thedrifter
11-10-08, 11:05 AM
National Museum of the Marine Corps, US Marine Corps Base at Quantico,Virginia
Two former Marines were “Good to Go.”
By Jerry McConnell Sunday, November 9, 2008
Canada Free Press, Canada
As one of the greatest military forces in the world, the triumphs and achievements accrued by the United States Marine Corps are phenomenal. President Reagan once said: “Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.”
Of my years of service in the Marine Corps I never had a problem with thinking that I made a difference. I was told that attaining the rank of Master Sergeant by climbing from Recruit Private in Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC within the first ten years was an exceptional accomplishment; it took me 9 years and 7 months. So I feel that I did make a difference, even if only a personal one.
But collectively, personal achievements are what make the Marine Corps the great body that it is. Just giving a unit a name doesn’t mean it will make a difference; it needs personnel to follow the traditions and footsteps of those who preceded them to make that difference. The Marines guarantee that their personnel will fulfill those promises.
So it was with much anticipation and expectancy that I viewed an invitation from a close friend to join him on a journey to the US Marine Corps Base at Quantico,Virginia to visit the new and recently opened National Museum of the Marine Corps. Historically the base at Quantico is not among the Corps’ older establishments having been erected during World War One in 1917, but due to its proximity to our nation’s capitol it became a handy repository for artifacts and history markers.
The base which sort of grew into the museum for the deeds and accomplishments of all things Marine and the collection of historically valuable items, large and small, began to cause a bulging at the seams in its early accommodations which also included a building at the very first Marine Corps base located at 8th and I streets in Southwest Washington, DC.
I had discarded hopes of ever reaching the goal of setting foot in that revered site some 450 miles south of Hampton, NH. I told my friend that I would need time to think about it, so it took about 3 seconds of deep thought and my answer was that I would be extremely happy to join him on the visit.
So it was decided that Rich Sawyer, currently the Deputy Chief of Police in Hampton and I would motor-trek to the large and well-known Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia to re-live some history of an organization that we both proudly served some years in the past.
Wisely, Rich decided it best to travel starting on a Sunday in early June and prepare to make it a few days visit of not only Quantico, but the overall Washington,DC area including Arlington National Cemetery.
It took over 9 hours to complete our journey southward, but as darkness began to close in we spotted a tall, well-lighted spire extending 210 feet skyward at an angle from the structure and recognized the new museum building’s crowning glory. The angle of the spire was influenced by and intended to remind viewers of the immortal flag raising at Iwo Jima Island during World War Two. It stunningly accomplishes that mission.
We began our first full day the next morning at 9 am when we were in line to enter this treasure of Marine Corps historical artifacts and data from its inception on November 10, 1776, when the Corps was founded, which took place in a drinking establishment named Tun Tavern that had also housed the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple with Benjamin Franklin presiding as Grand Master.
The dining area of the new Marine museum is a replica of the old tavern which was constructed within the walls of the new museum and Rich and I had our lunch there that first day. But the principal attractions are the vivid and realistic exhibits of the many venues of warfare Marines have trodden, as is depicted in the reverent Marine Corps hymn, “In the snow of far-off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,” in the nearly two and one half centuries of its existence.
From the first ever in American history combat landing in the Bahamas in 1775, to sharpshooting riflemen in the riggings of our combat vessels in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, to the landings against the Barbary Pirates on the Shores of Tripoli in 1805, to the Halls of Montezuma outside Mexico City in 1847, to America’s Civil War in 1861, and the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Over the following two decades the Marines continued to “fight our country’s battles on the land and on the sea,” again as the Marine hymn sketches, by conducting expeditionary landing in remote places such as Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Panama, Vera Cruz in Mexico and at Guantanamo Bay. They also provided defense for the U. S. legation in Peking, China leading up to World War One where they fought the German Army in a three week battle at Belleau Wood their ferocious fighting earned them the lasting nickname of “Devil Dogs” from the German soldiers.
Since then the Marines have been a prominent if not the only fighting force in every American engagement up to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marine Museum at Quantico has something from each one of all the conflicts to which the Marines have ever been assigned.
The Museum features amazingly lifelike replicas of Marines in the displays jumping from helicopters in a battle zone, disembarking from a Landing Craft and crouching to avoid enemy bullets as they storm a beach at Iwo Jima, injured Marines helping other more seriously hurt comrades as enemy fire hisses overhead so real that any Marine who has experienced combat gets great sensations of remembrance at the vivid scenes.
