Marines are not soldiers period. That is why they'll correct if you if call them one. The Marine Corps and Army are different and many people refuse to recognize that or couldn't be bothered by the differences. call an Army PFC a private and he doesn't care. call a Marine PFC a private and he will correct you. Same with NCOs. Soldiers will call their Staff Sergeant "Sergeant." Don't call a Marine Staff Seargeant "Sergeant or Sarge," especially if you're a junior enlisted Soldier.
Your average civilian doesn't understand the difference nor do they have a need to. As long as it not done out of disrespect, why does it matter?
I have a peeve about folks leaving the "s" off of "Corps". Does it matter? In the interest of accuracy, and pride, it matters to me, and I will politely make the correction known. If a person has no interest in being correct, or accurate, that in itself speaks volumes.
Pride, and accuracy. If a person has no interest in being correct, then it doesn't matter. I have a peeve about folks leaving the "s" off of "Corps". Does it matter? In the interest of accuracy, and pride, it matters to me, and I will politely make the correction known. If they get upset about being corrected, that's tough. If a person has no interest in being correct, or accurate, that in itself speaks volumes.
I was taught by the Marine Corps that a Marine is a "soldier of the sea", originally stationed on ships and used for land operations or battles between ships. Also notice that soldier isn't a proper noun and isn't capitalized whereas Marine is.
IF you call me anything, the proper term to use isn't Marine, it's Sir or Captain.
IF you call me anything, the proper term to use isn't Marine, it's Sir or Captain.