UPDATE: April 4, 2009: Ridgewood Lakes where I had planned to have our 2 May Chapter meeting, is having a tournament with lunch that day, so we cannot meet there. Accordingly, I have shifted the meeting to Sanctuary Ridge (old Diamond Players Club) [2601 Diamond Club Drive, Clermont, FL 34711; Read more…
Shipmates:
I need your feedback about future group cruises with other Marines.
A few of you have told me you are ready to go again, almost anytime, anywhere. But others have expressed reservations unless we can come up with new itineraries. With most cruise ships leaving from Florida, it is hard to find a trip that visits ports of call other than the same Caribbean Islands most of us have seen before.
Another question is the best time of year to cruise. I will do my best to find an affordable trip that offers a new itinerary and perhaps from a different port. To help my search, I would appreciate your responses to the following topics.
If you are not interested in future cruises, then no need to go on. Thanks for reading this far. If you look forward to traveling on these cruises with Marines in the future, or if you think it may be a possibility, please continue.
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Print category judges for the Merit Awards Program, Mike Rhea, Ron Keene and Dick Truitt examine submissions at the Newseum, Washington D.C. on March 5, 2009. Photo by Sgt. Michael S. Cifuentes.
By Don Knight, Awards Chair
Fast forward to Sept. 17, 2009. The Marines stepping onto the ballroom stage at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hampton , Va. are wearing their blues. They are greeted by a Marine officer and are photographed holding a first place plaque as a winner in the annual Merit Awards competition. There is loud applause, cheering.
Judges Rex Stucky, Jim Wallace and John Metelsky discuss the merits of the photgraphy submissions. Photo by Sgt. Michael S. Cifuentes
At the podium MC Pat Coulter, with his professional discourse, is saying something about the winning entry and the Marine holding the plaque. He has already mentioned that “tonight we are honoring the best of the best.”
This is the USMCCCA’s annual awards conference and banquet, the final act in a nine-month drill that began in early 2009.
A thousand entries in more than 40 categories arrived in January/February at the Corps’ Division of Public Affairs, Pentagon, from all points on the globe, were then screened for compliance with the rules and turned over to 13 volunteers, all but one being civilians, to review, discuss, often argue, then to make judgment.
By Jack Paxton, executive director and Fl Chapter member
Proving that distance poses no problem, the Florida Chapter continued its annual tradition of moving at least one quarterly meeting annually around the elongated state.
Jack Paxton, Alva and Charlie Ross, Red Carpenter, Hank and Trudy Ehlbeck and Ann Carpenter were among the Florida Chapter members attending the quarterly business meeting in Daytona, Fla. March 28, 2009. Photo by Kate Stark
On March 27, 10 members from diverse locations – two from as far away as Birmingham, AL – gathered in Daytona Beach on Florida’s east coast for a Friday social gathering and 1st Quarter meeting on Saturday. Two others joined the group for the Saturday luncheon.
Cyril "Obie" O’Brien at 90.
By Don Knight
He’s 90 years old now and remains the feisty, congenial one-time Marine combat correspondent who everyone calls “Obie.”
Cyril O’Brien hangs his hat in Leisure World, a sprawling retirement community in Montgomery County , Md. But it’s just a place to recuperate between his frequent trips abroad, mostly to World War II Pacific battlegrounds.
Obie has just returned from his fourth visit to Iwo Jima . He first went ashore there in 1945 as a combat correspondent with the 3rd Marine Division. The Japanese occupants of the island were not pleased with his presence then, but what a difference 64 years can make.
This time he was escorted, along with some 140 others, including war veterans from the U.S. and Japan , in vans driven by friendly Japanese guides. They stood on Hill 362, one of the landmarks of this historic battleground, then assembled atop Mt. Suribachi , accessed now by a winding road, stood on the site of the famous flag-raising, walked the invasion beaches and gathered samples of coral sand. Off limits for tourists is the maze of underground tunnels and bunkers used by the Japanese in their 36-day defense of the island. They are considered too dangerous for exploration.
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The National Archives and Records Administration is currently recruiting for two Federal Records Center Director positions – one for our Rocky Mountain Region in Denver, CO, and the other for our Great Lakes Region in Miamisburg, OH, just south of Dayton. Applications will be accepted until April 7, 2009. A full copy of the vacancy announcement is located at: http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?JobID=80096850
Members have till the end of the month in which to save $20 on their Conference Registration. The $100 fee goes up April 1 to $120 and to $130 after June 1. This is shaping up to be a really good conference, with lots of entertainment in the Hospitality Suite (Command Post), a free continental breakfast on Wednesday and a nice boat ride for the ladies on Friday. All this plus interesting seminars and a special “how to” for those of us not too swift on computers, scanning, etc., hosted by webmaster Kate Stark.
Mark your calendar and sign up early for the September 14-18 event. You can register here or by sending your check or credit card into to CCHQ at 220 Fox Court, Wildwood, FL 34785.
Between now and June 1 we hope to hear from you. This is one more way you can help your Association maintain programs that assist the various active duty Marines including the Wounded Marine Careers Foundation – a program that retrains our warriors in the skills that each of us might have learned many years ago. Your gifts also help support the scholarship funds for members, dependents, and active duty Marines. Consider also the annual Merit Awards Program that recognizes the achievements of our active duty warriors as well as the professional seminars we offer at each annual Conference. We’re not just your “marching and chowder society” organization. We offer something for both active duty and for our “tribal elders.”
Your gift will be recognized several ways this year: First, your dedication in the annual Conference Journal; second Now Hear This ,your quarterly newsletter and, lastly, continuously on our new website, www.usmccca.org. How can you lose? You will be recognized.
If your name is listed, or you know of the whereabouts of any of the following CCs, please contact Jack Paxton, Executive Director, USMCCCA, 110 Fox Court, Wildwood, FL 34785; Phone +1 352-748-4698; EMAIL: usmccca@cfl.rr.com; SKYPE: Jack T. Paxton Luis R. Agostini; Sharon Allen; Larry Atherton; David Bailey; William P. Banning; Read more…