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

First things first…I am thankful for Capt. Miller and GySgt Aissaoui for coming to our February meeting to give us a rundown on Toys for Tots and to present our members with Letters of Commendation and a hearty thank you for the hours of dedicated service.  At this meeting in March, they plan on delivering the sweaters and shirts for the volunteers.  If you volunteered, please come to this meeting…

Second item up for bid... “The next item up for bid …” is something we will be hearing soon.  Won’t you come to the Auxiliary’s Dinner/Auction on March 12^th?  Dinner will be served at 1830 with the Auction to follow.  Please bring an item wrapped for bidding.  Let’s have some fun again.  See the Auxiliary’s input for the menu…

Last item up for bid...The Memorial Day Committee is looking for ideas for guest speakers.  Please call Randy with your suggestion.  Thank you.

Semper Fi!

Your Commandant,

Randy

998-9031

Calendar of Coming Events

UNDER THE WEATHER (SICK REPORT)

Chaplain Bill Town reports on the following members on our “binnacle list”:  Ben Taylor is reported to be doing fine but is encouraged to walk more.  Val Ritter was in the hospital again for two days; his face was red and puffy and “hurt like hell”.  His sinuses and tear ducts were clogged; he has been put on medications and will have a follow-up visit.  Otis Dennis is doing fine but he has been staying inside until the weather is a bit warmer.  Ray Moon has continued to suffer from arthritis and every joint aches.  Chaplain Town reports that he has gone through his insurance and he will not go back to the VA. (update:  Ray has been put on a course of fish oil and glucosamine but it has not yet been showing any effect.) (Update to the update:  his doctor has put Ray on oxygen for pain and he is to see the doctor again in 3 months.) Wayne and Dora Fish advised Chaplain Bill that they are “doing fine”; they continue to have problems but are getting around.  Dave and Carol Hamm are also reported to be doing real well and have no new problems to report.  As to himself Chaplain Town says he went in to have his stitches removed and his hand was puffy; he needed an operation to remove the infection.  He was out of Deaconess the same night before 9pm.  Stitches were finally removed on Friday20 February and Bill is to see the doctor again in a couple of weeks.  Dennis Dressler had his right knee replaced Feb 23; he is home and working w/PT to strengthen the knee.

SENIOR VICE COMMANDANT’S MESSAGE: 

March Greetings Marines! The winter has gone by so fast, we will return to Spokane a month from tomorrow. Judi and I just got back from a 3 day weekend in Las Vegas. We rendezvoused with some friends that I went to High School with. It was a good time and not too expensive. Walking across the street today I couldn’t help but acknowledge a Marine with a beautiful full color leather Jacket. He informed me that he had spent 25 years in the Corps.

Significant? I think so; I never have anyone acknowledge their Army, Navy or Air Force service with the fierce unbridled pride that a L/CPL out of uniform for forty years will display. The Few, the Proud, and with good reason.

Have a great month, see you soon.

Semper Fi! Jim Bennett, Sr. Vice Commandant, KE7ZPF

RIDE THE WEST HORSE

& RANCH EXPO

Includes Pancake Breakfast fundraiser for Toys for Tots

May 22-23-24, 2009

Moved from Fairgrounds to Green Bluff Road

More details to follow next month; please save the date.

                                 From the Arizona desk of the Senior Junior Past

Not much MCL business to report, the Territorial Detachment (Yuma) had their elections at the last meeting and no I was not nominated or elected to any office.  The joy of being "just" a guest.  The Detachment here does have a parade float and participates in all the local parades, two in February.

The grapefruit are ripe and one or two disappear off the tree each day, not enough days left to eat them all though.  Oranges (Navels) are almost ready, just need a couple of weeks more and it will be orange juice time.  Temps finally made it into the low 80's and the wind quit blowing.  Watching the temperatures in Spokane and waiting for the warmth to finally get there.  I think I'm about ready to head north but will wait another month or so unless you have a Spring heat wave.

My reports for the Spring Staff meeting will be on the table. (Awards and Marksmanship)

Your thought for the month: "Progress required victims" 

G. Medvedev (Russian, on the destruction of the Chernobyl #4 Reactor)

 

Semper Fi, Doug

Senior Junior Past Commandant

MARINE HISTORY

MARCH

 Jacob Charles Vouza was born in 1900 at Tasimboko, Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands Protectorate. He was educated at the South Seas Evangelical Mission School. He served in the Solomon Islands Protectorate Armed Constabulary between 1916 and 1941, reaching the rank of sergeant major and the status of chief of police of the island.

