Corpsmen's Memorial Foundation

[thedrifter]

MSgt John Cooney USMC (ret)


Military Order of the Purple Heart
Chief of Staff, Department of NC.
Adjutant, Beirut Memorial Chapter 642
www.ncmoph.org
***********************************************

"A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve is
someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable
to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and
including my life."

That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no
longer understand it.

Mornin Patriots and Patriettes and Friends -- We are well on our way to establishment of our Corpsmen's Memorial Foundation (CMF), That is the legal title to the fund and also known as the "Marine's Memorial to the Navy Corpsmen." The federal EIN has been obtained as well as a checking and savings account opened at Marine Federal. Our PO Box address is 12641. We are now accepting donations and they can be sent to --Corpsmen's Memorial Foundation or CMF at PO Box 12641, Jacksonville NC 28546.

We are in the process of getting our 501.3.c tax exempt status but in the meantime we can collect donations. A website will go on line around the mid April time frame and there are flyers being make up at this time.

Last night we held an Executive meeting to discuss where we are in the establishment process and we are moving along well. Our Chairman Doc Des Champs is getting the bylaws written and Joe Houle is working on the request to MC Base for a Memorial Site. We tentatively have a lawyer on board who will fill out the 501.3.c paperwork for us. I am told this process takes about 60 to 90 days for approval, if done right the first time. If the lawyer is not on board I have a friend who has experience filling out these forms. It is imperative that they are correct the first time because if not it will delay the process by a couple months.

As most of you know by now, I am the treasurer, noone else wanted it, and we have $260.00 in our account right now.

We have a good team working on this extremely worthwhile and long overdue project. Now we need some folks to go out and start raising funds. Since we are not located with the Museum of the Marine anymore, we are not on their construction time schedule. Their completion date is four to five years, we won't need to wait that long. We will need to coordinate with them though, especially if we get the location that we would like to have, so the establishment of our memorial doesn't get in the way of their construction. The desired location is not far from the Museum and is near the parking lot so it may be subject to much construction traffic.

If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to call me at one of the numbers above. Our next general meeting will be on 16 April at 1900 at the Valencia Park office complex at the corner of Huff and Valencia Drive.

Semper Fi, John



Marines and Corpsman Mark and myself are involved with this project...

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Letter to the editor

Corpsmen’s memorial, becoming a reality



This is another letter in a series in reference to the proposed Corpsmen’s Memorial. We have had a multitude of suggestions and recommendations since the inception of this idea. First of all, let me make it clear that the picture and article in the Daily News some time ago was not the finalized version. That was merely an artist’s conception of what it may look like.

We have held four meetings to date, elected officers and a board of directors, opened a bank/checking account at Marine Federal Credit Union and obtained a Federal EIN. We have collected about $1.000.00 in donations so far. We also have a PO Box #12641. We are now in the process of finalizing the by-laws and filing for our 501c.3 status.

Our next stage is to solicit designs for the Monument. This is an open invitation for any and all to submit designs to the committee. The cutoff date will be 1 July 2008 to submit these designs. Along with the design we require an estimate of monument costs and dimensions for the site as well as the construction costs associated with the site. All of these requirements are essential to the selection process.

Keep in mind, this memorial concept was inspired by the members of the Beirut Memorial Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. As members of the MOPH and having a special place in our hearts for our combat Corpsmen, therefore that is the main theme of the Memorial.

The Memorial is to be dedicated from the Marines to the Navy Corpsmen. This theme has already been discussed at length at the prior meetings and it was unanimously decided to stick with the Combat Corpsmen/FMF theme.

While all Corpsmen are held in highest esteem, it’s those that saved our bacon that we want to primarily honor, many of us are alive today only because of these very special Corpsmen. There are other monuments at various locations honoring the other Corpsmen’s specialties. Also, with the Field Medical School being directly up the road at Camp Johnson it could not be more appropriate to be here at Camp Lejeune.

Send your designs to the Corpsmen’s Memorial Foundation (CMF) PO Box 12641, Jacksonville, NC 28546-2641. We are also accepting donations at this address. Our meetings are the third Wednesday of each month at 1900 at the Valencia Park office complex located at the corner of Huff and Valencia Drives, anyone with a constructive interest in this endeavor are invited to attend.

This is a long overdue project and our Corpsmen are deserving of this honor – help to make it a reality. We could also use some good ideas as far as fund raising, public relations and etc. If interested contact us.

Semper Fi, John Cooney – Treasurer, CMF

Ellie

[thedrifter]

We would like ideas please....

