Marine Corps League

Melvin M. Smith Detachment #586

Editors: Dennis and Sam Dressler

(509) 953-6266 (Dennis) or (509) 953-6267 (Sam)

sam.djd@comcast.net

COMMANDANTS CORNER

Greetings Marines!

2010 is here and we have great things to look forward to. Randy and Hank are doing such a great job covering for me. I look forward to returning to Spokane and the great Marines of Melvin M. Smith.

I got an unexpected phone call from a Pappy Boyington Det. Marine the other day. Paul Sullivan and his wife were in Tucson when their motor home caught fire. They put out the fire, but the repair took 4 days at the dealer. In the meantime they were stuck in a motel room.  Marine Sullivan looked up our most recent newsletter and found out that I was in Tucson.  I went right over and brought them to our park where we had a real nice visit. (Told a few sea stories perhaps.) It is always good to find a brother Marine during a time of emergency.

Have a terrific month, Semper Fi!

Your Commandant,   Jim Bennett

ADJUTANT/PAYMASTER/JR. PAST’S TIDBITS

I can’t tell you enough how proud I am of our Detachment.  GySgt Ruiz passes on to everyone that the Battery completed another successful Toys for Tots Campaign.  They did it with our help and many other volunteers. 

The rough numbers were: 4,600 Families, over 10,000 children, and over 50,000 toys.  The Marines can’t thank us enough for our contributions, but they sure tried by holding a “Thank You” pizza dinner at Bennaditos Pizzeria.  Sorry if you missed it. 

                                                            With a respectful Semper Fi!  Randy

SICK LIST-- Our chaplain, Marine Bill Town, has reported on the following Marines:  Ben Taylor is not able to make it to the meetings as he had been doing lately.  Val Ritter is feeling much better and working out at the gym!  Otis Dennis feels really well.  Ray Moon had an MRI of his back and is also on oxygen.  Dave and Carol Hamm are in their new place and like the accommodations.  Ann Whitney was having a bad hair day and missed the last meeting, other than that she’s fine.  Walt McKee was in the VAMC for blood poising – sepsis and now is at the Veteran’s Home.  Don Crain has degradation of the spine and is having a lot of trouble with his back.  Bill Borses is out of the hospital but there is no further news.  Thad Kelly has stage 2 prostate cancer and is scheduled for surgery on February 8^th.  Ken Daly has prostate cancer; he lost his kidney and possibly has leukemia.  Bill Town had his cataract taken out in mid-January and is doing great in that regard; he continues to heal from his shoulder surgery.

Other information from our Chaplain – if you have calendars to donate to our brothers and sisters at the VAMC please bring them to the meeting and Bill will make sure they get to the hospital so patients can use them to track their appointments.  Also, if you know of someone who is sick or home bound, please give them a call or a visit. 

 Life Membership Dues

To become a Life Member, you must already be a "Member in Good Standing". That means becoming a member and paying your initial dues first or being current on your dues.  Yes, according to the Bylaws, you could join the League, pay your dues and then pay your Life Membership Dues all in the same day.  This means that you could join the League for the initial $35.00 membership fee, then apply for Life Membership for the above amount for your age group.   (i.e. Tom Smith is age 36 and joins at the initial $35.00, then wants to go Life.  He has to pay a total of $435.00)

Anyone over age 61 would save money on a Life membership within 5 years of going life. 

MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY

The committee needs recommendations for a guest speaker and would like them ASAP because of the conflicts of a busy Memorial Day 2010.  Thank you!

More from our Paymaster, Randy Ott:

The following members need to remit their membership dues to the paymaster to stay current:  (If you no longer wish to be a member or have questions, then please call me at 998-9031 so that I may place you on our inactive list) At this point your renewal fee is $60.00 to get current and pay for 2010-2011.

Michael Bernstein Mar/09                Veronica Geyer Mar/09        Daniel Osborne Jun/09

Ralph Parkison II Jun/09                   Thad Kelly Dec/09                Thomas Nieberding Dec/09

As a friendly reminder, the following members have an upcoming renewal (Feb, Mar, Apr) you may remit $30 for your dues or wait until you receive your notice from National.  Dues are good for 1 year from your initial join date. 

