#210: Road to 250/Semper Cinema – Heartbreak Ridge

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for listening and your continued support. This week, we continue our Road to 250 segment, celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Throughout the rest of the year, we’ll feature stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history. The MCA also has a commemorative Road to 250 coin collection. These commemorative challenge coins can only be found through the MCA. Go to marineshop.net to order individual coins or email [email protected] to order the entire set or learn more. 

This month, we walk the Road to 250 with another Semper Cinema crossover. The team decided to watch Heartbreak Ridge. Luckily, the film is set around the 1983 invasion of Grenada, which fits into September’s era of Marine Corps history, or else we might be accused of just using the podcast as an excuse to watch cheesy Marine Corps movies on the association’s dime. And, to add further legitimacy to this segment, we brought our editor-in-chief, Col Chris Woodbridge, into the studio to talk about the movie, the invasion of Granada, and what influences both have had on a generation of Marines coming up in the 80s and 90s.    

Enjoy!. 


#209: MDM 2025 – Toys for Tots

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in. This week is the conclusion of our audio-only Modern Day Marine 2025 series. As with the previous MDMs, we were recording from the showroom floor, but as some of you know, this year we recorded some on video for our YouTube channel and others we recorded as audio-only podcasts. In this series, we’ve covered conversations ranging from veteran support organizations to future ops and wargaming to Toys for Tots, so if you missed any, please go back and check them out. We’ve really enjoyed sharing these conversations with you. Hope to see you at Modern Day Marine 2026. 

Our final episode features Gunnar Spafford and John Haehn from Toys for Tots. Gunnar is the Deputy Vice President of Business Development and John is not only the Media Manager but also the voice of and mascot of Gunny Bear, the Toys for Tots mascot. Gunnar and John talk to us about what it is that Toys for Tots does, some of the history of the foundation and it’s links to Walk Disney, some of the successes and challenges, and how people can support providing for children at need. One of the mottos of Toys for Tots is that it’s more than just a toy and we’re really happy that we were able to put a spotlight on the good things this foundation is doing for kids and the community.  

Enjoy! 


linkedin.com/in/gunnar-spafford 

linkedin.com/in/john-haehn-184a63102 

toysfortots.org