Marines posed with Nazi SS symbol in Afghanistan

[3 legged goat]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46329740/ns/us_news/t/marines-posed-nazi-ss-symbol-afghanistan/#.Tzc7zOP-_9o

I found this story when looking for a Current Event for my class, and my first reaction was facepalm. This is way to similar to the SS logo. People have linked pictures of replica SS flags that look exactly like it. I can't believe that no one there thought that it looked like the SS logo. People have also pointed out that the Marines have used this logo for Sniper Scouts for a long time. Their logo is different though. It isn't just the SS, it has Sniper Rifles, Skulls, etc. The SS part of their logo is actually a rather small part of the logo. The least USMC could do is only allow the full logo or change the font.

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/02/marine-amos-apologizes-for-scout-sniper-nazi-ss-logo-021012/

This was an apology from the Marines. My thoughts are that if you have to apologize for a logo that you use, you probably shouldn't use it.

What do you think about this?

 

[Pimppeter2]

Honest mistake my ass.

This is completely despicable. I like how the defense is 'They're marines, they wouldn't knowingly do that'. What does that even mean? I didn't realize the US military force was now considered to be infallible. I think they should've at least sent out a memo, or something.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Looks more like the Kiss logo to me...!

And they didn't say they thought it meant that... they said their SS meant sniper scout... Sounds like you have right and truely jumpend on the media over exaggeration already...!

 

[LetalisK]

Eh, probably not a mistake, really. Though I don't know why they would want to use that symbol if they knew its meaning.

That said, good to know "everyone" thinks I'm retarded and the least educated person ever because I'm American and don't recognize that particular Nazi symbol.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Looks more like the Kiss logo to me...!

And they didn't say they thought it meant that... they said their SS meant sniper scout... Sounds like you have right and truely jumpend on the media over exaggeration already...!

Oh, and my sticking my middle finger at them does not mean I'm saying Fuck you. No no no.

No, to me it means "Good job boys". Yeah, that's it...

 

[Tartarga]

They thought it meant sniper scout... is that even a thing? How do you even go through life without learning about this kind of thing, especially if you're in the military? I suppose one could argue the symbol of the SS is nowhere near as recognizable as the Swastika which is how it might be possible to make this kind of mistake, but even that is a freaking long shot.

Facepalm is a bit of an understatement for this one, facedesk seems more appropriate.

 

[LetalisK]

Looks more like the Kiss logo to me...!

And they didn't say they thought it meant that... they said their SS meant sniper scout... Sounds like you have right and truely jumpend on the media over exaggeration already...!

Oh, and my me sticking my middle finger at them I'm not saying Fuck you. No no no.

No, to me it means "Good job boys". Yeah, that's it...

Because symbols have universal meaning, right? I doubt the Marines weren't somehow cognizant of what it may have been tied to, but that is a horrible counter-argument.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Looks more like the Kiss logo to me...!

And they didn't say they thought it meant that... they said their SS meant sniper scout... Sounds like you have right and truely jumpend on the media over exaggeration already...!

Oh, and my me sticking my middle finger at them I'm not saying Fuck you. No no no.

No, to me it means "Good job boys". Yeah, that's it...

Because symbols have universal meaning, right? I doubt the Marines weren't somehow cognizant of what it may have been tied to, but that is a horrible counter-argument.

Yes, a lot of symbols have universal meaning. Especially ones originating in a WORLD WAR where MARINES fought and DIED. If that symbol isn't known in America, then that's just kinda sad.

Maybe if we stopped funding the military and starting funding education...

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Look... As an Officer in the military I have been deployed with guys like this, and you know what... they do stuff like that all the time without knowing! I had to get a guy to recover some folders once because he put pics of Templar Knights all over them, but didn't even think of the imagary, he just liked the pictures...

You got to understand the media put shit spin on all things like that... The story is probably not anything like it says, and it probably is the SS from the Kiss logo.. The Marines probably didn't put the two and two together, that's now that they are trained to do... on the other hand, what they are trained to do they are damn good at! I'd like to see you keep your obviously far superior head while its being fired at...

That's the difference between them and you... it seems obvious to you.. it doesn't to them.

And yes, I would defend this to the bone. The guys fuck-up from time to time, I know that, but it's my job to understand why they do, and to steer them from doing it again! And even though I am not of the same country as these guys, I have worked with them and understand that yes... that can be a naive mistake!

 

[LetalisK]

Looks more like the Kiss logo to me...!

And they didn't say they thought it meant that... they said their SS meant sniper scout... Sounds like you have right and truely jumpend on the media over exaggeration already...!

Oh, and my me sticking my middle finger at them I'm not saying Fuck you. No no no.

No, to me it means "Good job boys". Yeah, that's it...

Because symbols have universal meaning, right? I doubt the Marines weren't somehow cognizant of what it may have been tied to, but that is a horrible counter-argument.

Yes, a lot of symbols have universal meaning. Especially ones originating in a WORLD WAR where MARINES fought and DIED. If that symbol isn't known in America, then that's just kinda sad.

Maybe if we stopped funding the military and starting funding education...

So everyone in the world understands the middle finger as "Fuck you"? There is no culture that would look at that and think "Wtf is he doing?" The middle finger is a bad example.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Looks more like the Kiss logo to me...!