Four different Marine wartime aircraft from past eras such as a Curtis “Jenny” from the 1920’s “Banana Wars”; 2 Corsair fighters from WWII and a modern AV-8B Harrier “jump jet,” all suspended from the massive ceiling areas as if on a mission. While below on the ground WWII Sherman and Pershing tanks that once tracked their way across sandy beaches stand now as if about to pounce again into the jaws of a Japanese held cave at Peleliu. And an LVT-1 amphibious tractor presses forward to the enemy near where a Sikorsky HRS-2 helicopter is depositing Marines with guns blazing as they advance toward the enemy.
Other impressive exhibits describe the “making of a Marine” from down and dirty, rough and tumble Boot Camp instructions to advanced infantry training which every Marine qualifies in regardless of what specialties they may later perform on everyday duty. This exhibit includes the rigors in the training life of future women Marines as well with lifelike mannequins poised as if to tell you about what they have learned.
For the modern Marine and his family and friends there is the exhibit on the Global War on Terrorism featuring an outstanding photo display of that on-going source of trouble today.
More than 60,000 artifacts and mementoes of Marine Corps history are on display at the 135-acre site, housed in the 118,000 square foot structure that was built with generous donations from current and former Marines, Marine Corps admirers, private corporations and industries. Operating personnel are provided by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation which was the organization responsible for fund-raising for the project. When completed, the entire complex will be turned over to the Marine Corps, but the non-profit entity, will continue to provide volunteer manning as well as maintenance.
This magnificent vault of treasured history is not yet complete. Additional elements may still be included in the building itself and an adjacent tract of land will feature a Semper Fidelis Memorial Park to honor the courage and commitment that are the heart and soul of the Marine Corps.
On our second day we traveled back to Washington, DC in 100 degree heat where we were welcomed to the area by NH Senator John Sununu in his stately office in the Senate Office building on the Capitol grounds.
After meeting with the Senator we took Washington’s modern Metro underground transportation system. It beats by far trying to travel the heavily traveled and seemingly at a perpetual standstill streets and roadways.
We then toured Arlington National Cemetery where we stood in quiet awe at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the Army soldiers march with silent dignity in measured steps and movements all designed to honor the unknown but not forgotten remains buried in the marble crypt at the memorial.
That evening on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial at the Cemetery we witnessed the world-renowned and famous 80 member Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps and 24 man Silent Rifle Drill Team put on a hard-to-believe, nearly one full hour exhibition of outstanding patriotic and inspiring musical selections while performing precision marching and mind-boggling, razor-sharp intricate weapons handling all without the necessity of one verbal command.
We returned to our nation’s capitol the following day and spent several hours at the also recently completed and opened incredible World War Two Memorial. This testimonial to the men and women who guided our country through America’s worst military conflict has left nothing to be desired. It pays tribute, not only to the fighting men and women, but to the home front, non-military household members who kept the “home fires burning” alertly serving to help prevent any possibility of our enemies gaining footholds on our shores.
A walking tour took us to the nearby Washington Monument with its stately obelisk reaching 555 feet into the air; past the Smithsonian Institution where one could spend a week trying to see all that it has to offer; past many of our governmental buildings; to an eye-ball tour of the White House from a distant venue on Pennsylvania Avenue; finally to a visit to the impressive Supreme Court Building.
Again, the magical atmosphere of this building created the same silent awe as did the Arlington National Cemetery. Just to gaze on the huge hanging paintings of all the Supreme Court Justices is in itself awe-inspiring. The Court was not in session but we were admitted to one of the courtrooms where much of the country’s legal history has been created.
A knowledgeable docent delivered a commentary on how the Court hears and then rests to decide on an answer to whatever question a case has put before them. The articulate docent took us through an actual case scenario and even explained how some of the Justices’ individual quirks and habits came to play on the final decisions. A constant video was ongoing in a side room theater-like setting which further displayed the operation of the Court along with mini-biographies of the current nine Justices.
I would urge any American citizen who has never been to our nation’s capitol to spend their next vacation just soaking up the culture of our great country. Most everything is admission free and easily accessible. The underground Metro is very efficient and reasonable for traveling to just about any point in the entireDistrict of Columbia area and there are eating establishments practically everywhere your gaze stops.
To make your life fuller and to have a better understanding of our country, as Nike says, “Just do it” and with the word of two former Marines who just did it, “You’re good to go”
Ellie
Two former Marines were “Good to Go.”
