The Scuttlebutt Newsletter P.O. Box 4561 Glen Allen, VA June 2017

Transcription

1 The Scuttlebutt Newsletter P.O. Box 4561 Glen Allen, VA June 2017 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE MEETING Virginia Society of CPA s 4309 Cox Rd, Glen Allen VA I-64 Exit 178B The Fourth Saturday Of Each Month Next Meeting 24 June Breakfast Meeting (804)

2 2 Omaha Beach, Normandy France I was privileged to visit Normandy, France at the end of May. We often see photos of the Cemetery with the row upon row of graves of the Americans who died as part of the D-Day Assault and battles in June And those monuments are moving. Also the beaches at Normandy have some memorials as well with statues and structures. But away from the formal areas there are the untouched and preserved sections of the incredible areas those brave Americans and Allies had to assault. These are photos taken from hilltops and the remnants of destroyed pillboxes and bunkers used by the Germans. The cliffs, the rocky shores leading to the bluffs and even the barbed wire are preserved much as they were. It was overwhelming to me how they could have faced and sacrificed so much on those days. Editor 2

3 3 James M. Slay Detachment Marine Corps League The Scuttlebutt Richmond, Virginia J U N E N E W S L E T T E R Joe Vass Commandant Mark Moore Sr Vice Commandant Greg Lee Jr Vice Commandant Greg Cavalli Adjutant Dave Schneider Judge Advocate Jim Ralls Chaplain Janie Pleasants Sergeant at Arms Fred Marotta Paymaster Changes Continuity As the new Commandant and slate of officers came on board in May we have the usual transition of styles and priorities. Commandant Joe Vass, a long time (a very long time member) conducted his first meeting and it was clear the Detachment continues to be in good hands. Some procedural changes by Paymaster Fred Marotta and spirited discussions of incoming and outgoing funds should lead to a strong year financially. The summer tends to be a less active time for the Detachment, but the 10th Annual Patriots 5K Run/Walk on the 4th of July does bring together a group of volunteers to help manage the event. The end of May always includes the ceremonies for Memorial Day at the Virginia War Memorial. The Detachment always presents a Memorial Wreath as part of the program and the Honor Guard presents and fires the rifle salute for the program. (Photos compliments of Ed Gibbons) Marines, have a healthy and enjoyable summer. Spike Williamson Quartermaster Rich Schollman Web Sergeant Kevin O Connor Scuttlebutt Newsletter Editor oconorsix@verizon. net Mark Moore and Bruce Steeley presenting the Wreath on Memorial Day. The Honor Guard about to present the Rifle Salute 3

4 4 Business Meeting Minutes May 27, Call to Order Opening Ceremony -Secure Quarters, Post Colors, Pledge of Allegiance, Chaplain Opening Prayer Roll Call of Officers, Commandant: Joe Vass Senior Vice Commandant: Mark Moore Junior Vice Commandant: Greg Lee Adjutant: Greg Cavalli Not Present Judge Advocate: Dave Schneider Guests Mark Casper, a previous member was present for the meeting. Honor Guard (Lee Smith) The Honor Guard has 2 events for the upcoming Memorial Day. They will be participating at the Virginia War Memorial and at the Goochland Court House. USO Richmond Airport (Lee Smith Lee reported that the USO continues at its normal fast pace and is looking for gap volunteers to fill in for regular volunteers when they re unable to be there. If interested, please contact Lee on how to participate. Range (Lou Siegel) Our next Range Day will be on Monday, June 5 th. Average attendance so far this year has been 10. Plinking scores have improved over past years, which should make for an interesting November match. Highland Springs High School (Richard Van Damme) Rich Van Damme attended their awards ceremony on May 26. They have 19 cadets graduating with at least 4 going into the Marine Corps. One of the graduates has been accepted to the Naval Academy. Hermitage High School (Cecil McNair, Jim Barrett) Mike Robinson will be retiring at the end of July, as well as Jim McGuire (?) from Tucker High School. Goochland High School JROCT (Joe Wadle, SSGT Daniel Strong) Several of the Sr. Staff Members will be retiring this year. A Lt. Col. from Stafford County will be replacing the current Commandant. Military Order of the Devil Dogs (Lou Seigel) A Growl will be held following today s meeting with the primary focus on pack Prowls. Houston Holicky-Sitter luncheon (Joe Wadle) Gen. Jumper, a retired Chief of Staff for the Air Force will be June s guest speaker on Tuesday the 13 th. The luncheons will continue to be held at the Golden Corral until we receive word from Publix on their intensions for public use of their meeting facility. This will probably not occur until late summer or early fall. Virginia War Memorial (Bruce Steeley) The Honor Guard will be participating in this years Memorial Day ceremony on Monday, 24 May at 1000 hours. 4