When the Japanese invaded the Solomon Islands, Vouza joined the coast watchers as a scout under the command of British Martin Clemens. On 7 Aug 1942 he rescued a downed American pilot of carrier Wasp. On 27 Aug, he was captured by freshly arrived Japanese soldiers on a patrol mission for the American Marines, who had given him an American flag for identification but it alerted the Japanese. The captors demanded the location of the Marines base, but Vouza refused to divulge the information. Furious, the Japanese tied Vouza to a tree and bayoneted him seven times in the chest and throat, leaving him for dead.

The "absolutely fearless" Vouza, as described by Guadalcanal veteran and author William Manchester, chewed through the ropes and crawled three miles back to the Marines perimeter, refusing medical treatment until he could report all he had seen. He spent the next 12 days in a navy hospital and then returned to duty as the chief scout for the Marines. Martin Clemens made note of Vouza's ferocity in combat; once he had sliced off the head of a Japanese soldier in combat, though Vouza later said that was not the head he held in the famous photo. Someone else brought back the Japanese head from the combat zone, Vouza said.

After the war, Major General Alexander Vandegrift of the United States Marine Corps honored Vouza by granting him the rank of sergeant major of the USMC and awarded him the Silver Star. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit. The British government also honored him by awarding him the George Medal, the Police Long Service Medal, made Member of the British Empire. He served as a government official on Guadalcanal from 1949 to 1960.

He visited the United States in 1968, and Manchester visited him on Guadalcanal in 1978. During the Manchester visit, Vouza insisted on donning his Marines uniform. By this time, many Japanese had returned to the island in the form of investors, and that made Vouza uneasy. He gave Manchester the following words to bring back to Marine veterans in the United States: "Tell them I love them all. Me old man now, and me no look good no more. But me never forget." Vouza was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in 1979. Until the day he died, he flew an American flag at his residence; it was the very same flag he was given by the Marines before his capture by the Japanese.

                So what do White Elephants and Shamrocks have to do with each other?—

probably nothing, but this year the Auxiliary’s annual

White Elephant Auction and Dinner

will be on March 12^th

in place of the regular business meetings.

Dinner will be served at 6:30pm

Start planning and shopping now, those white elephants go fast. 

Meal choices are Roast Beef or Baked Chicken Breast

Both include baked potato, vegetable, salad, roll and dessert 

All this for only $16.00

(Hey!  That’s inflation proof; no price increase from last year’s dinner)

Bring your wallet loaded with cash, or your checkbook, and a wrapped contribution, or two, to the auction that follows the meal.  A major part of the fun is bidding on something when you have no idea what is in the box or bag.  This is the major fund raiser for the Auxiliary for the year.

Please call Sam Dressler at 953-6267 no later than Saturday 7 March 2009 to RSVP

Nautical Lore:  Those Marines of us that can be considered “salty” or “old salts” will recognize the term Binnacle List especially if you have any time spent at sea; those of us a bit younger may be aware of the term but not its origin.  As with many military terms that are often based on tradition, the "binnacle list'' derives its name from a once common nautical practice.

The "binnacle list'' contains the names of personnel excused from duty because of illness or injury. The list is compiled daily to inform the officer in charge about the health status of the crew.

The "binnacle list'' gets its name from the old practice of posting the sick list on the binnacle every morning. For the benefit of those readers who are unfamiliar with nautical terms, a binnacle is a stand or support for the ship's compass. Long ago it was a wooden structure mounted in a location where the helmsman could see it easily. Placing the list on the binnacle was a convenient method of making the information readily available to the captain. Hence, the sick list became known as the "binnacle list.'' Although the list is no longer placed on the binnacle, it retains the traditional name developed from this practice.

POSTAGE INCREASES AGAIN!!

Most of you are probably already aware that the US Postal Service will be increasing the cost of first class mail by 2¢ per item.  Doesn’t sound like a lot, does it? 

With the other increases over the last several years we have seen the cost of mailing the newsletter (not production, just mailing) rise from 37¢ to 44¢ each.  Multiply that by approximately one hundred copies being mailed monthly and it starts to add up. 

To save the Detachment, Unit and Editors money we are trying to cut down on the number of snail mail newsletters.  If we have a good email address for you, that is how you will receive your newsletter.  You can always print it from the website if you like.

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