Many, perhaps most do not know the meaning of the above term. Even less know the origin. Let me explain. Lt. Col. Evans Carlson borrowed the term from the Chinese in 1937. It literally means, work together. It wasn’t long before the term was adapted throughout the Marines and it was drilled into our minds during all my basic training.

During much of the war in the Pacific theater, it was a battle cry. The leader would yell, “Gung ho!” and the men would call back as loud as they could, “Gung ho!” It was the constant reminder that, that which cannot be done by the individual can and will be done by the team. As everyone did what they could, and a little more, it resulted in the accomplishment of the impossible.

Now, just what in the world brought this subject up, may I ask? Well, I was watching football. It helps me sleep. In this case, it was quite successful. I really had no interest in either Buffalo or Denver. However, by chance, I happened to wake just before Buffalo’s last score, which put them up by one point.

Then, as if on script, Denver started marching down the field. I must say, it seemed that Buffalo seemed to want to help them. Regardless, without putting all my readers to sleep, it all seemed to end with a missed field goal with only seconds left. It appeared that Buffalo had held and won by one point.

But wait a minute. As those who saw the game or heard about it, it seems that Buffalo had an extra man on the field. I guess he figured he could get away with it by acting innocent. He didn’t. The yellow flag came out and after a short time, it was announced to one and all, all over the planet, that there was a penalty against Buffalo for too many men on the field. The TV announcers confirmed it by counting them and using his illustrator to circle each as he counted.

And so it was that Denver got another chance at the field goal, which they made.

Now this is all interesting, but what does the one thing have to do with the other?

Well, the assumption is, and most people would say, that whoever it was that was not supposed to be on that field cost Buffalo the game. To be sure, it is partly true, but mostly false. If all we look at is that short time frame, it would be true. However, that game was not lost on that one play. Where they really lost it was as team when they failed to stop Denver from advancing. THAT… was a team effort and they failed not as individuals but as a team. There was plenty of blame to go around. Buffalo did not lose that game because of the one play and certainly not because of that one man.

If they had won, they would have won as a team. When they lost they lost, they lost as a team. They worked together, but apparently just not quite hard enough. Still, I would not have liked to be that 12th man in the locker room.

As I have mentioned many times before. It is why I joined the Marines. If I was going to be in a fox hole, I would want that other guy with me to have the best training in the world. And, by the way, I would not want to be sharing that fox hole with a woman. Better to have a man who, if need be, will be able to carry me to a point where I can receive treatment.

When this nation was in it’s infancy, we did have the desire to work together, to do more than our share. Somewhere, we have lost that. Now, many have decided to hold their hands out instead. Many seek the freebees and the government has decided to provide it, in exchange for a vote.

Now. Gung ho has just become another foreign word, which few know about. This nation will either continue to succeed together, or it will fail miserably as individuals. Incidentally such as bribes and crooked elections work contrary to working together.