thedrifter
08-09-04, 08:24 AM
Dogging it? Never!
Character-building Pendleton program marks its 50th year
By Helen Gao
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 8, 2004
CAMP PENDLETON – After seeing a group of boys burn an American flag at a Los Angeles high school in 1954, retired Marine Col. Duncan Shaw Sr. felt compelled to do something to foster good citizenship in young people.
That same year, he and a group of fellow Marines founded a boot-camp-style leadership training program for youths at Camp Pendleton.
Shaw died in 1986, but his son, granddaughter and a new generation of Marines are carrying on his legacy.
Under cloudless blue skies, with a Marine Corps band playing stirring patriotic tunes, 1,000 people gathered yesterday at the military base for the 50th anniversary of the Devil Pups Good Citizenship Physical Development Program.
"Devil Pups" comes from the term "Devil Dogs," a nickname German troops gave U.S. Marines during World War I in acknowledgment of their toughness and valor.
Nearly 200 alumni attended the ceremony, which was held in conjunction with the graduation of the program's latest class of participants.
Proud parents packed the bleachers as their sons and daughters marched smartly in neat formation onto the parade ground, their bodies erect and heads held high.
In its 50-year history, Devil Pups has touched the lives of 45,000 young men and women, counting among its graduates Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks; University of Southern California athletic director and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett; and actor Tom Selleck.
Col. Branden Kearney, the highest-ranking Devil Pups program graduate on active duty, flew in from Stuttgart, Germany, for the occasion.
Gazing at the new graduates who wore as their uniform white T-shirts with the Devil Pups logo, bluejeans, red kerchiefs and red caps, Kearney paid tribute to the youths.
"These young men and women are very similar to what we were in 1969," he said. "There is a constant. Most of them are good-hearted young men and women who are being exposed to something they have no earthly clue that they can achieve."
During the 10-day Devil Pups program, participants were kept to a grueling schedule, with no television, no phones and no recreation. They woke at 5 a.m. and went to bed at 10 p.m. daily.
Their running started with one mile and stretched into an arduous, five-mile run through the surf on the beach. They started with jumping off a 15-foot tower into a swimming pool, then graduated to a 25-foot tower and finally a 35-foot tower.
One of the culminating events was hiking up a virtually vertical trail to the peak of Old Smokey. When they made it to the top, they were awarded challenge coins, which feature a relief of U.S. soldiers raising the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II.
The Devil Pups were taught teamwork in the process of scaling the mountain.
"We leaned on each other to help each other to get up there," said Marco Munguia, 15, of Downey, who aspires to become a Marine. "It's teamwork. We don't leave anyone behind."
The new graduates said that just like what they've seen in the movies, their Marine drill sergeants yelled at them a lot, from the moment they arrived at the camp.
"They didn't try to be nice at all," said Alicia Bookman, 14, of Benicia. "We are not allowed to smile. We always have to look forward. We can't fidget at all. If we do any of this, we get screamed at."
More important than physical fitness, Devil Pups emphasized character-building – cultivating honor, integrity, courage, self-discipline, responsibility and confidence.
Duncan Shaw, the founder's son who has run the program for the past 28 years, said he wants young men and women to leave the program transformed.
"We think by challenging these young people to go out and do these things, they find out that they can do it, when they have reservations of not being able to do it," he said.
Shaw's daughter, Susan Shaw Hulbert, who has attended Devil Pups graduations since she was a baby, now helps her dad by serving as a trustee for the charity.
"My father considers this to be my grandfather's legacy," she said. "I believe the same thing. That's why I am involved."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040808-9999-1mi8pups.html
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie
Character-building Pendleton program marks its 50th year
By Helen Gao
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 8, 2004
CAMP PENDLETON – After seeing a group of boys burn an American flag at a Los Angeles high school in 1954, retired Marine Col. Duncan Shaw Sr. felt compelled to do something to foster good citizenship in young people.
That same year, he and a group of fellow Marines founded a boot-camp-style leadership training program for youths at Camp Pendleton.
Shaw died in 1986, but his son, granddaughter and a new generation of Marines are carrying on his legacy.
Under cloudless blue skies, with a Marine Corps band playing stirring patriotic tunes, 1,000 people gathered yesterday at the military base for the 50th anniversary of the Devil Pups Good Citizenship Physical Development Program.
"Devil Pups" comes from the term "Devil Dogs," a nickname German troops gave U.S. Marines during World War I in acknowledgment of their toughness and valor.
Nearly 200 alumni attended the ceremony, which was held in conjunction with the graduation of the program's latest class of participants.
Proud parents packed the bleachers as their sons and daughters marched smartly in neat formation onto the parade ground, their bodies erect and heads held high.
In its 50-year history, Devil Pups has touched the lives of 45,000 young men and women, counting among its graduates Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Thousand Oaks; University of Southern California athletic director and Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett; and actor Tom Selleck.
Col. Branden Kearney, the highest-ranking Devil Pups program graduate on active duty, flew in from Stuttgart, Germany, for the occasion.
Gazing at the new graduates who wore as their uniform white T-shirts with the Devil Pups logo, bluejeans, red kerchiefs and red caps, Kearney paid tribute to the youths.
"These young men and women are very similar to what we were in 1969," he said. "There is a constant. Most of them are good-hearted young men and women who are being exposed to something they have no earthly clue that they can achieve."
During the 10-day Devil Pups program, participants were kept to a grueling schedule, with no television, no phones and no recreation. They woke at 5 a.m. and went to bed at 10 p.m. daily.
Their running started with one mile and stretched into an arduous, five-mile run through the surf on the beach. They started with jumping off a 15-foot tower into a swimming pool, then graduated to a 25-foot tower and finally a 35-foot tower.
One of the culminating events was hiking up a virtually vertical trail to the peak of Old Smokey. When they made it to the top, they were awarded challenge coins, which feature a relief of U.S. soldiers raising the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II.
The Devil Pups were taught teamwork in the process of scaling the mountain.
"We leaned on each other to help each other to get up there," said Marco Munguia, 15, of Downey, who aspires to become a Marine. "It's teamwork. We don't leave anyone behind."
The new graduates said that just like what they've seen in the movies, their Marine drill sergeants yelled at them a lot, from the moment they arrived at the camp.
"They didn't try to be nice at all," said Alicia Bookman, 14, of Benicia. "We are not allowed to smile. We always have to look forward. We can't fidget at all. If we do any of this, we get screamed at."
More important than physical fitness, Devil Pups emphasized character-building – cultivating honor, integrity, courage, self-discipline, responsibility and confidence.
Duncan Shaw, the founder's son who has run the program for the past 28 years, said he wants young men and women to leave the program transformed.
"We think by challenging these young people to go out and do these things, they find out that they can do it, when they have reservations of not being able to do it," he said.
Shaw's daughter, Susan Shaw Hulbert, who has attended Devil Pups graduations since she was a baby, now helps her dad by serving as a trustee for the charity.
"My father considers this to be my grandfather's legacy," she said. "I believe the same thing. That's why I am involved."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040808-9999-1mi8pups.html
The Drifter's Wife
Ellie