Dear Members,
On 1 September, the Marine Corps Association Foundation held the first annual MCAF Ammo Tech Awards Dinner to recognize the professional achievements of the two top performing members of the small but vital Ammunition Technician community. BGen Francis L. Kelley, Jr, Commander, Marine Corps Systems Command, was our guest speaker and helped with the awards presentations. During the presentation ceremony, the Gunnery Sergeant Edwin W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Ammunition Technician Marine of the Year Award for Superior Achievement was given to LCpl Brent Smith and the Gunnery Sergeant Edwin W. Johnson, Jr. Memorial Ammunition NCO of the Year Award for Professional Excellence was awarded to Sgt William C. James. We congratulate both of these Marines for their achievements and we thank BGen Kelley for taking time from his busy schedule to be with us for this inaugural dinner. Visit MCAF’s website HERE to read a short account of the dinner, to see pictures and to view a video of the event.
Modern Day Marine Expo launches next week from 28-30 September at MCB Quantico, VA and the MCA will be there standing tall. I invite everyone attending the Expo to visit us in booth T-11. We will be handing out bags with the latest editions of Marine Corps Gazette and Leatherneck along with discount coupons and assorted “goodies” and we will hold a raffle with some great prizes. We hope to see you there!
MCA’s professional event schedule is projected to be quite busy in October. On 7 October, we feature a luncheon in Alexandria, VA, with LtGen John E. Wissler, Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources as the guest speaker and on 20 October, we will host the MCAF Fall 2010 Combat Development Dinner at Quantico with LtGen Robert E. Schmidle, Deputy Commander U.S. Cyber Command as the guest speaker. The Fall MCAF Luncheon at Camp Lejeune will be held on 27 October with Colonel Tim Geraghty, USMC (Ret) and MEU Commander during the 1983 Beirut bombing tragedy as the guest speaker. MCA has a battery of book signings with dynamic authors at the end of September and throughout October as well. As a special note for west coast Marines and looking further out, I want to highlight our first ever West Coast MCA Dinner in January 2011.
I invite all of our readers to review what we have coming up and to attend if you are able. Visit our events schedule HERE to see the entire schedule.
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.
- MCA Poll. Take our poll on the best books about Marines!
We recently asked our MCA Members and our Facebook friends for input on their favorite books about Marines.
We got a lot of input and came up with a top ten list.
Please take a moment to visit the MCA Home Page, HERE, and cast YOUR vote for the "Best Marine-Related Book of All Time!" from our list.
Of Interest to Marines
- We are sorry to report that longtime MCA supporter, author and leader of Marines, Major Gene Duncan, USMC (Ret), is experiencing significant health issues at the moment. A keen observer of the human condition, Gene is well known for authoring a series of witty books about Marines, their peculiarities, foibles and strengths and what makes them special with leadership the underlying theme. His books, Green Side Out, Brown Side Out, Scream and Shout, Dunk’s Almanac, and more, are unique classics of enduring value to Marines. We hope all of our readers will include Gene in their prayers for his return to health.
Q. Served as a Marine on Guadalcanal where he was wounded and also served as a drill instructor. Much later, and in another line of work, he continuously annoyed his boss by persistently insisting on using the problematical “Cone of Silence” during conversations on operational issues. Often seen talking in to his shoe to his colleague who is one less than a hundred. “Would you believe?” was his oft repeated and most memorable catch phrase. Who is this veteran Marine and for what is he famous?
A.
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.
The Prize! 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:Father and son Navy Cross recipients. The father was awarded a Navy Cross, for gallantry in WW-I with the 6th Marines and later served in the Middle East as a Marine Colonel with the OSS in WW-II. He helped negotiate oil contracts for the U.S. with Saudi Arabia during the war and then helped organize the CIA following the war. The son also joined the Marine Corps and was awarded a Navy Cross as a company commander on Iwo Jima. Who are these Marines?
Answer: The father was Colonel William A. Eddy, USMC, whose biography Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy USMC and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East, was published in 2008, written by Middle East specialist, journalist and author Thomas Lippman. His son, Captain William A. Eddy Jr, was the recipient of the Navy Cross for his gallantry on Iwo Jima.
The July 2008 edition of Marine Corps Gazette has a review of the Lippman book on page 59 for your reading pleasure and additional information on a very unique Marine.