February                                           March                                                April

Joseph Melanson                          Ronald Beekman                           Terry Bush

Joe Polello                                       Barry Blackerby                             Ron Garnes

                                                            Joe Burch                                        Harford Hanson                                                                                             Alan Siguaw                                    Gaylord Thomson

A hearty “Welcome Aboard” goes out to the Marines from the Colville Detachment.  They have decided to disband due to a lack of participation.  We hope to see you at a meeting sometime or even a breakfast if you are in town some Saturday morning.  Semper Fi!

Birthday Celebrations for February:

Wesley Clement; Daniel West; David “Doc” Kaltenbaugh

Karsten Mickelson; Randy Ott; Charles Lund II;

Walt McKee and Joe Burch

Happy Birthday to All!

Detachment Awards

The Detachment Awards Committee processes awards for the Detachment Commandant. Awards are certificates, ribbons, and medals earned by actions which benefit the League or the community. They are approved and given by the Commandant, but are prepared by the Committee, which acts in an advisory capacity. Each award is initiated by the Commandant or other member of the Detachment. Recipients are Marine Corps League members or civilians, but some awards are only for members.

Examples of awards are for: Distinguished Service, Appreciation, Community Service, Length of Service, Marine of the Year, Meritorious Service, and Staff Elected or Appointed. Civilians have been given awards for contributions to various League functions, for extraordinary display of the American flag, community projects, and there is an award for Eagle Scouts.

Bailey Reynolds was Detachment Awards Committee Chairman from 1990 through 1998. Holly Jamieson carried on in 1999. I have been Chairman since 1999, starting out with 2 other committee members. Presently, I am serving alone. I would like to relinquish this office to another Detachment member; but will work with the new Chairman as long as necessary to make the transition smooth. The Chairman or another Committee member should have computer capability to print certificates and databases. I have material on discs to simplify the work. If you are interested in taking over or simply working with me in order to decide, contact me at marks1924@msn.com or 994-9515 (or at a meeting).

Semper Fi!

Larry Marks, Chairman

Detachment Awards Committee

[Editor’s note:  When I joined the detachment in August of 1994 the only awards issue that was being addressed was membership ribbons and stars.  I, being the big mouth that I am, complained that there was no real awards program in the detachment.  When Holly took over the committee I was a member and she and Dick and I worked hard to make sure that the awards from preceding years for detachment staff appointed and detachment staff elected were caught up.  After I left the committee, and Larry joined it, the work expanded to start recognizing the good works and valuable contributions of our members as is currently being done.   Larry has taken the awards program to a point where it is, if not the best one of all the detachments in the Department of Washington it is one of the top two or three.  Personally, from my vantage point on the Department Staff, I suspect it is THE BEST.  We all owe Larry our heartfelt thanks for all that he has done.]

VA Bingo is held every 2^nd Wednesday of the month at 1900 

Come join the fun!

Calendar of Coming Events

2010

From the desk of Doug,

Greetings again from sunny, rainy, and windy Arizona.  It's almost like being on vacation down here.  Just had our yearly average of rain in 2 days, lots of flooding and standing water.  The good part is it warm, low 60's for highs.  On the downhill countdown, we will be heading home around the end of March.  Still attending the League meetings, finally won the attendance pot at the last meeting.  The Dog meeting was to have been held on 1/21, but was canceled due to the flooded roads, some of the Dogs work at the proving ground lots of rain there also.  Tangelos and grapefruit are ripe and being juiced and eaten daily.  Oranges (Valencias) will be ready probably the end of February.  Staying busy with indoor work, taping and texturing one of the bedrooms.

Your thought for the month: "It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed". (U.S. Air Force Manual)

Semper Fi,  Doug

Regular Detachment Business Meetings at VFW 51, every 2^nd Thursday of the month at 1900.  “Prizes to be won at every meeting”

Just ask Larry Marks, who won a USMC Flag.