Send your designs to the Corpsmen’s Memorial Foundation (CMF) PO Box 12641, Jacksonville, NC 28546-2641. We are also accepting donations at this address. Our meetings are the third Wednesday of each month at 1900 at the Valencia Park office complex located at the corner of Huff and Valencia Drives, anyone with a constructive interest in this endeavor are invited to attend.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Update on the Corpsman's Memorial
Colonel, it has been awhile since I sent you an update on the Marine's Memorial to the Corpsmen. We have had many meetings, and much of what your contacts sent me I have inserted into the results. First let me say that the Officers and the Board of Directors are all combat veterans, from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraqi Freedom.

The sculptor has just been selected and it is Abbie Godwin. Who has done the Beirut Memorial statue, and the Vietnam Memorial Statue is Raleigh. While doing the Vietnam Memorial in Raleigh her hands were tied that she be Politically Correct, even stopped from putting the M on the forehead of the patient who had received morphine. I told her not only do I want the M on the forehead, but the battle dressings showing. The statues on the original pictures were no good. We did not want IV's running, because like I said, only once did I get a chance to start Blood Volume Expanders, and that was when I had time and the medevac would not be in for awhile. The statues have to show feeling, like the second statue could be a corpsman putting on moleskin on a blister, the patient would normally be in pain and lying down. The theme, I told her is that a person coming on the statues would wonder what would make a young man transform from a civilian into what Chesty Puller said was the Marine Corps Docs. Several times during the interview she did break down, because of the feelings between the Marines and the Corpsman. I did tell her that, not only had I saved lives in Vietnam, but an HM had saved my life, by giving up his. HM2 Mike Kauffman landed on top of me when the medevac chopper blew up, and stretched out and stopped the rest of the flames from hitting me with his body, receiving 96% of his body burned, while I had my arms, hand and back burnt,

She wants to read up on some material so she could get a feeling of the relationship between the Marine and the Corpsman, and the close bond. It kind of helps that her husband was a Corporal in the Corps in the 1970's. We told her of two books, (1) Flags of Our Fathers, written by Bradley, and (2) Names Not on the Wall, written by a contact of mine, and a grunt corpsman with 1/5 during Vietnam, John Hutchins. We are also going to take pictures of Marines with moulages on hopefully taken at the Field Medical Training Battalion East, next month.

Quite a discussion has been about dedicating this memorial to all of the corpsmen or just FMF Corpsmen. It has been decided to make this dedicated to FMF Corpsmen, because the bond between the Marines and their Corpsmen, and many of the Marines in this area have had their lives saved by the Devil Docs. If anyone wants to see memorials to the general Hospital Corpsman, they can go to Bethesda or Great Lakes, but with the proximity of the Medical Training Battalion East to the Memorial Gardens, Corpsmen in training can stop by and see their legacy.

The memorial stone is being donated by Martin Marietta with the inscription being done by the father of a young Seaman, who had just received orders to Corps School, when he was killed on the USS Cole, all that has to be done is to place the coin of the Cole under the stone. The inscription is being written, but is based on a writing by John Hutchins "Doc Bear".

Beyond these gates a GREAT transformaton is going on:
Men are becomig Marines. Corpsmen are becoming "Devil Docs".
When they unite and become one, no power on Earth can divide them,
"Marines take care of their Docs"
"Docs take care of their Marines"

Finally long last it's etched in stone.

Lastly, I just want to remind every one about the event at Flatwoods Outfitters this weekend. The Rolling Thunder is having a Poker Run, their will be Barbecue, served by Hooters girls. The $1200 Shotgun donated by Flatwoods Outfitters will be raffled off. The money collected from this event will be divided between the DAV and the Corpsmen's Memorial Foundation. So far over $2500 dollars has been collected.. Mike Fresia has set all of this up. There will also be T-shirts for sale, with the Inscription of Corpsmens Memorial Foundation in Red lettering circled by a greenwreath, and a gold cadeuce.

For all of their help, I want to thank the Museum of the Marine, and Sgt Major Joe Houle. I know that this is long, and I know that I probably left something out. But this is what has been happening. As you can see we have been using some of the inputs from your subscribers, and if they have any ideas let me know. All communication or donations can be mailed to Corpsmens Memorial Foundation, Box 12641, Jacksonville, NC 28546. Thanks for all that you do, and Semper FI, Doc Matt.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

‘Poker run’ fundraiser to be held Saturday
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Event to benefit DAV, Corpsmen Memorial
September 11, 2008 - 12:08AM
NEWS RELEASE

A "poker run" fundraiser to benefit Disabled American Veterans and the Corpsmen Memorial Fund will be held this weekend.

