MCA Member Update



Dear Members, I am please to report that over the summer SgtMaj (Ret) Kevin Bennett and SgtMaj (Ret) Adam Terry have come onboard as MCA Area Representatives. Kevin will work within the Northern Virginia area and Adam will cover the Camp Lejeune/ Cherry Point areas. Kevin and Adam will join efforts with SgtMaj (Ret) Frank Pulley on the West Coast in supporting our regional MCA efforts. We are honored to have these great Marines on our team. A new award has been established…The Ammo Tech Award… to recognize the top performers in our ammunition field. The first annual *Ammo Tech Awards Dinner, hosted by the MCA and the Marine Corps Systems Command, will be held on 1 September at the Springfield Hilton, in Springfield, Virginia. The award dinner will recognize the great professionals who keep the lead in the fight, and the guest speaker will be BGen Francis L. Kelley, the new Commander of the Marine Corps Systems Command. Visit our website HERE for details and registration. Supporting professional development and disseminating knowledge of military art and science are key MCA missions. To that end, we maintain all of the in-print books on the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program as well as a wide, continuously updated selection of other professional books of interest to Marines. We make these valuable resources available to individual Marines worldwide through our retail component, and to requesting Marine units through our Commanders Library Grants Program. In addition to making critical reading available to Marines, MCA goes the extra mile in many cases by also making the authors available! Visit our Event Schedule HERE to see the authors we have lined up in October and November for Book Signing & Meet the Author events. In our mission to support the development and recognition of Marine excellence, we have reenergized our social networking sites. Check out our LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages. Over 500 new followers have joined us on our Facebook page this week alone! I invite you to join us on all of our new social networking pages: Thanks for your support and please let me hear from you. You can do that by emailing MCA at comments@mca-marines.org. Semper Fi, Edward G. Usher, III* Major General, USMC (Ret) President and Chief Executive Officer
Member Section Reader / Member Input. Do YOU have something newsworthy to share with your fellow MCA Members? Send it to us for consideration and possible posting in YOUR *Member Update!* Anniversaries, Reunions, unit news, major milestones?? Send to comments@mca-marines.org and our Member Update Coordinator will consider including your item. Congratulations and many happy returns to Brad & Cathy Howe of New Hampshire on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary on 3 September! Brad is the Past Commandant (among other positions) of the Seacoast Detachment #394 of the Department of New Hampshire, Marine Corps League and the proud parents of 4 children and 12 grandchildren, one of whom also served in the Corps with 2 tours in Iraq under his belt. Best wishes to all from MCA. Leatherneck Classics Resurrected. In an agreement between MCA and the United States Naval Institute, USNI has agreed to republish several out of print classics of considerable importance to Marines and will also publish new original works for the benefit of military personnel and the general public. The first three in the “MCA-USNI Marine Corps Leatherneck Book” series are reprinted titles and are now available at both MCA and USNI while an entirely new title is under consideration and will be announced in the near future. Of Interest to Marines Military Discounts. Over 700 companies thank YOU for serving the country. Check out the categorized list of companies in virtually every line of retail, entertainment, health, automotive, computers and a whole lot more at Military.Com: http://www.military.com/DC/DealIndex.jsp Olive – Drab – Your Miltary Information HQ! A tremendous resource for militaria enthusiasts, hobbyists, historians and trivia contest responders. General information and an extensive photo collection on all the things needed to “…equip the soldier to keep the military fighting and moving” from WW-II, through the Gulf War and the wars of the 21st Century: www.olive-drab.com Amphibious Forcible Entry – The Movie. An absorbing 10 minute movie with great pictures, footage and graphics that explains the Marine Corps perspective and approach to Joint Forcible Entry Operations. Thanks to Military.Com. http://defensetech.org/2010/06/23/amphibious-forcible-entry-the-movie/ Q. A Father and son Navy Cross recipients. The father was awarded a Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Stars for