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 Leatherneck for October will continue its tribute to Korean War veterans in this 60th anniversary year with an article by a young machine-gunner who dedicated 50 years to finding a pilot who saved his "Charlie Co, 1/7 platoon in April 1951. We add to that an update on Marines "In Every Clime and Place," an overview of the Marines at Texas A & M University, an informational article on the National Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola and more on Marines in action today. We hope you enjoy the broad spectrum in this issue.
http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/
Marine Corps Gazette
The October Gazette has several articles that focus on training and education. The sixth in the series of Attritionist Letters find the authors taking on the pre-deployment training program as a higher headquarters mandate that tie a commander’s hands. Other articles update readers on the steps the Corps is taking to improve PME for Marines who do not attend resident education. In addition there is a provocative article entitled "Are Black Officers Becoming Extinct?" There is much more content in both the paper and digital versions of the Gazette in October. Visit our website to explore all of our content designed to help you keep up with the Corps.
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 September 1945 - Japan formally and unconditionally surrenders on board the U.S.S. Missouri.
14 September 1942 - Edson’s Raiders shred Japanese attackers on “Bloody Ridge” on Guadalcanal.
Here is yet another selection of rarely seen photos of some of our Corps most legendary Marines and leaders from our archives. This time we feature Marines and celebrities and Marines who are celebrities:
General Lemuel C. Shephard with legendary photographer Joe Rosenthal of Mt Suribachi flag raising fame at the commemoration ceremony for the Iwo Jima Memorial.
Marine PFC R. J. Brount living large in the company of the notorious Gypsy Rose Lee exotic dancer.
General Lew Walt with veteran Marine Sergeant and renowned actor Glenn Ford.
Gene Tunney - Matinee Idol, World War I Marine and World Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the world from 1926-1928.
To the victor belong the spoils! Gene Tunney sworn in as 1stLt in USMCR after winning his boxing match against heavyweight fighter Jack Dempsey.
Featuring Amtracks for September
We are not at all sure what the term “YATYAS” means but have been assured that Amtrackers like it – so there you go! In what language is this mellifluous sounding term rendered and what is all this noise about Tuna Boats?
Amphibian Tractor carrying Marines in the Korean War.
Splashing out of the mouth of an LST at Cape Gloucester, New Britain in WW-II.
Jawa Sand Crawler from first Star Wars movie. R2D2 on top in foreground
Oh Wait…I mean LVTP-5
Vintage WW-II / Korean War era Amtrack belonging to 1st Mar Div.
Crossing Korean river in Korea to get at the enemy.
LVTP-5 in the mud of the Cua Viet river in Vietnam.
MCA’s projected events are detailed for you below. You’re Invited. Bring a Friend!
23 September
Book Signing with Jim Michaels,
author of A Chance in Hell: The Men Who Triumphed over Iraq’s Deadliest City and
Turned the Tide of War
The MARINE Shop
Quantico, VA29 September
Book Signing with Richard Whittle,
author of The Dream Machine: The Untold History of the Notorious V-22 Osprey
The MARINE Shop
Quantico, VA4 October
Book Signing with Jerry Ravino,
author of Elite: USMC First Reconnaissance Company of the Korean
War 1950 – 1953
MCA Book Store
Camp Lejeune, NC7 October
MCAF Fall Luncheon
Guest Speaker – LtGen John E. Wissler, Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources
Hilton Mark Center
Alexandria, VA14 October
Counterinsurgency Conversation & Book Signing
with renowned counterinsurgency expert Dr. David Kilcullen,
author of The Accidental Guerilla and more recent Counterinsurgency
Gari Melchers Home & Studio
Fredericksburg, VA
20 October
Fall 2010 MCAF Combat Development Dinner
Guest Speaker – TBD
The Clubs at Quantico
22 October
Book Signing with Col Tim Geraghty, USMC (Ret),
author of Peacekeepers at War: Beirut 1983 – The Marine
Commander Tells his Story
The MARINE Shop
Quantico, VA26 October
Book Signing with Colonel Tim Geraghty, USMC (Ret),
author of Peacekeepers at War: Beirut 1983 - The Marine Commander Tells His Story
MCA Book Store
Camp Lejeune, NC27 October
MCAF Fall 2010 Luncheon
Guest Speaker - Colonel Tim Geraghty
Marston Pavilion,
Camp Lejeune, NC
29 October
Book Signing with Thomas P. Daly,
author of Rage Company: A Marine’s Baptism by Fire
The MARINE Shop
Quantico, VA16 November
Book Signing with Robert Coram,
author of Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine
Visit the MCAF website: www.mcafdn.org for more information on our events and our programs.
Thanks to our MCAF Sponsors for Supporting Marines!
MCAF welcomes corporate support for our programs. We invite potential sponsors to contact LeeAnn Mitchell at l.mitchell@mca-marines.org for more information.
Be on the lookout for your MCAF Calendars! They should arrive in all of our members’ mail boxes during the first week in October. We hope you enjoy them.
Click HERE to visit the MCAF Sponsor page and see a complete list.
We invite YOU to join the Marine Corps Association - THE Professional Association for ALL Marines? It’s easy to do. Call us toll free at 866-622-1775 or click HERE!
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Comments
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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.
