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Editorial: Environmental warriors

Uncommon valor was a common virtue.

When it comes to Marines protecting the environment, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz’s comment on the U.S. troops fighting on Iwo Jima still rings true.

From California to the Carolinas, Marine bases are among the cleanest, most environmentally conscious properties on the planet. A long-running joke claims that San Diego and Los Angeles would have long ago merged into one huge parking lot were it not for the Marines of Camp Pendleton holding their ground.

In conjunction with Earth Day, Camp Pendleton officials held a grand opening ceremony for the new base recycling center, expected to bring millions of dollars back to the Corps while also making the world a better place.

Considering the Marine Corps’ commitment to world stewardship, a recent photo illustration on Time magazine’s cover could be viewed as a badge of honor to its efforts.

The image shows the iconic flag-raising at Iwo Jima, one of the Corps’ most sacred images, altered to show the Marines instead planting a tree atop Mount Suribachi. The altered photo is accompanied by the headline “How to Win the War on Global Warming.”

But messing with the iconic Iwo flag-raising image is, to many Marines, almost like making a cartoon of Mohammad is to radical Islamists. For the aging vets who lost thousands of friends and brothers on the Japanese island in the deadliest battle in Marine Corps history, it’s a sacrilege.

But if you can remove the emotion (and some people’s doubts about the reality of global warming) from the mix, Time’s illustration makes a solid point: Marines take care of the environment.

Training schedules are altered for nesting sea turtles and woodpeckers. Recycling and energy conservation are key issues for installation commanders.

That Marines old and new object to any alteration of the Iwo image is understandable. But the flag-raising photo has come to mean much more than just Marines succeeding in war. It has come to represent overcoming tremendous odds to save the day.

The Corps does its part. Uncommon valor is still a common virtue.

It was nice of Time to notice.