5 5 MCL Fund Raising (Jim Barrett) Jim thanked all for their time, support and donations at the recent State Convention. The convention was a tremendous success and the funds received from the auction will be discussed in Fred Morotta s paymaster report. Quarter Master Store (Spike Williamson, Lou Seigel, Stan Balducci) Plenty of new shirts in various sizes are available. The store is well stocked with popular items. If you have a special request, please contact Spike or Lou. Junior Vice Commandant (Greg Lee) On Greg s behalf, Mark reports that there are currently 13 members who have not paid their dues. Presently we have 147 members within the Detachment, which excludes 4 members that did not make the roster due to non-payment of dues for over 2 years. Adjutant (Greg Cavalli) In Greg Cavalli s absence, Greg Lee made a motion for the April minutes to be accepted as written and published in the Scuttlebutt Newsletter. The motion was seconded and approved by the membership. Paymaster (Fred Moratta) Fred emphasized to the membership that the Detachment has not been following proper accounting procedures as set forth in the By-Laws published by National. He gave many examples of violations that have been made and stressed the importance of getting the Detachment back on track in order to be in compliance with MCL National guidelines. Going forth, we can plan on seeing Fred making the necessary changes to accomplish this goal. Standing Committees Chaplin s Report ( Jim Ralls, Assistant Carl Panebianco) Jim and Carl will be sending out a monthly Sick Call Report to Detachment members on those members who are experiencing health issues and their statuses. Old Business The State Convention went very well with the auction bringing in approximately $2,000. A motion was made, seconded and approved by the membership to make a one-time donation of $100 to the Ladies Auxiliary for their work and assistance with the convention. New Business Bruce Steeley made a motion to make a $100 donation to the State Scholarship Fund for The motion was approved and seconded by the membership. Additionally, Bruce made a motion to induct Bill Revels into the Detachment as a Honorary Member. Bill recently passed away from a long battle with cancer and had made his application for membership, but was too ill to attend his swearing in ceremony. The motion was seconded by Lou Seigel and approved by the membership. Carl Panebianco will make the presentation for the Honorary Member certificate to the Revels family. Joe Vass called Rich Van Damme front to present Rich with a Detachment pin in appreciation for his service as Commandant during Retire Colors, Closing Prayer, Declare Meeting Closed Adjourn ADAZI, Latvia - Marines with the Black Sea Rotational Force 17.1 stand in formation next to several other international military forces, to include Latvia, Italy, Great Britain, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, in preparation for the opening ceremony of Exercise Saber Strike 17 at Camp Adazi, Latvia, June 3, Exercise Saber Strike 17 is an annual combined-joint exercise conducted at various locations throughout the Baltic region and Poland. 5

6 6 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS? OR WHERE THIS IS? This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, now home to the 4th Infantry Division. It will eventually be shipped home and put in the memorial museum in Fort Hood, Texas. The statue was created ďljăŷ/ƌăƌŝăƌɵɛƚŷăŵğě<ăůăƚ ǁ ŚŽĨŽƌLJĞĂƌƐǁ ĂƐĨŽƌĐĞĚďLJ^ĂĚĚĂŵ, ƵƐƐĞŝŶƚŽ ŵăŭğƚśğŵăŷljśƶŷěƌğěɛžĩďƌžŷnjğďƶɛƚɛžĩ^ăěěăŵƚśăƚěžʃ ĞĚĂŐŚĚĂĚ <ĂůĂƚǁ ĂƐƐŽŐƌĂƚĞĨƵůĨŽƌƚŚĞŵĞƌŝĐĂŶΖƐůŝďĞƌĂƟŽŶŽĨŚŝƐĐŽƵŶƚƌLJ ŚĞŵĞůƚĞĚϯ ŽĨƚŚĞŚĞĂĚƐŽĨƚŚĞĨĂůůĞŶ Saddam and made the statue as a memorial to the American Soldiers and their fallen warriors. Kalat worked on this memorial night and day for several months. džƚśğůğōžĩƚśğŭŷğğůŝŷőɛžůěŝğƌŝɛăɛŵăůů/ƌăƌŝőŝƌůőŝǀ ŝŷőƚśğɛžůěŝğƌđžŵĩžƌƚăɛśğŵžƶƌŷɛƚśğůžɛɛžĩ a comrade-in-arms. Do you know why we don't hear about this in the news? Is it possible the media avoids it because it does not have a shock effect - but we can do something about it. We can pass this along to as many people as we can in honor of all our brave military who are making a difference. (Thanks to Ed Gibbons for this information) Charles Tanner Ryland Bailey, Sr. Robert Hartley REST IN PEACE SEMPER FIDELIS In just the past two weeks we have lost three active Life Members of the detachment. They will be missed. 6

