JT Goes to the Ball

A few months ago, a young female marine put out a youtube video asking Justin Timberlake to the Marine Corps Ball. He, being the incredibly awesome person that he is, accepted.  Oh how I wish he had gone to the same ball I did, but alas, he did not. In any case, he did write a little something on his website about his experience at the ball, so I thought I would share the link on my blog.

http://www.justintimberlake.com/news/my_night_at_the_marine_corps_ball

If you're interested in viewing the video that he references, you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I79UW6-NAAU

Every year the Commandant of the Marine Corps puts out video that we watch at the ball. It generally provokes tears and is always greeted with absolute silence and reverence. As Justin notes, it is incredible.

I love that he was so in awe of the ceremony, just as I am every single year. I love that he has so much respect for his military community. I love love love him.

I do, however, need to clear up a few mistakes he made in his writing. First of all, he continually refers to the marines at the ball as soldiers. Marines are not soldiers. Marines are marines. Men and women serving in the army are soldiers. Also, while we're on the topic (though JT did not make this particular mistake) the generic term for everyone in the armed forces is MILITARY not ARMY. So many people I encounter refer to my husband as being in the army when they mean military. Believe me, The Army and the Marine Corps are very different.

Also, marines say, "Ooh Rah" with great stress on the second syllable. The army says "Hooah" or however it is spelled. JT makes reference to marines calling out Hooah at the ball when in fact I am absolutely certain they were saying Ooh Rah. It's their raucous form of agreement. Also heard coming from my husband's mouth when speaking with fellow marines is "YUT" - apparently another common form of marine agreement.

Someday I will write a post called Military Speak Translated. However, this concludes our lesson for today.

Despite the fact that he made a few key vocabulary mistakes, I respect Justin Timberlake very much for taking the time to learn about the very honorable Marine Corps Community.
:)