WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.750 (dramatic music) 00:05.147 --> 00:08.096 - [Male 1] Every day, before I put on these threads, 00:08.096 --> 00:10.263 I ask myself one question. 00:11.044 --> 00:12.044 Am I worthy? 00:13.321 --> 00:16.078 - [Female 1] Have I earned the privilege to represent 00:16.078 --> 00:19.892 the legacy of all the others who have come before me? 00:19.892 --> 00:22.059 (gunfire) 00:25.355 --> 00:26.754 (dramatic music) 00:26.754 --> 00:29.493 - [Female 2] To protect and defend our nation against 00:29.493 --> 00:31.845 all who threaten our way of life. 00:31.845 --> 00:34.537 - [Male 2] Not only defines our motto. 00:34.537 --> 00:36.156 - [Male 3] It's who we are. 00:36.156 --> 00:38.906 (dramatic music) 00:40.519 --> 00:43.671 - [Female 2] Not everyone can be a member of our team. 00:43.671 --> 00:45.463 - [Male 1] It takes guts. 00:45.463 --> 00:47.512 And it takes courage. 00:47.512 --> 00:49.786 (dramatic music) 00:49.786 --> 00:52.738 - [Male 4] No one said would be easy. 00:52.738 --> 00:55.049 - [Female 1] But anyone who's ever worn our cloth ... 00:55.049 --> 00:57.792 - [Male 3] Or received the Eagle, Globe and Anchor, 00:57.792 --> 01:00.542 (dramatic music) 01:01.700 --> 01:03.533 or heard the cadence 01:04.431 --> 01:05.781 (Marines calling cadence) 01:05.792 --> 01:07.049 knows our name. 01:07.049 --> 01:09.799 (dramatic music) 01:13.257 --> 01:17.486 - [General Robert B. Neller] You learn from day one, it's about the team. 01:17.486 --> 01:19.224 We're part of a team. 01:19.224 --> 01:21.288 Anyone I've ever met, who's been 01:21.288 --> 01:23.827 awarded the Medal of Honor or any of our 01:23.827 --> 01:27.352 highest nation's decorations, will tell you 01:27.352 --> 01:30.254 they did it because they were part of a team. 01:30.254 --> 01:31.876 They didn't do it for themselves, they did it 01:31.876 --> 01:35.372 because they wanted to make sure everybody came home. 01:35.372 --> 01:37.205 - No greater example of that was 01:37.205 --> 01:40.705 my own situation on November 13th of 2004. 01:41.413 --> 01:45.082 I think I get way too much credit for that day. 01:45.082 --> 01:47.665 The real credit goes out to the 01:48.234 --> 01:51.186 Justin Boswoods and the Sergeant Robert J. Mitchells 01:51.186 --> 01:52.835 and the Lance Corporal Marquez and 01:52.835 --> 01:54.986 Lance Corporal Shaeffer at that time. 01:54.986 --> 01:58.653 Sergeant Mitchell, he ran across a kill zone 01:59.125 --> 02:02.165 in a room that was covered by heavy enemy fire and 02:02.165 --> 02:05.376 put himself into harm's way voluntarily 02:05.376 --> 02:08.531 to get inside the room with me and try to 02:08.531 --> 02:12.251 make a difference and to try to assist in the 02:12.251 --> 02:15.493 evacuation of myself and Lance Corporal Nicoll. 02:15.493 --> 02:17.567 I think that's pretty incredible. 02:17.567 --> 02:18.605 - [Sergeant Major Ronald L. Green] You know, Marines stepping up to 02:18.605 --> 02:20.140 the plate to save other Marines, 02:20.140 --> 02:23.057 to make sure they defend freedom and liberty, 02:23.057 --> 02:24.899 with everything that they got. 02:24.899 --> 02:26.399 It's no different. 02:26.627 --> 02:29.535 Uncommon valor is still a common virtue. 02:29.535 --> 02:31.435 (dramatic music) 02:31.435 --> 02:33.626 - [Neller] Seventy-five years ago, the 7th of August, 02:33.626 --> 02:37.459 the 1st Marine Division landed on this island. 