Just about anyone with regular Internet access is well aware of the sensation that Carly Rae Jepson’s song “Call Me Maybe” has become. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of videos featuring people from all walks of life dancing to the summer hit. Marines have already joined the act, as my colleague Gina Harkins pointed out last month. The video she pointed out then has now been viewed more than 20,000 times. However, we at Marine Corps Times would be remiss if we didn’t point out another, more recent version of Marines performing the same song. It was posted online early…
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Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer’s new book is scheduled to be released in September, three years after the devastating battle that led to his heroic actions. “Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War” will be available Sept. 25, according to its listing on Amazon.com. The 272-page book is written by Meyer and Bing West, a Marine veteran who has authored several best-selling works. It will be published by Random House, which also has it listed on its website. The cover image of the book shows Meyer in Afghanistan in 2009, wearing…
Marine Corps got you down? Worried about your next career move? Some people reach out to “Dear Abby” for advice. That’s the case, at least, based on this recent installment of the long-running advice column. The themes captured will immediately be familiar to many Marine Corps Times readers: DEAR ABBY: My son is 24 and was honorably discharged as a corporal after a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was deployed twice to Iraq. Since his return he has been attending community college, but he lacks the focus and is bored. He has recently announced that he would…
Cpl. Kelsey De Santis created a national stir last fall when she took to the Internet to ask celebrity Justin Timberlake to her Marine Corps birthday ball in a YouTube video. He said yes, and a friendship was born. Seven months later, Timberlake returned the favor, asking De Santis to attend the 2012 Spike TV Guy’s Choice Awards event with him last weekend in Los Angeles. In a phone interview, De Santis said it was surreal rubbing elbows with Adam Sandler, Channing Tatum, Aaron Rogers and other celebrities. She and her boyfriend sat with Timberlake at a table right near…
Marines can’t let their commander in chief have all the “Call Me Maybe” fun. The video montage of President Obama singing Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit is making some big Internet waves. But it’s looking like a van-full of Marines were on the “Call Me Maybe” case first. In a YouTube video posted the day before Obama’s breakout rendition starting making the rounds, some Marines were caught on camera dancing to the girly pop tune. So in case Katy Perry just wasn’t enough — check out this new Marine favorite. It definitely inspired these devil dogs to bust out some pretty sweet choreography.…
Ladies and gentlemen, clowns will descend on Chicago this weekend. Let the nightmares begin! Top political figures and military officials from across the world will be in the city this weekend for the 2012 NATO Summit, and the war in Afghanistan figures to be the top topic. It’s the kind of event that draws protesters as commonly as a Justin Bieber concert draws screaming teenage girls. A group called Clown Bloq has cast itself into the mix in Chicago, announcing in a “communique” that it will protest NATO’s military actions, among other things. From their site: Clown Bloq is a…
The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, ran a story today about some “Marines” in Afghanistan sporting tight pink shirts with pop-star Justin Bieber on them. When I first saw the headline I thought why would any U.S. Marine — a hardened warrior — sport a tight Justin Bieber shirt? Then I looked more closely and something seems off. These guys have a lot of hair. And the guy on the left needs to police his ‘stache. The Daily Mail reports that the photos were uploaded to Reddit by someone identifying themselves only as vchama. Thus begins my conspiracy theory. I…
When officials mark the opening of the new and enlarged Marine Corps Exchange at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in early May, they might want to brace for an unusual crowd: Dunkin’ Donuts lovers. We’re talking coffee and donuts, and muffins and bagels, too. Dunkin’ Donuts, a Massachusetts-based company, has more than 7,000 restaurants across the country, in 36 states plus the District of Columbia, and there’s even seven overseas. But there’s not a single one in California, a huge state where Starbucks and McDonalds are a dime a dozen. But come May, the state’s first Dunkin’ Donuts eatery will open inside the…
Feminist Naomi Wolf, author of “The Beauty Myth,” is calling Katy Perry’s new video a propaganda piece for the Marine Corps and has suggested her fans boycott the singer. Perry recorded the video for her new song “Part of Me” at Camp Pendleton, Calif. with the help of 40 female Marines. The video debuted March 21. Wolf posted the following comment about the video on her Facebook page four days later: Some have come to Wolf’s defense, including people who identify themselves as Iraq and…
Actor Michael Ornstein of “Sons of Anarchy” fame reached out to Marine Corps Times last week, offering to help the Marine scout sniper community replace its controversial “SS” logo. The effort has received a widespread and varied response here on Battle Rattle. It also has prompted another artist to offer to help. Luke Szczygielski, the designer of last year’s Marine Corps Aviation Centennial logo, reached out to say Ornstein’s effort inspired him to draw up some proposals, too. One of them is posted above, and the others can be found on his website here. For comparison’s sake, the Corps’ aviation…
