thedrifter
11-13-06, 07:56 AM
Marines bring birthday ceremony to veteran
November 13,2006
Anne Clark
Retired Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Jackson may have been in and out of the hospital, but his fellow Devil Dogs weren’t about to let him miss the party. Always faithful, Marines from VMM-162 brought the Corps’ birthday to Jackson’s doorstep on Friday.
“It doesn’t matter whether he retired in 1974 or yesterday, he’s part of our family forever,” said Gunnery Sgt. Jason Kanakis, logs and records chief with VMM-162.
Kanakis met Jackson and his wife, Peggy, in 2000 when he became one of their tenants. They helped him through some tough times, he said. They became like a mother and father to him.
The Jacksons have touched many others, considering the sizable crowd gathered under balmy skies for the outdoor ceremony.
Andrew was back in the hospital on this day, but Peggy wanted to go ahead with the ceremony. Though she and her husband have been married nearly 46 years, and he was on active duty for 20 of them, she’d never seen the birthday celebration before last year, when Kanakis brought them a piece of birthday cake.
This year, he kept the number to 20 Marines, though more volunteered. It was their day off, the front end of a 96-hour weekend.
“I enjoy doing good things for other people,” said Lance Cpl. William Sims, 19, who enlisted last year.
Gen. Lejeune formalized the birthday tradition in 1921, and it remains a connection between Marines across space and time. This year marks the 231st anniversary of the Corps’ founding.
Kanakis spent his first Marine Corps birthday in boot camp; other years, he’s been deployed on Nov. 10.
“It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you stopped and said ‘happy birthday’ to the Marine next to you,” said Kanakis. “Whether it’s a Twinkie or a four-layer cake, you share something special.”
World War II veteran Elmond “Bud” A. Brantley, who’s known the Jacksons for decades, remembers one of his earliest Marine Corps birthdays.
It was 1943, and he was in Bougainville, part of the Solomon Islands chain and needed to build an airfield. The Allied land campaign had begun there about a week earlier.
Brantley celebrated the Marine Corps birthday that year, he said, “by trying to keep from getting killed.”
The birthday ceremony includes a reading of Gen. Lejeune’s order.
This year, outgoing commandant Gen. Michael Hagee noted that “regardless of where you are serving, you are adding new chapters to the legacy that was earned with sweat and blood on old battlefields … all Americans are extremely proud of your magnificent performance.”
Because it’s a birthday celebration, there’s cake. As the guest of honor, Peggy cut the first three pieces to the slow strains of “Auld Lang Syne.”
The oldest active duty Marine present — Kanakis, born in 1970 — then passed a piece of cake to the youngest Marine there, Lance Cpl. Roy Page, born nearly 20 years later.
It represents the way older troops ensure the younger ones are taken care of first.
“It’s one of the most beautiful things,” said Peggy. “My heart was coming out of my chest.”
The ceremony ended with the music of “Anchors Aweigh” and The Marine Corps Hymn. Several generations of Jacksons were in the audience.
“These Marines could be going home but they’re out here showing respect to my dad and the veterans,” said David Jackson, Andrew’s son. “I’m overwhelmed with pride in our Marine Corps.”
The Jacksons have three children and 14 grandchildren.
Beside the cake-covered table was a shadow box holding Andrew’s medals and ribbons, and an old photograph of him as a young Marine
And Andrew? He was at Onslow Memorial Hospital. So, ever faithful, the Marines followed him there, took him a piece of cake.
We wished you could have been there, they said.
I wish I could have been there too, he responded.
He would call his wife a few minutes later, and she could hear the tears in his voice.
For a slide show of this event, go to www.jdnews.com.
Ellie
November 13,2006
Anne Clark
Retired Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Jackson may have been in and out of the hospital, but his fellow Devil Dogs weren’t about to let him miss the party. Always faithful, Marines from VMM-162 brought the Corps’ birthday to Jackson’s doorstep on Friday.
“It doesn’t matter whether he retired in 1974 or yesterday, he’s part of our family forever,” said Gunnery Sgt. Jason Kanakis, logs and records chief with VMM-162.
Kanakis met Jackson and his wife, Peggy, in 2000 when he became one of their tenants. They helped him through some tough times, he said. They became like a mother and father to him.
The Jacksons have touched many others, considering the sizable crowd gathered under balmy skies for the outdoor ceremony.
Andrew was back in the hospital on this day, but Peggy wanted to go ahead with the ceremony. Though she and her husband have been married nearly 46 years, and he was on active duty for 20 of them, she’d never seen the birthday celebration before last year, when Kanakis brought them a piece of birthday cake.
This year, he kept the number to 20 Marines, though more volunteered. It was their day off, the front end of a 96-hour weekend.
“I enjoy doing good things for other people,” said Lance Cpl. William Sims, 19, who enlisted last year.
Gen. Lejeune formalized the birthday tradition in 1921, and it remains a connection between Marines across space and time. This year marks the 231st anniversary of the Corps’ founding.
Kanakis spent his first Marine Corps birthday in boot camp; other years, he’s been deployed on Nov. 10.
“It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, you stopped and said ‘happy birthday’ to the Marine next to you,” said Kanakis. “Whether it’s a Twinkie or a four-layer cake, you share something special.”
World War II veteran Elmond “Bud” A. Brantley, who’s known the Jacksons for decades, remembers one of his earliest Marine Corps birthdays.
It was 1943, and he was in Bougainville, part of the Solomon Islands chain and needed to build an airfield. The Allied land campaign had begun there about a week earlier.
Brantley celebrated the Marine Corps birthday that year, he said, “by trying to keep from getting killed.”
The birthday ceremony includes a reading of Gen. Lejeune’s order.
This year, outgoing commandant Gen. Michael Hagee noted that “regardless of where you are serving, you are adding new chapters to the legacy that was earned with sweat and blood on old battlefields … all Americans are extremely proud of your magnificent performance.”
Because it’s a birthday celebration, there’s cake. As the guest of honor, Peggy cut the first three pieces to the slow strains of “Auld Lang Syne.”
The oldest active duty Marine present — Kanakis, born in 1970 — then passed a piece of cake to the youngest Marine there, Lance Cpl. Roy Page, born nearly 20 years later.
It represents the way older troops ensure the younger ones are taken care of first.
“It’s one of the most beautiful things,” said Peggy. “My heart was coming out of my chest.”
The ceremony ended with the music of “Anchors Aweigh” and The Marine Corps Hymn. Several generations of Jacksons were in the audience.
“These Marines could be going home but they’re out here showing respect to my dad and the veterans,” said David Jackson, Andrew’s son. “I’m overwhelmed with pride in our Marine Corps.”
The Jacksons have three children and 14 grandchildren.
Beside the cake-covered table was a shadow box holding Andrew’s medals and ribbons, and an old photograph of him as a young Marine
And Andrew? He was at Onslow Memorial Hospital. So, ever faithful, the Marines followed him there, took him a piece of cake.
We wished you could have been there, they said.
I wish I could have been there too, he responded.
He would call his wife a few minutes later, and she could hear the tears in his voice.
For a slide show of this event, go to www.jdnews.com.
Ellie