a bar, no less.

122) Only armed force with a beer named in its honor: Tun Tavern Beer.

123) Best description: Soldiers of the Sea.

124) Best slang for a Navy ship: LHA ? Luxury Hotel Afloat.

125) Best Marine quote from the Gulf War: ?I sure hope the Iraqis are good lovers, because they sure can?t fight.?

126) Best acronyms I: The MEU (SOC). Say it out loud and it says what it means. Sock it to ?em.

127) Best acronyms II: SPIE rigging. It stands for Special Insertion, Extraction. It?s what they do when they?re saving the day.

128) Hollywood loves Marines. A few examples:

129) ?Sands of Iwo Jima.?

130) ?The Wind and the Lion.?

131) ?Heartbreak Ridge.?

132) ?The Flying Leathernecks.?

133) ?The D.I.?

134) ?Death Before Dishonor.?

135) And television loves Marines:

136) ?Baa Baa Black Sheep.?

137) ?Gomer Pyle, USMC.?

138) ?Major Dad.?

139) Heroes. The 40,000 Marines who gave their lives on the fields of battle since the Revolutionary War.

140) Scarlet stripe on NCO and officer trousers. They?re not just sharp, they serve a point: The stripes represent blood shed in battle.

141) The Book of Remembrance. Stored at the post chapel at Quantico, it lists the name, rank and date of death of all Marines and sailors who served with Marines who gave their life in Vietnam.

142) Famous proverb. A young recruit asked the D.I., ?Sergeant, who carries the flag in battle?? The reply: ?Son, every Marine carries the flag in battle.?

143) The highest-ranking active-duty woman in the services wears two stars. She?s Maj. Gen. Carol A. Mutter, USMC.

144) Notable quotable I: ?A ship without Marines is like a coat without buttons.? ? Adm. David G. Farragut.

145) Notable quotable II: When the Marines found themselves surrounded by Chinese troops near the ?Frozen Chosin? during the Korean War, a Marine officer summed it up for his men. ?Good. Now I can shoot in all directions.?

146) Notable quotable III: ?Uncommon valor was a common virtue.? ? Adm. Chester Nimitz, leader of Pacific forces in World War II.

147) Notable quotable IV: ?Retreat . . . Hell! We just got here.? ? Col. Wendell ?Whispering Buck? Neville, fighting in France during World War I.

148) Notable quotable V: ?Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?? ? Sgt. Dan Daly, World War I.

149) Notable quotable VI: ?The raising of the flag on Mount Surabachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years.? ? James Forrestal, who was then secretary of the Navy.

150) Fleet submission I: ?My 10-year-old is proud when he?s teased about his mother wearing combat boots.? ? anonymous Marine mother.

151) Fleet submission II: ?Marine Corps spirit and purpose define American resolve and intent.? ? Carrol Childers, a civilian employee at Quantico?s Amphibious Warfare School.

152) Leadership. The Corps trains its leaders young and expects a lot out of them. And, gosh darn it, they get what they ask for.

153) Fleet submission III: ?Those hard-charging NCOs that have done so much with so little for so long.? ? Capt. James Lopez, Quantico, Va.

154) Fleet submission IV: ?The smell of gunpowder in the morning on the rifle range.? ? Cpl. Bradley Cameron, Quantico, Va.

155) Fleet submission V: ?It?s my life.? ? GS-8 Diane Pierce.

156) Fleet submission VI: ?The feeling of belonging. Whenever you go, there will always be someone you know, someone with something in common and someone willing to lend a hand.? ? anonymous Marine.

157) Fleet submission VII: ?The Corps is the world?s biggest fraternity. All our present and past members are, and always be, members of the Semper Fi fraternity. And unlike other fraternities, ours is open to women.? ? CWO Mark Roulette.

158) Fleet submission VIII: ?Knowing when you?re in need, a Marine will be there.? ? Staff Sgt. Cheryl Oban, Quantico, Va.

159) Hollywood loves Marines. (Part II: Marines who went to Hollywood).

160) Don Adams.

161) Charlton Heston.

162) Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo).

163) Lee Marvin.

164) Steve McQueen.

165) Burt Reynolds.

166) George C. Scott.

167) Gene Hackman.

168) Tax advantages I: VHA & BAQ ? your housing allowances ? are tax-free.

169) Tax advantages II: You don?t pay tax at the exchange either.

170) Marine wives. They put up with a lot but they have their limits. See No. 94.