thedrifter
11-11-06, 08:47 AM
`Semper Fi' to the corps
President Bush praises service of Marines at museum dedication
By Leaf Smith and Daniela Deane
The Washington Post
November 11, 2006
QUANTICO, Va. -- On the eve of Veterans Day, President Bush dedicated the new National Museum of the Marine Corps and bestowed the country's highest military honor posthumously on a Marine from New York who saved the lives of two other Marines by throwing himself onto a live grenade.
"As long as we have Marines like Cpl. Dunham, America will never fear for her liberty," Bush said Friday about Cpl. Jason Dunham, who died in 2004. "As long as we have this fine museum, America will never forget the sacrifice."
Dunham, a high school athlete from Scio, N.Y., would have been 25 Friday, the 231st birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Bush said the $60 million museum puts a visitor "in the boots of a Marine and will leave you with an appreciation of the rich history of the corps."
"This is an important place," he said to the crowd, which included the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine to hold the military's top position.
The museum, on a 135-acre site next to the Marine base in Quantico, features a timeline on the service's history, exhibits on World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and an area dedicated to boot camp.
The museum's building slants skyward, reflecting the highest peak on the island of Iwo Jima, where in the closing months of World War II, the image of five Marines and one sailor raising the American flag was immortalized in a Pulitzer Prize-winning picture taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal.
The dedication ceremony began with the introduction of the Marine Corps brass and a 21-gun salute to Bush. An estimated 10,000 people from various armed services watched as four F-18s buzzed across a clear sky.
Norman Halfpenny heard the first strains of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn and snapped to attention, his 73-year-old body not quite as straight as when he served in Korea and Vietnam.
He was joined by thousands, many in wheelchairs, gathered on a grassy promenade.
"I made sure he got here," said Halfpenny's wife Paulette, 63, gripping his uniform-clad knee. The couple, who traveled from Arizona, donated $4,000 toward the construction of the building.
Halfpenny wanted to talk about his years of service in Korea but he was halted by his tears.
"It's the corps," Halfpenny said, weeping. "Once a Marine, always a Marine."
Ellie
President Bush praises service of Marines at museum dedication
By Leaf Smith and Daniela Deane
The Washington Post
November 11, 2006
QUANTICO, Va. -- On the eve of Veterans Day, President Bush dedicated the new National Museum of the Marine Corps and bestowed the country's highest military honor posthumously on a Marine from New York who saved the lives of two other Marines by throwing himself onto a live grenade.
"As long as we have Marines like Cpl. Dunham, America will never fear for her liberty," Bush said Friday about Cpl. Jason Dunham, who died in 2004. "As long as we have this fine museum, America will never forget the sacrifice."
Dunham, a high school athlete from Scio, N.Y., would have been 25 Friday, the 231st birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Bush said the $60 million museum puts a visitor "in the boots of a Marine and will leave you with an appreciation of the rich history of the corps."
"This is an important place," he said to the crowd, which included the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Peter Pace, the first Marine to hold the military's top position.
The museum, on a 135-acre site next to the Marine base in Quantico, features a timeline on the service's history, exhibits on World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and an area dedicated to boot camp.
The museum's building slants skyward, reflecting the highest peak on the island of Iwo Jima, where in the closing months of World War II, the image of five Marines and one sailor raising the American flag was immortalized in a Pulitzer Prize-winning picture taken by photographer Joe Rosenthal.
The dedication ceremony began with the introduction of the Marine Corps brass and a 21-gun salute to Bush. An estimated 10,000 people from various armed services watched as four F-18s buzzed across a clear sky.
Norman Halfpenny heard the first strains of the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn and snapped to attention, his 73-year-old body not quite as straight as when he served in Korea and Vietnam.
He was joined by thousands, many in wheelchairs, gathered on a grassy promenade.
"I made sure he got here," said Halfpenny's wife Paulette, 63, gripping his uniform-clad knee. The couple, who traveled from Arizona, donated $4,000 toward the construction of the building.
Halfpenny wanted to talk about his years of service in Korea but he was halted by his tears.
"It's the corps," Halfpenny said, weeping. "Once a Marine, always a Marine."
Ellie