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(melancholic music)

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- The Marines of 1918 were tough

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and they needed to be.

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Think about the casualties they absorbed

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simply crossing the wheat fields

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to get into the trees to come
to grips with the Germans

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defending that position

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and manning the machine guns,

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that left so many of their comrades behind

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as they closed that distance.

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- Having the opportunity to come back

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and walk in the same ground

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of the founding Marines

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of our regiment provided
me with a perspective

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and understanding of the hardship

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that those Marine during
that time have to go through.

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- 100 years after the fact,

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it's absolutely critical
that we recall actions

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and sacrifices of those
who fought in World War I.

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The sailors, the Marines, and soldiers

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who fought at Belleau Wood

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were all part of that team.

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And the Aisne-Marne Cemetery

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where the ceremony is held annually

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on Memorial Day is filled

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with those who died

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from all the of U.S. services

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in order to defeat the
Germans in World War I.