And they didn't say they thought it meant that... they said their SS meant sniper scout... Sounds like you have right and truely jumpend on the media over exaggeration already...!

Oh, and my me sticking my middle finger at them I'm not saying Fuck you. No no no.

No, to me it means "Good job boys". Yeah, that's it...

Because symbols have universal meaning, right? I doubt the Marines weren't somehow cognizant of what it may have been tied to, but that is a horrible counter-argument.

Yes, a lot of symbols have universal meaning. Especially ones originating in a WORLD WAR where MARINES fought and DIED. If that symbol isn't known in America, then that's just kinda sad.

Maybe if we stopped funding the military and starting funding education...

So everyone in the world understands the middle finger as "Fuck you"? There is no culture that would look at that and think "Wtf is he doing?" The middle finger is a bad example.

The American culture should. That's my point. The SS symbol isn't some sort of unknown thing that you know, wasn't common knowledge in America say 60 years ago. Something that isn't part of AMERICAN history. Something that isn't im the AMERICAN collective conscious.

 

[Valanthe]

There's just no good way to interpret this. Either these marines are racist fuckwads (And censors be damned, it's the only superlative that fits) and now they've got the higher ranks -covering- for them. Or they're complete imbeciles for not recognizing the second most famous symbol of the Nazi Party next to the goddamned Swastika as it symbolizes the singularly most feared and loathed arm of the Nazi Empire.


Okay, I feel better now, but honestly, "We thought it stood for Sniper Scout" is right up there with weak backpedalling excuses as trying to claim that you were drawing a 'Hindu' Swastika. No, you weren't, and you're not fooling anyone. I'm all for freedom of expression, so if they want to be racist hillbillies, fine. But man up and admit to it, don't try to hide behind false naivete, that's just insulting, to everyone.

 

[Snow Fire]

Eh, it's just a symbol, a pretty badass, wicked cool symbol at that. The Nazi Schutzstaffel were bad, the symbol is not. But people will get offended over any little trivial thing. I remember when using the Swastika was a cool and okay thing to do, then some asshole uses it, and suddenly it's not okay because it'll offend people.

 

[AtheistConservative]

Regardless of what the Marines thought the flag meant, is this really that big of a deal? That here are some pricks in an organization of 200k members (who are mostly young) is really that surprising? Given everything that's going on in the world, how is this a news story?

 

[Nouw]

Eh, it's just a symbol, a pretty badass, wicked cool symbol at that. The Nazi Schutzstaffel were bad, the symbol is not. But people will get offended over any little trivial thing. I remember when using the Swastika was a cool and okay thing to do, then some asshole uses it, and suddenly it's not okay because it'll offend people.

I do agree with you on a level. It's simply a symbol and there's a chance they weren't trying to offend people and be edgy. This reminds me of the time I realized that the 'V' you make with your fingers backwards means 'fuck you.' Not in my culture it doesn't. Maybe in someone else's hand it means 'fuck you' but on mine it means 'peace.'

snip

But what if you were drawing the Hindu Swastika? I'd be a little scared of drawing the Buddhist swastika if everyone jumped to the conclusion that I was trying to be a racist fuckward. A general rule of thumb is though, curved=Nazi/straight=everything else. But this is a general rule, it's shown to be curved in the past too.

 

[Hal10k]

The problem is that the double S symbol isn't widely recognized in American culture. It isn't that the educational system fails to cover it; most units on WWII tend to spend a great deal of time on the internal workings of Nazi Germany, the SS inclusive. The media simply fails to emphasize the imagery associated with the SS, and as much as we like to believe that we remember everything we're taught in school, what we're immediately able to recognize is dictated by how often we see it and how much we have a vested personal interest in it. The latter would mainly apply to history buffs in this case, and the media has really dropped the ball on the former.

The reason the Swastika is immediately recognizable is because seventy years of war movies, books, video games, etc have drilled it into the general consciousness that these were bad people. Were it not for popular culture preserving Hitler's image, it would once again be socially permissible for me to grow a particular moustache. The same has not happened to the double S symbol, and as such it's somewhat unknown. The Death's Head symbol would probably surpass it in identifiability with the Nazi party, simply because a skull looks more impressive to a movie producer than a weird font.

(Note that I'm only speaking from what I have witnessed. If your viewpoint differs, I acquiesce the point and return to my corner to sob uncontrollably to myself.)

 

[Lionsfan]

The American culture should. That's my point. The SS symbol isn't some sort of unknown thing that you know, wasn't common knowledge in America say 60 years ago. Something that isn't part of AMERICAN history. Something that isn't in the AMERICAN collective conscious.

I think it's the Swastika that's really known and embedded in the collective conscious. But the SS logo is never really used or associated with imagery from WWII unless you look into it, which Public Education doesn't really do. It's not an American thing either, people ***** about "how stupid we are" but I guarantee if you polled people from every country except Germany with "is this a Heavy Metal logo", the majority of people would say yes.

 

[Temple Guard]

The stylized S in the picture with the Marines has been an unofficial symbol of the Marine Corps Scout Snipers for at least two or three decades. Their is no story here.