gallantry in action in WW-I with the 6th Marines and later served in North Africa and the Middle East as a Marine Colonel with the OSS in WW-II. His language abilities were such that he helped negotiate oil contracts for the U.S. during the war and then helped organize the CIA while working in the State Department following the war. The son also joined the Marine Corps and was awarded a Navy Cross for gallantry in action as a company commander on Iwo Jima. Who are these Marines? A. Father:________________ Son: ________________ How to Win. Send your answers to comments@mca-marines.org and please include your name and address so we can send you your prize. We will hold a drawing of all CORRECT responses one week from the *Member Update* release date and then announce the winner in the next edition of the *Update. Prize Upgrade!* In addition to the highly coveted Marine Corps Association Coin, we are now including our handy new Four in One gadget as a bonus. Be the first in your neighborhood to get one. Here’s a short version of our trivia question from July: Question: An artist, I led a company of the 5th through 6 months of combat in a major war where I fought in every major battle fought by Marines in the war, was awarded the Navy Cross and later wrote and illustrated what some consider a defining book of that war that became an instant best seller. The book title referenced a certain weapon widely used during this and earlier wards but not so crucial today. Who am I? What is the title of my book and which war did the book describe? Answer: John Thomason Jr. wrote *Fix Bayonets* which was about WW-I. Congratulations to Major Chuck Ryan, USMC of Burke, Va for winning the July contest. We used a random number generator to pick him from about 100 correct responses. Most of the responders this month were correct but the most popular incorrect answer was veteran Marine, former Secretary of the Navy, Senator James Webb, who fit the profile by being in the 5th Marines, being awarded a Navy Cross and also writing one of the best selling and most definitive books on the Vietnam war - *Fields of Fire.* However, his book was not illustrated and the title did not refer to a weapon. ONLINE access to BOTH *Leatherneck* and *Marine Corps Gazette* is a KEY Benefit that comes with EVERY Membership / Subscription at no extra charge! Click on the Links below to Visit Each magazine’s website TODAY. *Leatherneck* Your September Leatherneck again hits our mission target, offering a broad spectrum of info on the Corps: Including an outcall with the Commandant; a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the Inchon assault during the Korean War; a young Marine corporal --Bob Arrotta--bringing air and arty on the North Vietnamese Army at Hill 881 South during the Vietnam War; a tribute to the history of the Women Marines in this 50th anniversary month of the Women Marines Association; the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab; and, most certainly, more from the Marines in Afghanistan and in every clime. We hope you enjoy it and don't fail to login to the digital edition (www.leatherneckmagazine.com) to view even more on the Corps. http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/ *Marine Corps Gazette* In "Chokepoint" the author Lt Col Karl C. Rohr, makes a strong case for the utility and necessity of capable maritime forces integrating Navy and embarked Marines to ensure the free flow of resources and commerce through global maritime choke points like the Straits of Hormuz or the Straits of Malacca. Capt Wes Deaver in "the Medal of Honor" opines that the fact that no Medal of Honor has been awarded to a living recipient since the Vietnam War has defacto made this honor posthumous. In addition, he cites cases such as that of Sgt Rafael Peralta who was killed in action who were not awarded the MOH and he views these occurances as egregious errors. It is an interesting and provocative look at our nation's highest military decoration. As always your comments on articles are welcome and can be emailed to gazette@mca-marines.org. http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette Corps Daily News. Read the latest breaking news about or affecting Marines at Corps Daily News featured prominently on BOTH the *Marine Corps Gazette* and *Leatherneck. Visit daily to stay connected and informed on the happenings in YOUR Corps! http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/ This Month in Marine Corps History* 2 August 1950 - The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade landed at Pusan, Korea a month after being alerted and beginning the significant Marine Corps operations there. Marines loading up gear and men just days after being alerted they were going to Korea.

