Marines criticized for posing with flag similar to Nazi SS logo

A photo of a Marine Corps unit posing with a flag similar to
the Nazi’s SS logo has angered Jewish and military religious groups and put the
Marine Corps on the defensive once again over an Internet posting.

Marine scout snipers from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion are
seen posing with a flag with a lightning-bolt-shaped SS, resembling the Nazi’s
SS logo, in a photo taken in September 2010.

Marines spokeswoman Maj. Gabrielle Chapin said that the
Inspector General’s office investigated the incident in November 2011 when the
Marines learned of the photo. She said the Marines in question, who were
stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, acknowledged that the use of the flag
was not acceptable, but said they were not punished because the incident was
not racially motivated, as they didn’t intend it to be connected the SS.

The SS, or Schutzstaffel, was Adolf Hitler’s elite unit that carried
out the killing of millions of Jews and other groups persecuted by the Nazis.

{mosads}“The commander determined that disciplinary action was not
warranted,” Chapin said. “Further, all Marines in the unit were reminded that
any such behavior would not be tolerated and further display could result in
punishment.”

But when the photo surfaced on the Internet, the Military
Religious Freedom Foundation flagged it Thursday and demanded punishment.

“If these photographs are what they appear to be, we demand
that you take all necessary action to see that they are removed from the
Internet and that everyone associated with the matter, including anyone who
condoned it, be the subject of immediate and public court-martial proceedings,”
the group’s founder Randal Mathis wrote in a letter to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James
Amos.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a
Jewish human rights group, said in a statement that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and
President Obama should “immediately investigate on how such an outrage could
have occurred and to discipline all those involved.”

“In addition, it is clear that younger generations entering
the U.S. military need to be better educated about the lessons of World War II
and the Holocaust,” Hier said.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Friday that
Panetta has asked the Marines to investigate.

“Racist and anti-Semitic symbols have absolutely no
place alongside the men and women of America’s armed forces,” Little said in a
statement. “Secretary Panetta has asked the Marine Corps to look into this
matter and to take appropriate action.”

For the Marines, the flag incident comes a month after a
video surfaced on the Internet of Marines urinating on corpses of the Taliban.
The video was condemned by U.S. officials as well as Afghan President Hamid
Karzai, and the Marines have identified the personnel in the video.