Customs and Traditions

THE MARINE CORPS MOTTO:  “Semper Fidelis” (“Always Faithful”) is the motto of the Corps. That Marines have lived up to this motto is proved by the fact that there has never been a mutiny, or even the thought of one, among U.S. Marines.

Semper Fidelis was adopted about 1883 as the motto of the Corps. Before that, there had been three mottoes, all traditional rather than official. The first, antedating the War of 1812, was “Fortitudine” (“With Fortitude”). The second, “By Sea and by Land,” was obviously a translation of the Royal Marine’s “Per Mare, Per Terram.” Until 1848, the third motto was “To the Shores of Tripoli,” in commemoration of O’Bannon’s capture of Derna in 1805. In 1848, after the return to Washington of the Marine battalion that took part in the capture of Mexico City, this motto was revised to: “From the Halls of the Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli" – a line now familiar to all Americans. This revision of the Corps motto in Mexico has encouraged speculation that the first stanza of “The Marines’ Hymn” was composed by members of the Marine battalion who stormed Chapultepec Castle.

It may be added that the Marine Corps shares its motto with England’s Devonshire Regiment, the 11th Foot, one of the senior infantry regiments of the British Army, whose sobriquet is “the Bloody Eleventh” and whose motto is also Semper Fidelis.

Reference Branch
History Division

Marine Corps League Auxiliary

White Elephant Auction and Dinner

March 11, 2009

Dinner @ 6:30 pm

Auction @ 7:15 pm

              Menu Choices: Roast Beef or Chicken Cordon Bleu

                           Cost: $16.00 per person

                             Please RSVP to Sam Dressler 953-6267 by March 2, 2009

                    If you don’t want dinner, not a problem—just show up ready to bid!

Bring your wallet loaded with cash, or your checkbook, and a wrapped contribution, or two, to the auction that follows the meal.  Monte is back as our auctioneer!

This is the major fund raiser for the Auxiliary for the year.

This Month in Marine Corps History

A FEW GOOD QUOTES!

"The Marines have landed and have the situation well in hand."

(Attributed to many sources and popularized by the correspondent Richard Harding Davis during the late nineteenth-century.)

"To our Marines fell the most difficult and dangerous portion of the defense by reason of our proximity to the great city wall and the main city gate. . . The Marines acquitted themselves nobly."

(Mr. Edwin N. Conger, U.S. Minister, in commending the Marines for the defense of the legations at Peking, China, in 1900.)

"Your Marines having been under my command for nearly six months, I feel that I can give you a discriminating report as to their excellent standing with their brothers of the army and their general good conduct."

(General John J. Pershing, USA, in a letter to Major General Commandant George Barnett, USMC, 10 November 1917.)

"Retreat Hell! We've just got here!"

(Attributed to several World War I Marine Corps officers, Belleau Wood, June 1918.)

"Once a Marine, always a Marine!"

(MSgt Paul Woyshner, a 40-year Marine, is credited with originating this expression during a taproom argument with a discharged Marine.)

"Come on, you sons of bitches-do you want to live forever?"

(Attributed to Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly, USMC, Belleau Wood, June 1918.)

"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold."

(First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, USMC, 96th Co., Soissons, 19 July 1918.)

"They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines."

(Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, USMC 1943.)

"Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning."

(Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, Tarawa, 21 November 1943.)

"The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years."

(James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, 23 February 1945.)

"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue."

(Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, 16 March 1945.)

"Retreat Hell! We're just attacking in another direction."

(Attributed to Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC, Korea, December 1950.)

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 

The Marines are serving Breakfast!

When:  9:00 to 11:00, Saturday, February 13^th 2010

Where:  VFW Post 51, 300 W. Mission Ave.

What: Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs,

Hash browns, Bacon, Coffee, Milk & OJ

Cost:  $6.00 per person

Please come join us!

Enjoy some good times and okay cooking!

DETACHMENT OFFICERS 2009 – 2010

UNIT OFFICERS 2009 - 2010

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