Posing with SS on a flag

[Kutnupe14]

Aside from the fact a family member was killed by a German sniper in WWII, Americans using this symbol is in poor taste. Why would any military unit want to lower themselves to be compared to the German SS? The SS was a political police force aligned with the Nazi Party, not a part of the German army.

Actually they had a military arm, called the Waffen-SS

 

[Kutnupe14]

Yes it could very easily happen. Over the years of my full time and part time service I found that infantry not only contained both some of the dumbest, but also some of the most clearly intelligent of troops. In fact the 10 years I was a grunt the smart ones outnumbered the dumb ones (most snipers I've known were highly intellegent). It was quite common to get in some great discussions on military history going all the way back to ancient times. I spent 5 years in an Intel MOS and interesting conversations weren't quite as common, unless you enjoyed talking tech.

Doubtful. The question posed was more familiar. If a military soldier is familar with the nordic runes, odds are he's pretty intelligent, and knows the symbolism of the letters SS in military circles.

 

[CarmelHP]

Actually they had a military arm, called the Waffen-SS

But the Waffen-SS was not regular army. They were commanded directly by the political hierarchy.

 

[CarmelHP]

The Germans used "Devil Dogs" it was an insult, and the Marines embraced it (apples, oranges)

Doubtful that it was an insult as there is scant evidence that Germans ever used it, it first appeared in US newspapers around the time of a few skirmishes before Belleau Wood. The grammar doesn't match German grammar. It's likely a tall tale.

 

[army bratt]

do not minimize this issue. you and i both know that this is to shock those who dont fully understand what the military are going through. that being said these marines chose the nazi ss script on pourpose because they know the power of the symbol. not to say they are nazis but their c. o. probably wouldnt approve...

 

[Kutnupe14]

But the Waffen-SS was not regular army. They were commanded directly by the political hierarchy.

I understand what your saying, and you're correct. The only point I'm making is that they had a very active military force, especially after 1940.

 

[hornadylnl]

I got accused of being a skinhead when I started cutting my own hair instead of sporting the high and tight. My leadership would not have allowed me to display that ss flag.

 

[army bratt]

god bless our troops and esspecially our snipers!

 

[jd4320t]

I seem to remember Hanes having some tv adds not too long ago featuring Michael Jordan sporting the ever famous "Hitler" stache.
Two questions: Were you upset about this?
Do you own anything with a Hanes tag on it?

The actions of Michael Jordan and Hanes do not represent this country.

 

[jd4320t]

The Marines have used that symbol for a long time. It's not in poor taste, it stands for "Scout Sniper". They are Norse Rune symbols.

Is it in poor taste for all these countries and cultures to use the swastika?

Western use of the swastika in the early 20th century - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's time we got over WWII and Nazi Germany. It's reaching the point of being silly.

Forgetting things like these opens the door to allowing them to happen again.

What the bashers don't understand is that they are Norse runes, the Norse (Vikings) were warriors and thus their warrior culture is often referenced by modern warriors. The SS symbols are no different. The Germans weren't the first to use them and they won't be the last. The Germans weren't the first to use the swastika symbol either. The Norse used it as a symbol for Thor at one time, but other cultures have used it as a religious symbol as well.

The "font" from Norse runes:

I don't doubt that you are familiar with history of the "SS" logo before and during it's use in the Marines. Would you allow yourself and the MAC to be represented by it? I'm asking you to answer from your personal and business perspectives. Would you risk losing credibility because of a logo? A logo so strong that some people would allow it to trump the fact you are a good honest man and perform quality reviews?

Comments are often times made based on lack of knowledge.

The people saying these Marines are racist or that it's in bad taste to use the symbols obviously don't know but one very small piece of the history around the symbols. From that lack of knowledge they make comments about the integrity of Marines who in my opinion deserve better.

The Nazi's used all sorts of symbolism in their propaganda. Are we to hate brown shirts? How about the colors red, black and white? Should we also hate Mausers, P38's, or anything else they designed? Heck, I have a Nazi marked K98 that likely killed an allied Soldier since it was a war trophy. Am I racist or a Nazi sympathizer for owning it?

I was actually reported to YouTube by some clown because I gave a favorable review of my WWII P38.

It's absolute silliness.

I would compare possession of memorabillia to personal and private choices of soldiers like tattoos, t shirts and such.

 

[SnowCountry]

Amen.

 

[Zoub]

Taking a human life is, to most, abhorrent.

It is actually unnatural to kill your own kind. It is a proven fact that at our core we do not want to kill another human. That is exactly why basic training includes human shaped targets. The Military studied this very fact and it is how they managed to dramatically increase the percentages of shots taken in combat from WWII to Vietnam. The problem was that in combat more often then not, people would not shoot at another person. I seem to recall the percentage was in the low 40's? By Vietnam the shoot percentage was up over 90%. That was due to training and conditioning with human forms as targets, video games are even better at desensitizing.

A sniper knows exactly what they are shooting at and often sees a lot of detail for an extended period of time before they ever shoot. They are not flooded with adrenaline shooting at a "human form" 7 yards away in the dark. They are studying their target and often watch them die. It is as close to straight up sanctioned murder as you wil ever get.