By Jerry McConnell Sunday, November 9, 2008
Canada Free Press, Canada
As one of the greatest military forces in the world, the triumphs and achievements accrued by the United States Marine Corps are phenomenal. President Reagan once said: “Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.”
Of my years of service in the Marine Corps I never had a problem with thinking that I made a difference. I was told that attaining the rank of Master Sergeant by climbing from Recruit Private in Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC within the first ten years was an exceptional accomplishment; it took me 9 years and 7 months. So I feel that I did make a difference, even if only a personal one.
But collectively, personal achievements are what make the Marine Corps the great body that it is. Just giving a unit a name doesn’t mean it will make a difference; it needs personnel to follow the traditions and footsteps of those who preceded them to make that difference. The Marines guarantee that their personnel will fulfill those promises.
So it was with much anticipation and expectancy that I viewed an invitation from a close friend to join him on a journey to the US Marine Corps Base at Quantico,Virginia to visit the new and recently opened National Museum of the Marine Corps. Historically the base at Quantico is not among the Corps’ older establishments having been erected during World War One in 1917, but due to its proximity to our nation’s capitol it became a handy repository for artifacts and history markers.
The base which sort of grew into the museum for the deeds and accomplishments of all things Marine and the collection of historically valuable items, large and small, began to cause a bulging at the seams in its early accommodations which also included a building at the very first Marine Corps base located at 8th and I streets in Southwest Washington, DC.
I had discarded hopes of ever reaching the goal of setting foot in that revered site some 450 miles south of Hampton, NH. I told my friend that I would need time to think about it, so it took about 3 seconds of deep thought and my answer was that I would be extremely happy to join him on the visit.
So it was decided that Rich Sawyer, currently the Deputy Chief of Police in Hampton and I would motor-trek to the large and well-known Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia to re-live some history of an organization that we both proudly served some years in the past.
Wisely, Rich decided it best to travel starting on a Sunday in early June and prepare to make it a few days visit of not only Quantico, but the overall Washington,DC area including Arlington National Cemetery.
It took over 9 hours to complete our journey southward, but as darkness began to close in we spotted a tall, well-lighted spire extending 210 feet skyward at an angle from the structure and recognized the new museum building’s crowning glory. The angle of the spire was influenced by and intended to remind viewers of the immortal flag raising at Iwo Jima Island during World War Two. It stunningly accomplishes that mission.
We began our first full day the next morning at 9 am when we were in line to enter this treasure of Marine Corps historical artifacts and data from its inception on November 10, 1776, when the Corps was founded, which took place in a drinking establishment named Tun Tavern that had also housed the Grand Lodge of the Masonic Temple with Benjamin Franklin presiding as Grand Master.
The dining area of the new Marine museum is a replica of the old tavern which was constructed within the walls of the new museum and Rich and I had our lunch there that first day. But the principal attractions are the vivid and realistic exhibits of the many venues of warfare Marines have trodden, as is depicted in the reverent Marine Corps hymn, “In the snow of far-off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,” in the nearly two and one half centuries of its existence.
From the first ever in American history combat landing in the Bahamas in 1775, to sharpshooting riflemen in the riggings of our combat vessels in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, to the landings against the Barbary Pirates on the Shores of Tripoli in 1805, to the Halls of Montezuma outside Mexico City in 1847, to America’s Civil War in 1861, and the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Over the following two decades the Marines continued to “fight our country’s battles on the land and on the sea,” again as the Marine hymn sketches, by conducting expeditionary landing in remote places such as Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Panama, Vera Cruz in Mexico and at Guantanamo Bay. They also provided defense for the U. S. legation in Peking, China leading up to World War One where they fought the German Army in a three week battle at Belleau Wood their ferocious fighting earned them the lasting nickname of “Devil Dogs” from the German soldiers.
Since then the Marines have been a prominent if not the only fighting force in every American engagement up to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Marine Museum at Quantico has something from each one of all the conflicts to which the Marines have ever been assigned.
The Museum features amazingly lifelike replicas of Marines in the displays jumping from helicopters in a battle zone, disembarking from a Landing Craft and crouching to avoid enemy bullets as they storm a beach at Iwo Jima, injured Marines helping other more seriously hurt comrades as enemy fire hisses overhead so real that any Marine who has experienced combat gets great sensations of remembrance at the vivid scenes.
