By Seth Richardson
For 237 years the soldiers of the United States Marine Corps have been dedicated to protecting each and every one of us from all enemies, foreign and domestic and have honored the Marine Corps motto “Semper Fidelis“, with faithful obedience to their oath.
Few exemplify the “Always Faithful” motto better than Marine Sgt. Craig Pusley of Hughson, Calif, who responded to the horrific and heartbreaking massacre of innocent schoolchildren at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut in the very best traditions of the Marine Corps.
Rather than rail against fate, argue over gun policy or wring his hands in helpless fury, Sergeant Pusley put on his desert camouflage Marine uniform and stood to duty at Hughson Elementary School, his orders coming only from his conscience and his oath.
Without a firearm, but hardly helpless, Pusley presented himself to Principal Laura Fong at 0730 Wednesday and offered to stand guard at the entrance of the school, an offer that Principal Fong gladly accepted. After saluting the American flag in kindergarten teacher Annette Diliberto’s class, Pusley spent his seven-hour watch, from 0730 to 1430, vigilantly guarding and greeting children. The Modesto Bee quotes him as saying, “I just want to have a word to this community that I stand between them and any danger.”
And so he does, just as every Marine has done since 10 November, 1775. “I don’t need to be armed to do this. I don’t have a fear in the world that if someone came here I’d have the strength and the ability to protect them,” Pusley said. There is little doubt that he, or any Marine could do just that.
We should all be heartbroken that Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school Psychologist Mary Sherlach did not have the training or the right equipment to take on a heavily-armed deranged murderer when they flew at the killer without a single thought for their own safety and were killed on that terrible day.
Their sacrifice, and the sacrifice of teachers Victoria Leigh Soto, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau, and Rachel D’Avino, who all died trying to protect their students with nothing more than their bodies, along with all the other teachers and staff who responded quickly to the attack by sheltering children and doing everything they could do, must never be forgotten or minimized.
What should be forgotten forever is the name of the rampaging murderer. It should be extirpated from our national memory to deny him the infamy he sought.
The lesson to us all given by Sgt. Pusley and every adult and child at Sandy Hook Elementary School is that someone else is not responsible for the safety of our children, we are. Each and every one of us. We have a duty just as important as Sgt. Pusley’s duty to the honor of the Marine Corps to stand to and sacrifice our own comfort and safety to ensure that no one can attack our children unopposed.
In Israel, volunteers guard schools every single day, carrying firearms and sacrificing their time to keep Islamic terrorists from rampaging through the hallways. Since Israel approved this volunteer effort, armed attacks on schools in Israel have ceased.
It’s time we learn this lesson and take to heart the words of Sgt. Pusley and make them our own. We must all say “I stand between this community and any danger,” and we must stand to and perform, as Sir Robert Peel, founder of the London Metropolitan Police said, “…the duties that are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
There are not enough police officers or soldiers to man the entryways of every school in the United States. There is only we, the People who can protect our precious children, and that is what we must do.
New reports in indicate that Craig Pusley may have lied about his service record as a Marine, including his rank, which is unfortunate, but that does not change the value of the act or the important message to all of us, in my opinion.
© 2012 Altnews
The road to Hell is paved with good intentiions.
Admirable except that this community, this school and these children are fortunate that Mr. Pusley had good intentions. He could have presented himself as protector, and taken at face value that offer be accepted only to have things turn out very different. Such a person could misrepresent themselves and taking advantage of the feeling of vulnerabiltiy resulting from recent events in Newton, could then, having been given access, engage in their own brand of rampage.
I would hope schools would scrutinize such persons and be more careful than this school was..
this might clarify some of the confusion. http://www.navytimes.com/news/2012/12/marine-craig-pusley-military-service-newtown-122012-w/
This guy is not a Marine. He attended Marine Corps recruit basic training but did not graduate, never earning the title and most certainly not a sergeant!
I heard he was discharged after a year, which I would think gets him through basic training.
It’s unfortunate that he lied, and I agree that his falsehoods stain his reputation, but the point remains that he was willing to do what needed to be done, and it doesn’t impeach the reputation of the Marine Corps one bit.
This is the spirit and dedication that made our country ‘Exceptional”…I’d love to see this kind of willingness in our people again…To do it, not for the money or the accolades, but because it is the RIGHT Thing To Do…God bless this Marine and thank you for this story.