Registration forthe poker run, organized by Rolling Thunder NC-5, will start at 8 a.m. Saturday at New River Harley-Davidson in Jacksonville. The first bike is out at 10 a.m.

Cost for the event is $10 for a hand, $15 for two and $20 for three.

The best hand will get $500, second prize is $200 and worst hand is $100.

The poker run ends at Flatwoods Outfitters in Hubert, where there will be a barbecue, raffle and live music.

The main raffle is a $1,200 Beretta Shotgun - tickets are $10 each or $25 for three.

The DAV is planning on using the proceeds for a new van to transport vets to VA hospitals.

The money raised for the Corpsmen Memorial Fund will go toward a monument in Jacksonville.

For additional information on the event, contact John at 910-381-1353 or Mike at 910-381-7222.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Raising money to honor corpsmen
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September 14, 2008 - 12:30AM
LINDELL KAY
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Bikers, politicians, law enforcement officers, veterans and a district court judge showed up to support the first fundraiser for the Corpsman Memorial Fund.

"I'm pleased with the phenomenal turnout," CMF President Matt Deschamps said, adding that the event was a joint fundraiser with the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 16. "So there are two worthwhile causes we're here to support."

CMF organizers have an ultimate goal of building a corpsman museum next to where the Museum of the Marine is planned on Lejeune Boulevard.

"The ultimate goal is to have a museum, but the four-year plan is to have a corpsman statute erected near the Beirut Memorial," Deschamps said.

More than 120 bikers participated in a poker run that benefited both funds. The run began Saturday morning at New River Harley-Davidson and ended at Flatwoods Outfitters in Hubert.

Bikers rode to different spots in Jacksonville and selected a playing card from participating merchants. At the end of the ride, the bikers compared hands with the winner receiving $500. The rest of the money goes to the two funds.

"We want to build a big thank you from Marine to Corpsman," said John Cooney, CMF treasurer. "Corpsmen regularly go into action right beside Marines, side by side. Most of us wouldn't be here if it weren't for a Navy Corpsman."

The DAV plans to use proceeds from Saturday's event to purchase a new van to transport veterans from Jacksonville to VA hospitals and back, organizers said.

District Court Judge Jim Moore said he came out to the event to support the charities and enjoy some good food.

Food included barbecue and hushpuppies - with all the proceeds divided between the DAV and CMF, said Stavros Chantiles, an event organizer.

The event attracted around 300 people, according to an unofficial estimate by event organizers. The crowd enjoyed barbecue to the sounds of blaring rock music, distant gunshots from the rifle range and revving motorcycles.



Contact crime reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read Lindell's blog at http://onslowcrime.encblogs.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Monument a fitting tribute to Corpsmen
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September 16, 2008 - 12:54AM

No military relationship is more strongly forged than the one that exists between those who go to war and those who minister to the wounded, both on the battlefield and off. For the Marines, this vital billet is filled by the Hospital Corps of the U.S. Navy.

Known simply as "Corpsmen," the Navy's version of what the Army calls a medic must have a combination of many important qualities - among them courage, selflessness, competence and compassion.

The Hospital Corps has served alongside Marines in places like Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Okinawa, the Chosin Reservoir, Chu Lai and Beirut. Today they serve with their Leatherneck brothers and sisters in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many stories abound of heroic Corpsmen, faced with terrible odds of their own survival and having to choose between their own safety and the needs of those they've sworn to serve. Disregarding bullets and flying shrapnel to go to the aid of a downed Marine, Navy Corpsmen have shown incredible bravery and devotion to duty in the most terrible of circumstances. A number of these Corpsmen lost their lives in the process.

There's a movement afoot to add the statue of a Navy corpsman to the Beirut Memorial. The memorial, built with donations on land adjacent to Camp Johnson, was conceived following the terrorist attack on a Beirut building used as a Marine barracks in 1983. Among the nearly 300 dead were several Navy Corpsmen.

The group, the Corpsmen Memorial Fund or CMF, hopes to establish the statue within four years through fundraisers and donations. On a long-term basis, they also have plans to build a companion museum near the site designated for the Museum of the Marine, which is scheduled for construction on Lejeune Boulevard.

Remembering the contributions of Navy Corpsmen is a noble goal, and one that the citizens of Onslow County, with its rich mix military and civilians, should find compelling. Private fundraising efforts, particularly in times when money is tight, are to be commended. That's the right way to raise funds when the taxpayers are stretched so tightly. And what could be more appropriate than to honor those who risk their lives saving those of this country's fighting men and women?

Ellie