02:39.056 --> 02:42.496 Guadalcanal, unlike a lot of the fights in the Pacific, 02:42.496 --> 02:44.996 was a six-month-long campaign, 02:45.530 --> 02:47.333 a series of attacks and counterattacks 02:47.333 --> 02:49.133 on air, land, and sea. 02:49.133 --> 02:52.633 On the night of 24, 25 October, right here, 02:53.470 --> 02:56.835 Sergeant John Basilone of Charlie 1/7, whose position 02:56.835 --> 02:59.502 was about 10 meters to my right, 03:00.226 --> 03:04.226 defended his position against overwhelming odds. 03:04.799 --> 03:06.621 - He earned his Medal of Honor right here. 03:06.621 --> 03:07.454 - [Male] Correct. - Yeah. 03:07.454 --> 03:09.030 - Going back and forth through the fire getting ammo. 03:09.030 --> 03:09.863 - [Male] That's it yeah. 03:09.863 --> 03:10.763 - Shooting out his machine gun, too. 03:10.763 --> 03:12.238 - [Male] It happened here, right. 03:12.238 --> 03:13.788 - And he was wearing a machine gun. 03:13.788 --> 03:15.252 (dramatic music) 03:15.252 --> 03:16.960 - [Green] Never thought in my lifetime I'd be 03:16.960 --> 03:21.627 standing in the same position as Sergeant John Basilone, 03:21.717 --> 03:24.384 led his machine guns, his teams, 03:25.964 --> 03:28.159 and he sealed his name in the history of 03:28.159 --> 03:30.242 the Marine Corps forever. 03:31.038 --> 03:34.547 - The main things, I think that all of us will never forget, 03:34.547 --> 03:37.567 is the terrible night bombings and air raids. 03:37.567 --> 03:41.245 You can't fight a plane, and you can't fight a ship. 03:41.245 --> 03:42.948 It was very frustrating because, 03:42.948 --> 03:45.954 here you had to sit there in a hole in the ground 03:45.954 --> 03:48.808 and take all this bombing and you couldn't fight back. 03:48.808 --> 03:52.126 You couldn't fire your rifle at anybody. 03:52.126 --> 03:55.388 But the Marines who were on the line on Guadalcanal, 03:55.388 --> 03:58.428 I think every man there should have received a medal. 03:58.428 --> 04:00.038 And I think every Corpsman there 04:00.038 --> 04:02.455 should have received a medal. 04:03.184 --> 04:05.642 - [Neller] This is a story about individuals' 04:05.642 --> 04:08.636 heroic actions, but it's really, it's about leadership, 04:08.636 --> 04:11.566 it's about perseverance, about resilience. 04:11.566 --> 04:15.483 They could have quit, they could have given up. 04:15.857 --> 04:19.024 There weren't too many good days here. 04:19.145 --> 04:22.101 So I think it's important for all of us to remember 04:22.101 --> 04:25.223 where we came from and who we are and why we're here, 04:25.223 --> 04:28.757 on our birthday, which is what we're supposed to do. 04:28.757 --> 04:33.590 Remember the past, honor those that are no longer with us, 04:36.128 --> 04:38.561 think about what's going on today, 04:38.561 --> 04:40.811 and get ready for tomorrow. 04:40.876 --> 04:42.966 We've got a great Marine Corps, we've got great Marines, 04:42.966 --> 04:46.788 our families support us, the nation supports us. 04:46.788 --> 04:51.016 We just have to execute, and we are executing every day 04:51.016 --> 04:54.458 and Sergeant Major and I are very proud of what you do. 04:54.458 --> 04:56.197 Doesn't mean we can't get better, 04:56.197 --> 04:58.313 you wouldn't want to make a mistake to learn, 04:58.313 --> 04:59.627 we don't want to lose to learn. 04:59.627 --> 05:02.246 We cannot lose if we have to go fight. 05:02.246 --> 05:05.490 We gotta do what these Marines did here 75 years ago, 05:05.490 --> 05:08.020 persevere against difficult, challenging 05:08.020 --> 05:10.437 conditions and odds, and win. 05:12.801 --> 05:14.112 We've gotta win. 05:14.112 --> 05:16.862 (dramatic music)