A half-dozen US Marine Corps press releases (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) recently highlighted a group promotion ceremony in which these Marines “reaffirm[ed]” their oaths before they deployed.  All of the articles were identical except for the person, which is common for “hometown news releases,” or articles written primarily for use by local newspapers in a servicemember’s hometown.

What made the framing text interesting was its repetition of the oath of office…or, at least, most of it [ellipsis original]: 

“I…do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter,” said 1st Lt. Taylor Bates…

Except that isn’t the oath, at least, not all of it.  As the official Marine Corps website notes, it ends this way [emphasis added]:

…and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

It’s true, of course, that “so help me God” is optional, as is “swearing.”  In a group setting, where multiple officers are reciting the oath, the superior officer normally recites the entire oath, and if any choose not to say “so help me God,” they can do so.  So it seems odd that the Corporal who wrote the article specifically chose to leave out just those last few words.

It’s almost as if the military is hypersensitive to any association with God, even in the official oath.

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