This month, the world has watched as Marines, in addition to other relief workers, have sought to bring aid to the people of Myanmar. The ruler of that country initially sought to prevent the delivery of that aid. Now he has agreed to delivery of an limited amount of aid.
In 1914, the Marines came to the aid of another rather unpopular ruler, although their aid reached him a bit too late. In 1914, a group of discontented citizens in Haiti actually attacked their leader. They tried to chop him to pieces. The Haitian ruler tried to find a haven at the French Ligation.
When the Haitian people entered the French Ligation, and proceeded to kill their ruler there, the world realized that someone needed to restore order on the island. The U.S. Marines were given that task.
The Marines went to Haiti. They brought order back to the island, and they remained on Haiti for two decades. They could not save the Haitian ruler, but they did manage to help his people.
Tomorrrow I am going to write some more about the operation now taking place in Myanmar. I hope to expand on the mention that I made earlier, about the fact that 1800 Marines were supposed to be part of a Navy training exercise.
