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thedrifter
10-08-03, 07:54 AM
Group protecting Geiger monuments
October 08,2003
ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Twenty years ago, members of the Marine Corps League in Onslow County made a promise to protect a small monument to victims of the Beirut terrorist bombing that claimed the lives of 241 troops.

These days, Marine sentries still guard the now-closed Camp Geiger gate and watch construction crews work on the U.S. 17 bypass. About 100 yards to the east is a grassy traffic circle marked for demolition. It has four white stone markers with brass plaques that will likely be moved.

One of them is a June 1984 monument to members of the 8th Marine Regiment; some of whom were killed in Beirut from 1982 to 1984, including the terrorist blast of a Marine Corps barracks on Oct. 23, 1983.

George M. Barrows Sr., vice chief of the Marine Corps League, said his group plans to make sure the monument is safely moved, hopefully to the site of the Beirut Memorial at the entrance to Camp Johnson off Lejeune Boulevard.

"The traffic circle is going to be obliterated - look for it by spring," said Barrows, standing next to the weathered monument with its cracking and peeling paint with dingy bronze plaques. "This is important because they gave the last full measure, doing their job, and we have to make sure that we remember them."

Barrows said the three men from his veterans' organization responsible for the original marker - Dale Hack, Robert V. Flowers and William R. Reichstein - have since passed away. He and other members of the Marine Corps League plan to fill their shoes when it comes to the 2 ?? 2 ?? 4-foot-tall monument.

Three other similar markers at the Camp Geiger circle include a western monument to the Camp's namesake, Gen. Roy Stanley Geiger, 1885 to 1947, a pioneer Marine and aviator. There is a southeastern monument dedicating Foster Boulevard to Lance Cpl. Julius C. Foster of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, who was killed in Vietnam in 1968 by hostile mortar fire during the battle for Khe Sanh. The third monument cites members of the 4th Marine Division who fought with honor and distinction during battles at Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima from 1944 to 1945 during World War II.

It's too early to determine the fate of the other three markers, but Barrows wants to save them all. He said that there might be room available at what is his dream for a memorial wall at the Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery across the street from the Beirut Memorial.

Since all four Camp Geiger monuments are on Marine Corps property, it will likely be up to the military to make arrangements for saving this part of their history.

"This is the first Beirut memorial anywhere," Barrows said. "The biggest challenge is finding a way to move it and a place to put it."


Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or 353-1171, Ext. 236.

http://www.jdnews.com/Photo/100903_geiger.jpg

ERIC STEINKOPFF/DAILY NEWS
Monuments adopted: George Barrows, Marine Corps League senior vice chief, is leading an initiative to preserve four historic markers at Camp Geiger. The monuments are threatened by the U.S. 17 bypass.

http://www.jacksonvilledailynews.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=Details.cfm&StoryID=16728&Section=News


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

Phantom Blooper
10-15-03, 02:53 PM
Just got done having an interview with the reporter doing this story about the Beirut,Lebanon Stamp Initiative. While talking to me in my office he received a telephone call from someone? at the Jacksonville Daily News.After laying my stuff out again on the desk and the interview was over,we had small talk and we talked about the Camp Geiger Memorials. He said that the phone call he received while talking to me about the stamp was about printing a retraction to some of the statements made in the above article.I expect a retraction because evidently this man spoke out of turn. Semper-Fi!! Chuck Hall:marine: