Should the Attack on US Marines in Turkey Bring Back ‘Dungaree Liberty’?

Once upon a time, attacking US military personnel brought swift and sure retribution

[Note to Readers: A version of this essay appeared today on American Thinker, and may be viewed here.]

On Monday, Sept. 2, two U.S. Marines, assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit on board the USS Wasp, while on liberty in the Turkish port of Izmir, were attacked by a mob of some 15 people. The attackers were identified as members of an anti-American Turkish nationalist group called the Turkish Youth Union, a group with a history of attacking US service members. You can watch a video of the incident here.

The Wasp is part of a large US Navy presence in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, deployed there to deter Iran from overt involvement in the war in Gaza and to support Israel should the conflict escalate and/or widen.

(The Biden/Harris regime "supports" Israel with a contingent of warships, while it undermines Israel with rhetoric calling for a cease-fire and concessions, and claiming that Israel is "not doing enough" to free Israeli hostages and end the war. But that's another story.)

Relations between the US and fellow NATO member Turkey have been strained over the war in Gaza. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been an outspoken critic of Israel, accusing it of genocide and meeting in Istanbul with the leader of Hamas. Despite that, Turkish authorities rounded up and detained the 15 people involved in the attack; five have subsequently been released. No Marines have been detained.

It's reported that the Marines, who were roughly held by the mob (one had a bag placed over his head) were rescued by fellow Marines and escaped the mob. They were examined at a local hospital and returned to their ship unharmed. It's said that local police and Navy personnel are cooperating to investigate the incident.

In its prior similar incidents, the Turkish Youth Union has used the same tactic of putting a bag or hood over their victim's head while chanting "Yankee Go Home!" This is said to be a reference to an incident in 2003, shortly after the US invasion of Iraq, in which US forces captured Turkish soldiers and detained them with hoods over their heads.

The Navy reports that there are no changes to the USS Wasp's mission or schedule, but that all shore leave has been canceled.

I have never served in any military, but I know a few things. I know that the US Marine Corps is still, technically, a part of the US Navy, and as part of the mostly-friendly rivalry that still exists between the two, sailors like to needle Marines by "reminding" them that "MARINE" is an acronym for "My Ass Rides in Navy Equipment." And, speaking of equipment, Marines feel that they never get first-line equipment, but have to make do with hand-me-downs from the other branches, and if they grouse about it, they're reminded that their unofficial motto is "Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome." Marines also consider themselves an elite force and feel that the other branches are jealous of the USMC's high standards, physical fitness, esprit de corps, and their dress uniforms.

I also know that it was once common for personnel on liberty in a strange port to be targeted and victimized. And I know that the Navy used to have a traditional way of dealing with such incidents, and it didn't involve international diplomacy. It was called "dungaree liberty" or "dungaree justice."

It involved a contingent of personnel going ashore, not in uniform but in dungarees or "civvies," and seeking out and finding those who had victimized their comrades. And then they would "Go Buford Pusser on their asses." The tactic inspired a novel by George Palmer.

And, while I'm not saying that the sailors and Marines on board the USS Wasp ought to employ such a tactic, I'll bet they'd sure like to! And, in the absence of fear of such swift and sure retribution (not to mention having a Commander-in-Chief whom the world correctly perceives as weak!), those who would attack our Marines are emboldened to do it again.

ST