(above right) A little over a month after Marines arrived in Korea to stabilize the Pusan Perimeter, they were landing at Inchon. This stirring action shot shows 1stLt Baldomero Lopez, leading his men from 3rd Platoon A/1/5 over the stone seawall at Red Beach at Inchon. Within minutes of this photograph, Lt Lopez was shot while throwing a grenade which he covered with his body to shield his Marines resulting in his being awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. 7 August 1942 - 1st Marine Division lands on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands for ground combat during Operation Watchtower, part of the strategic plan to protect the convoy routes between Australia and New Zealand.
*BGen’s Pedro Delvalle (Extreme right) and William Rupertus (Extreme left) observing a 105mm howitzer in action on Guadalcanal. Fire for effect!*		Marines crossing stream to enter jungle on patrol.
12 August 1918 - The Secretary of the Navy authorized the enlistment of women in the Marine Corps Reserve. 13 August 1918 - Opha M. Johnson became the first woman Marine after enlisting at HQMC.
From MCA’s Picture Archive – LEGENDS of the Corps Here is another selection of rarely seen photos of some of our Corps most legendary Marines and leaders from our archives:
Col Merritt Edson and MajGen Alexander Archer Vandegrift accompanying LtGen Thomas Holcomb on inspection of Guadalcanal. Gen Holcomb and Vandegrift were the 17th and 18th Commandants respectively and all three pictured are Navy Cross recipients while two of them (Edson and Vandegrift) were also Medal of Honor recipients.		MajGen Gerald Thomas, Commanding General, 1st Marine Division & BGen Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller Assistant Division Commander conferring in Korea in 1951. *Marine fighter pilot, victor of 3 aerial combats against Chinese MIGs in the Korean War, astronaut and United States Senator with his F86.*
FIRE for EFFECT! Lending Dignity to What Would Otherwise be a Vulgar Brawl… Featuring Artillery for August
The XM 70, 115mm boosted rocket automatic howitzer being tested at Quantico, VA. It had a rate of fire of 6 rds in 2 ½ seconds! Marine 4.5” multiple rocket launcher. Looks like a pipe organ…		BOOOOOOOOOOOM! *Organ music anyone? Tocata and Fugue in G minor?*
Our upcoming professional events are detailed for you below. We invite you to attend and bring some buddies for extra camaraderie! 1 September MCAF Ammo Tech Awards Dinner Springfield, VA 28 October Book Signing with Gene Duncan, author of *Green Side Out, Brown Side Out, Run In Circles, Dunk's Almanac* and others The MARINE Shop Quantico, VA 29 October Book Signing with Thomas P. Daly, author of *Rage Company: A Marine's Baptism by Fire* The MARINE Shop Quantico, VA Visit the MCAF website: www.mcafdn.org for more information on our events and our programs.
*Thanks to our MCAF Sponsors for Supporting Marines!* The Marine Corps Association Foundation welcomes corporate support for our programs and invites potential sponsors to contact LeeAnn Mitchell at l.mitchell@mca-marines.org for more information. Did you know that you can donate to MCAF through your sales on eBay? It’s easy. Click HERE to find out how. Many thanks to Otis Technology, Inc for their recent donations of state of the art weapons cleaning gear that MCAF has been able to auction through eBay Giving Works! Click HERE to visit the MCAF Sponsor page and see a complete list.
Want to join the Marine Corps Association - THE Professional Association for ALL Marines? Call us toll free at 866-622-1775 or click HERE!
Mailing List Get on our address list! Send the names and email addresses of everyone who should get *Member Update* to: https://www.mca-marines.org/feedback/. We welcome new readers! Comments COMMENTS? Send your comments and recommendations to: comments@mca-marines.org. Let us know your thoughts on *MCA’s* *Member Update.* Disclaimers “Marines” and the Eagle, Globe and Anchor are trademarks of the U.S. Marine Corps, used with permission. Neither the U.S. Marine Corps nor any other component of the Department of Defense has approved, endorsed or authorized this newsletter.