None of it is easy to do, but these guys are at another level. They are hated in combat and some have bounties on their head. I think it is hard to expect them to behave inside the norm 100% of the time. If the enemy thinks we have units of baby eating devils with guns that shoot 1 mile, so be it.

My favorite combat sickle

 

[birdwing]

The actions of Michael Jordan and Hanes do not represent this country.

At no point did I say that Hanes or M. J. represented our country. This was simply an answer to your challenge of finding a company that would employ something recognized as "Nazi" to represent itself to the world.
And, though there is no way of knowing, I would wager that a broader international audience has seen the Hanes ads over the snapshot in question.

 

[MilitaryArms]

do not minimize this issue. you and i both know that this is to shock those who dont fully understand what the military are going through. that being said these marines chose the nazi ss script on pourpose because they know the power of the symbol. not to say they are nazis but their c. o. probably wouldnt approve...

You obviously don't know that Scout Snipers have used SS for decades and I can assure you their CO is quite aware of its use.

 

[MilitaryArms]

Forgetting things like these opens the door to allowing them to happen again.

I never said to burn history books, I said we need to get past comparing everyone to Hitler and Nazis. It's well past the point of being silly. Darn near every political argument you hear these days degrades to a comparison being made by one of the participants to Hitler or Nazi Germany.

I don't doubt that you are familiar with history of the "SS" logo before and during it's use in the Marines. Would you allow yourself and the MAC to be represented by it? I'm asking you to answer from your personal and business perspectives. Would you risk losing credibility because of a logo? A logo so strong that some people would allow it to trump the fact you are a good honest man and perform quality reviews?

No, I wouldn't as the letters SS have nothing to do with the channel name or my past military service. The Scout Snipers aren't a business. They don't have to worry about people getting their panties in a bunch over thier use of Norse runes. Not using the symbols in business is common sense if you want to avoid controversy.

 

[jd4320t]

I never said to burn history books, I said we need to get past comparing everyone to Hitler and Nazis. It's well past the point of being silly. Darn near every political argument you hear these days degrades to a comparison being made by one of the participants to Hitler or Nazi Germany.


No, I wouldn't as the letters SS have nothing to do with the channel name or my past military service. The Scout Snipers aren't a business. They don't have to worry about people getting their panties in a bunch over thier use of Norse runes. Not using the symbols in business is common sense if you want to avoid controversy.

Publicly posing with a known symbol the Nazis used is opening up any person or group to be compared to the Nazis.

The military is a huge business. There are services provided by a supplier(military forces going to war) and customers (leaders of our country).

 

[Indy317]

You obviously don't know that Scout Snipers have used SS for decades and I can assure you their CO is quite aware of its use.

There is "SS" and there is the German images of SS. We are not using "SS" here, we are using the German "lighting bolts" as they have been called. Seriously, I have to really wonder about using a popular Nazi Germany alphabet symbol. If they have been using that logo for decades, I'm wondering who thought that up and why that particular "SS" symbol. People who wore that symbol on their uniform killed Americans in WW2, so it seems very odd to embrace that particular variation of the letter "s". (I'm not sure if the lighting bolt "s" is even the official "S" of the German alphabet).

 

[CarmelHP]

There is "SS" and there is the German images of SS. We are not using "SS" here, we are using the German "lighting bolts" as they have been called. Seriously, I have to really wonder about using a popular Nazi Germany alphabet symbol. If they have been using that logo for decades, I'm wondering who thought that up and why that particular "SS" symbol. People who wore that symbol on their uniform killed Americans in WW2, so it seems very odd to embrace that particular variation of the letter "s". (I'm not sure if the lighting bolt "s" is even the official "S" of the German alphabet).

It is not an "s" in the German alphabet, the Runic "s" is somewhat similar but not precisely. I can't believe that they were not aping the Nazi SS logo. It is somewhat juvenile and silly of them, but I expect that from young men in war. It is somewhat offensive to vets to do that as the SS committed various war crimes including the Malmedy massacre in which GI's that had been captured during the German Ardennes offensive were machine gunned in the snow. All that being said, I think it highly unlikely any Afghanis were offended and people are getting a little too worked up.

 

[Cerberus]

Doubtful. The question posed was more familiar. If a military soldier is familar with the nordic runes, odds are he's pretty intelligent, and knows the symbolism of the letters SS in military circles.

No, not doubtful. Yes, just about any somewhat intelligent troop knows what SS runes are, and it is just as likely the intelligent ones have some knowledge of the Nordic runes. The SS runes have been utilized by the USMC scout snipers for well over 25 years, and this is now becoming an issue? Read it as you wish, you will anyway.

 

[Indy317]

Yes, just about any somewhat intelligent troop knows what SS runes are, and it is just as likely the intelligent ones have some knowledge of the Nordic runes. The SS runes have been utilized by the USMC scout snipers for well over 25 years, and this is now becoming an issue? Read it as you wish, you will anyway.

I have a book on Norse Magic, and I looked up these symbols. They are not Norse symbols. As Carmel HP said, they are somewhat of a play on that symbol. The book also says that their symbol (which points straight up and down, no angle) is the Norse "s".