Female Engagement Team (FET / USMC)

Women can be and often are the most compassionate and successful leaders in the military.

Hospital Corpsman Shannon Crowley, 22, US Marine with the FET (Female Engagement Team) 1st Battalion 8th Marines, Regimental Combat team II on November 14, 2010 in Musa Qala, Afghanistan. Courtesy: MilitaryPhotos.net

(CLEVELAND) - There is a certain type of woman who joins the U.S. Marine Corps. She is not your average person by any means; but like others who wear the eagle, globe and anchor, she is a person of immense pride and dedication.

Those who are not wash out, there is no Marine Corps for people who only go halfway.

The idea that women are successfully entering combat is an advancement for Americans. For generations, in fact centuries, these are the people who have been kept back in important roles, filling the ranks of doctors and nurses who put the battle damaged back together.

Today female Marines are no longer called 'WM's' and they are often vibrant, beautiful, and still very feminine in spite of their work.

Some disagree with the idea of serving in the military but it is inevitable that many will and when you introduce a female aspect to combat, you bring a human element that is sorely lacking most of the time.

Women can be and often are the most compassionate and successful leaders in the military.

I have been with female Marines on combat operations in Iraq. As sad and tragic and needless as war may be, it is still important to recognize the advancement of an entire gender.
-Forward by News Editor Tim King

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Female Engagement Team (FET / USMC)

So, what do you call a fearless bunch of female Marines?
These soldiers are the, FET, Female Engagement Team,
1st Battalion 8th Marines, Regimental Combat Team II,
They don’t do equal they accomplish more than men do.

Hold your horses or in this case, slow down your tanks,
Women soldiers are more effective, what do you think?
Who is always able to get more cooperation than man?
48 gals working the volatile front lines in Afghanistan.

Sergeant. Sheena Adams chews bubble gum while on patrol,
Hearing of a soldier’s death a translator has come to know,
In comfort to her crying about the death of a fellow Marine,
This photo a constant reminder of heartfelt recurring scene.

Can’t be something trained or rehearsed whatever she says,
Then we have the smile holding two babies by Luz Lopez,
A Lance Corporal assisting in a village medical outreach,
And a welcomed break from patrolling the deadly streets.

These women who volunteer for the assignment participate,
10 weeks in Camp Pendleton, Ooh-Rah, its not second rate,
Anything attached by the tradition in the name U.S. Marine,
Is an advanced technological piece of a well-oiled machine.

Both Riane Donoho and Lance Corporal Kristi Baker are 21,
Corpsman Shannon Crowley’s 22 but when all is said & done,
Include Master Sgt Cherelle Peters-Williams it’s not too hard,
To see their dedication now add Corporal Catherine Broussard.

Here we have a list, several of the randomly dedicated names,
Intense by the seriousness, not computer generated war games,
Now, only back home not here they’ll breathe their last breath,
Patriots like Corpsman Amy Housley patches up life not death.

Guns, daughters, sisters, mothers & some lucky guy’s girlfriend,
Not the make-up of Cover Girl but one the military would send,
Now another sun WIll arise in Boldoc, at the Helmand Province,
Defending others rights in a foreign land where it makes no sense.

Miriam, Rachel, Rebecca, Deborah, Ester, Ruth, include Jael,
Mother Mary & Sarah also that Samaritan woman at the well,
Leader of a group of prominent women was Mary Magdalene,
On the battlefield thousands of years ago this did not just begin.

Pictures tell how they like to ham it up by the way they pose,
Surely, no matter the country or uniform a rose is still a rose,
These roses uniquely wear combat make-up dressed in fatigues,
FET of The U.S.M.C. proudly serves wherever there is a need.

By Luke Easter

Here is the female Marine in Iraq mentioned in the poem's introduction:

Luke Easter is a poet who writes about things that are very close to the heart of Salem-News.com. Another former U.S. Marine, Luke heals the world with an approach that reaches people on a different level, one known for centuries, yet too often forgotten in the one we live in.

We live in a world of social & economic injustice. The main reason for founding America in the first place was to relieve the oppression of the King of England. Patrick Henry said it best, “give me liberty or give me death.” And yet, all too often death seems to be the only way out. Why is there such a high suicide rate especially among teens, in the land of the free & the home of the brave? What makes headlines? Good news? Ha! More depressing stories than anything else. I feel poetry takes an edge off the hurt of bad news while still delivering it but in a, “glitzy” sort of way. Giving a different perspective. Kind of like slap in the face as opposed to a knife in the back. At least with the slap you’ll live to see another day and you will know whom it’s from. I wasn’t here for the beginning of the world but at 59, I just might be here for the end.

Even though it’s still a knife, rhyme poetry helps to dull the blade. And that’s my job. You can write to Luke Easter at: lyricsfromlucas@aol.com