Four different Marine wartime aircraft from past eras such as a Curtis “Jenny” from the 1920’s “Banana Wars”; 2 Corsair fighters from WWII and a modern AV-8B Harrier “jump jet,” all suspended from the massive ceiling areas as if on a mission. While below on the ground WWII Sherman and Pershing tanks that once tracked their way across sandy beaches stand now as if about to pounce again into the jaws of a Japanese held cave at Peleliu. And an LVT-1 amphibious tractor presses forward to the enemy near where a Sikorsky HRS-2 helicopter is depositing Marines with guns blazing as they advance toward the enemy.
Other impressive exhibits describe the “making of a Marine” from down and dirty, rough and tumble Boot Camp instructions to advanced infantry training which every Marine qualifies in regardless of what specialties they may later perform on everyday duty. This exhibit includes the rigors in the training life of future women Marines as well with lifelike mannequins poised as if to tell you about what they have learned.
For the modern Marine and his family and friends there is the exhibit on the Global War on Terrorism featuring an outstanding photo display of that on-going source of trouble today.
More than 60,000 artifacts and mementoes of Marine Corps history are on display at the 135-acre site, housed in the 118,000 square foot structure that was built with generous donations from current and former Marines, Marine Corps admirers, private corporations and industries. Operating personnel are provided by the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation which was the organization responsible for fund-raising for the project. When completed, the entire complex will be turned over to the Marine Corps, but the non-profit entity, will continue to provide volunteer manning as well as maintenance.
This magnificent vault of treasured history is not yet complete. Additional elements may still be included in the building itself and an adjacent tract of land will feature a Semper Fidelis Memorial Park to honor the courage and commitment that are the heart and soul of the Marine Corps.
On our second day we traveled back to Washington, DC in 100 degree heat where we were welcomed to the area by NH Senator John Sununu in his stately office in the Senate Office building on the Capitol grounds.
After meeting with the Senator we took Washington’s modern Metro underground transportation system. It beats by far trying to travel the heavily traveled and seemingly at a perpetual standstill streets and roadways.
We then toured Arlington National Cemetery where we stood in quiet awe at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the Army soldiers march with silent dignity in measured steps and movements all designed to honor the unknown but not forgotten remains buried in the marble crypt at the memorial.
That evening on the grounds of the Iwo Jima Memorial at the Cemetery we witnessed the world-renowned and famous 80 member Marine Corps Drum and Bugle Corps and 24 man Silent Rifle Drill Team put on a hard-to-believe, nearly one full hour exhibition of outstanding patriotic and inspiring musical selections while performing precision marching and mind-boggling, razor-sharp intricate weapons handling all without the necessity of one verbal command.
We returned to our nation’s capitol the following day and spent several hours at the also recently completed and opened incredible World War Two Memorial. This testimonial to the men and women who guided our country through America’s worst military conflict has left nothing to be desired. It pays tribute, not only to the fighting men and women, but to the home front, non-military household members who kept the “home fires burning” alertly serving to help prevent any possibility of our enemies gaining footholds on our shores.
A walking tour took us to the nearby Washington Monument with its stately obelisk reaching 555 feet into the air; past the Smithsonian Institution where one could spend a week trying to see all that it has to offer; past many of our governmental buildings; to an eye-ball tour of the White House from a distant venue on Pennsylvania Avenue; finally to a visit to the impressive Supreme Court Building.
Again, the magical atmosphere of this building created the same silent awe as did the Arlington National Cemetery. Just to gaze on the huge hanging paintings of all the Supreme Court Justices is in itself awe-inspiring. The Court was not in session but we were admitted to one of the courtrooms where much of the country’s legal history has been created.
A knowledgeable docent delivered a commentary on how the Court hears and then rests to decide on an answer to whatever question a case has put before them. The articulate docent took us through an actual case scenario and even explained how some of the Justices’ individual quirks and habits came to play on the final decisions. A constant video was ongoing in a side room theater-like setting which further displayed the operation of the Court along with mini-biographies of the current nine Justices.
I would urge any American citizen who has never been to our nation’s capitol to spend their next vacation just soaking up the culture of our great country. Most everything is admission free and easily accessible. The underground Metro is very efficient and reasonable for traveling to just about any point in the entireDistrict of Columbia area and there are eating establishments practically everywhere your gaze stops.
To make your life fuller and to have a better understanding of our country, as Nike says, “Just do it” and with the word of two former Marines who just did it, “You’re good to go”
Ellie