7 7 Houston-Holicky-Sitter Luncheon 11 July 2017 Col. Tim Mundy, USMC Ret. Marine Corps Association Foundation Director A career infantry officer, Tim was fortunate to lead Marines while servŝŷőŝŷăůůƚśƌğğăđɵǀ ĞD ĂƌŝŶĞ ŝǀ ŝɛŝžŷɛăɛăŵğŵďğƌ of the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Marine Regiments. He has ƐĞƌǀ ĞĚŝŶĐŽŵďĂƚǁ ŝƚśϯ ĚĂƩ ĂůŝŽŶ ϯ ĚD ĂƌŝŶĞƐŝŶ K ƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐĞƐĞƌƚ^ŚŝĞůĚĂŶĚ ĞƐĞƌƚ^ƚŽƌŵ ĐŽŵͲ ŵăŷěğěϯ ĚĂƩ ĂůŝŽŶ ϮĚD ĂƌŝŶĞƐŝŶK ƉĞƌĂƟŽŶ/ƌĂƋŝ &ƌğğěžŵ ĂŶĚǁ ŝƚś//d &;&ǁ ĚŝŶK ƉĞƌĂƟŽŶŶĚƵƌͲ ing Freedom. He has held numerous staff billets with D ĂƌŝŶĞŽƌƉƐŽƌŐĂŶŝnjĂƟŽŶƐĂŶĚĂ:ŽŝŶƚĐŽŵŵĂŶĚ ƉƌŝŵĂƌŝůLJŝŶƉůĂŶƐĂŶĚ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐŽĸ ĐĞƌĂƐƐŝŐŶŵĞŶƚƐ, Ğǁ ĂƐĂůƐŽĨŽƌƚƵŶĂƚĞƚŽĂƩ ĞŶĚƐĞǀ ĞƌĂů Marine Corps and sister service schools. He commanded the School of Infantry-East, and his final full tour in the Marine Corps was as the Chief of Staff, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Tim was commissioned through the NROTC at Auburn University and has a bachelor s degree in History. He holds a master s degree in Human Resources Development from Webster University, as well as master s degrees for ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶĂůĂŶĚƐƚƌĂƚĞŐŝĐƉůĂŶŶŝŶŐĨƌŽŵŵŝůŝƚĂƌLJĐŽůůĞŐĞƐ He ƌğɵƌğěĩƌžŵăđɵǀ ĞĚƵƚLJŝŶ January,

8 JAMES M. SLAY DETACHMENT MARINE CORPS LEAGUE 8 Houston-Holicky-Sitter Luncheon MC: Col. Bill Parrish, USMC Ret. The Holicky-Sitter Luncheon was started to help support the local Active Duty Marines serving in the Richmond Area and Fort Lee. Our goal is the support of the local Marine Reserve Unit, the Marine Detachment at Fort Lee, Marine Corps Recruiters and the Marines assigned to Defense General Supply Center. We are also now taking a very active roll in working with and supporting the families of the wounded from all the services at McGuire Veterans Hospital. Uniform: Cost: Date: Speaker: Chow: Where: Whatever you want to wear. The chow: Optional but fixed Price Buffet around $10.00 Tuesday 11 July 2017 (The second Tuesday of every month ) Col Tim Mundy, USMC (Ret) (bio page 7) Speaker Secure at IMPORTANT Location Golden Corral, 4050 Gaskins Rd. Just off Broad St Richmond VA LEATHERNECK CLUB Bill Akers Jim Barrett John Beall Mike Boudreau Norm Carney Clyde Childress Herb Delbridge Bob Gilliam Tim Godbey Clint Harrington Bob Hartley Bruce Heilman Houston Holicky Sitter Luncheon Group Bill Jeffress David Jennings Greg Lee Annebel Lewis John McCann Cee Cee Mickens Tom Milhausen Pat O Hare In Memoriam Tom Burton Fred Neurohr Kevin O Connor John O Connor Carl Panebianco Jamie Pleasants Wes Pruitt Jim Ralls David Schneider Lou Seigel Fred Smith Lee Smith Bruce Steeley David Taylor John Thomas Ken Varndell Joe Wadle Bill Wagner Joe Washington Jerry Wells Spike Williamson Christopher Word Russell Wyatt Richard Zimmer Begin or renew your Leatherneck Club Membership/Support for For a contribution of $100 you will support our standard monthly donation to:, Virginia Dept. of Veterans and Family Services Project, USMC Wounded Warriors Project, USO Gift Cards in Richmond, and the Slay Det. Ladies Auxiliary. Contact Det. Pay Fred Marotta at : fredmarotta@gmail.com 8