Cy O’Brien delivers patriotic speech

Former Marine CC Cy O'Brien is surrounded by his daughters Bridget Turow, Patricia Cahill, and Johnine Meehan following his July

“It’s a daring aspect of this war in Afghanistan ,” said the speaker. “It’s conducted by very small, squad-sized groups of Marines and soldiers and it is called counter insurgency.”

The man at the flag-decked podium, shaded slightly from the near 100-degree heat, was 91-year-old former Marine combat correspondent Cyril O’Brien, the guest speaker at the July 5th, Independence Day celebration at Leisure World (pop. 5,500) in Silver Spring, Md.  There was a long parade including a former governor, the county executive and hundreds more. A band played martial tunes, a community vocal group sang the Marines Hymn.

The audience, many using canes, walkers and wheel chairs, were there to help paint the sprawling complex “red white and blue” for the 35th year in a row and to hear from their own neighbor. 

O’Brien, a World War II veteran of fighting on Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima , did not let them down. He had a sound system but he really didn’t need it. He spoke of freedom and what it took for his country to achieve it. “Freedom is not free,” he said. “We had to fight for what we got.”

He identified fellow Leisure World vets such as Army Sergeant Roy Rosfeld, a medic who was on the beach at Normandy on D-Day and Marine William Logan who lost a leg while fighting with the 4th Division on Iwo .

“But now,” he said, “we have brave sons and daughters fighting in Iraq   and Afghanistan for the same things we fought for many years ago. These small units in armored vehicles go where the enemy is to offer help to civilians. A State Department official goes with them because he or she has the money and the authority to give those people schools, hospitals, security, food, sanitation and medical assistance.”

“Marine Major Paul Greenberg told me how these young Americans are helping shape the future, raising the standard of living and helping create a free society.”

“Would you believe,” O’Brien said, “the Marines are giving them seeds, fertilizer, helping them with planting new crops and breaking their dependence on poppy and the Taliban.”

“So let’s look at what we’ve done and done well. This is our country’s birthday and we can brag about it. God bless America and Semper Fidelis.”