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Another year has past us by and
very quickly to say the least. We have made some strides in some areas and
nothing in other areas. Membership has continued to grow slightly but in
the same turn some members have fell by the wayside for some reason or the
other. These names will be printed, not to embarrass anyone but to
encourage anyone who knew the brother to encourage him to renew his
membership. If he has fallen on hard times, there is a possibility that
the Detachment can help him with any financial problem he may have
accrued. That brings us to the other matter. FINANCES: This is a matter
that falls on all of us, not just the Sr. Vice Commandant and also
membership. These items should be the concern of everyone not just the two
officers delegated and elected to this problem.
The first 6 months of this year is going to a busy time. A lot of things
are in progress. Nomination of the four elected offices will be held on
the 24th of March. If you are interested in running for one of these four
offices, Commandant, Sr. Vice Commandant, Jr. Vice Commandant or Judge
Advocate you must let your intentions be known to the election committee
prior to the Feb. meeting and if you cannot be present at the election on
28 April you must submit a letter of acceptance to the particular office
you plan on running for.
Elections and installation will take place on the 4th Monday, 28 April.
The Department Convention will be held on 9 and 10 May, 2002 at the
Princess Royale in Ocean City, MD. Packets will be mailed to each member
prior to this in time to make reservations, prices, criteria, etc. Make
plans to enjoy a great weekend with your family.
Again this year, the Joint Veterans Commission will be visiting our
elected officials in the State House in Annapolis on 3 February commencing
at 1700 hours. Our Detachment is invited to attend. Food and refreshments
wi11 be catered and served by the JVC. There is no cost to attend and
partake but we ask that you wear your prescribed uniform or a coat and tie
with your Marine Corps League cover if you have one. If not and you have a
cover from one of the other service organizations, wear that one. If that
doesn't work, we will find you a cover. We want to impress upon those
politicians we are a strong military organization. There will also be a
National mid-winter conference on 6, 7 and 8 February at Fairfax, VA. This
is a great time to observe the workings of your National Organization. All
officers and those of you who are contemplating on seeking an office
within the Detachment should attend on Friday, 7 Feb. Chances are you may
see someone you have served with at some time or other since these Marines
come from all over the U.S. We will depart for Fairfax from the VFW Post
on Thursday at 1200 hrs. Friday and Sat. we will depart at 0700 hrs.
Hopefully we can car pool. You can call Guy Hall @ 410-761-2592 for
further details.
Following are some nostalgias that may be of interest to a great many of
you: 20 Jan, 1968, Battle of Khe Sanh began. Operation Desert Storm began
17 Jan/ 1991, Operation Thunderbolt began 25 Jan 1951, 27 Jan 1973,
Vietnam Peace Accord signed. 30 Jan 1968 Tet Offensive began, next day
Battle of Hue began. Battle ot' Hill 440 started 5 Feb 1951 Cooperation
Homecoming began 12 Feb 1973. Sinking of the USS Maine occurred 15 Feb
1898. Above all 23 Feb 1945 the U.S. MARINES raised the flag atop Mt.
Suribachi on Iwo Jima. This was the toughest battle the Marines have ever
been engaged in. Of the 80 Marines who received the Medal of Honor during
WW II, 22 received it here. On the second day on Iwo, PFC JACKLYN H. LUCAS
of Plymouth, N.C. received the Medal of Honor after hurling himself over
other Marines and smothering two Japanese grenades under his body
absorbing the explosions. He is the youngest Marine at seventeen years and
six days old ever awarded the Medal of Honor. The total Marine casualties
on Iwo was 25,851. The operation of Desert Storm Ground Campaign began 24
Feb 1991. Two days later the Battle of 73 Easting at Purim and the next
day the Battles of Medina Ridge and of Norfolk started. 27 Feb 1991.
I usually don't endorse a movie or book but if you are interested in our
history , pick up "The U.S. Marine Corps Story" third revised edition by
J. Robert Moskin, 877 pages of true Marine Corps History in its glory at
the library or one of the prominent book stores.
Our Chaplain, Les Bates has been up and down quite often over the past few
weeks with the flu and other complications. He would welcome a phone call
from you @,410-987-0386 as well as Marine Bob Llovd who has ongoing
complications @ 102 Herbert Ct., Glen Burnie, MD, 21060 or 410-761-8945.
If anyone knows of any brother who is laid up or in distress please call
Marine Bates and give him the information. We need more communications
between our members. A great many circumstances we find out after the fact
and this should be curtailed.
Congratulations to Associate- Member and our Hospitality Chairman, Robby
Robinson on his recent marriage to his new bride Chong.
The VFW is having a "BULL AND OYSTER ROAST" Sun. 27 March, 2003. Please
call the lounge 410-766-9802 or our Commandant Earl Parker @ 410-551-7846
for complete details. Hopefully the Marine Corps League can get enough
people to fill a table. The VFW supports the League in many ways that a
lot of us do not realize so the least we can do is try to support their
projects and efforts when we can.
Marines, a Marine MP, Cpl. Dunn stationed at Quantico, VA had a very
tragic circumstance happen to his family recently. He lost his wife and
unborn child leaving him with in support of his only child surviving. She
is 5 years old. The Marine community has asked for the MCL financial
assistance through our National Organization. It has been checked out by
Commandant Touhey and is a legitimate request. At our Jan meeting I hope
we will be able to send a financial contribution to this young Marine. As
usual you have came through before in times of tragedy.
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 Commandant
Earl Parker 410-551-7846
Now that he holiday season is behind us, its time to
look forward to a new year.
It was brought to my attention at the last meeting some life members did
not receive certificates from the prior years, In order to rectify this I
will need the names of those who wish to receive them.
Department staff meeting were held at the American Legion Post #64 in
Salisbury Md. on January 18, 2003, Information pertinent to us will be
discussed at the next scheduled meeting. Michael Blum, Dept Commandant and
other special guest are to be present at that meeting, so please make an
effort to attend.
Nomination for officers will commence at the February meeting.
Semper Fi
Earl Parker, Commandant
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Dawn Parker, Pres. MCL Auxiliary 410-551-7846
Well ladies we are beginning a new year with lots of
ideas. That is a good start. I want like to thank George Martin, Denny
Bynum and Steve Salanik in the Detachment for helping us with the Boys
Scouts Toys for Tots. George played our Santa Clause and he was a great
Santa at that. I also want to thank the ladies that helped out with that
also and they were Nila Caulder, Lilly Belch, Lorena Schultz, Brittney and
Jessie Burton. Patty thanks for filling the goody bags for the Boys Scouts
they were really happy with all the stuff they got in them. Great job
Patty. A special thanks to Steve Salanik for all the hard work he did for
Toys For Tots. I would like to thank all the men in the Detachment that
helped out with the fruit for the goody bags. It really helped and it sure
made them go a long way. We also put a smile on all the people living at
Morning Side when we gave them fruit (apples, oranges and tangerines)
along with a candy cane. Always remember it really makes you feel good
when you can put smiles on others faces. We had a really good turn out for
dinner the first Friday of Jan. with Chili and Cornbread prepared by Patty
and Nila.
Dawn Parker
Unit President
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