A very special feature of this year’s CC gathering in New Bern will be the presence of staff from the Vietnam War Commemoration, a Congressionally-funded program established to raise awareness and express appreciation for America’s Vietnam vets. Our own Joe Galloway, the 2001 Denig Award recipient and co-author of the […]
National USMCCCA President Keith Oliver has penned a great article about our former executive director, Jack Paxton for the Daily Commercial. You can find the “Wildwood Marine’s legacy preserved in print” story online here.
Pre-order your copy today!
After more than a few setbacks, our updated history is now ready to go. The 295-page edition traces us from our beginnings in World War II through the Gulf Wars. In our first edition two years ago we only had a few of the original photos from “Last To Know, First To Go.” In this edition we have added more than 70 photos.
Our USMCCCA webmaster Kate Stark is again publishing the names of those named in the book. Even if your name is not listed in the index, you may be mentioned in a photo caption. We will also place this notice on Face Book.
The book will sell for $33 to members and $40 for non-members. You can use the button below or send a check or credit card info to CCHQ at 110 Fox Court, Wildwood, FL 34785. Make your payments to the USMCCCA not the USMCCCA Foundation. Through the largesse of our publishers, Dave and Diane Biesel, St. Johann Press, the Association will realize $10 for each book sold.
If you have pre-ordered, your names have been sent to St. Johann Press. All books will be mailed to you from their New Jersey headquarters
Retired Major Mawk Arnold (center) is joined by lst Marine Division Snuffies, retired Captains Russ Thurman (left) and Dale Dye, during a visit to the Denig Memorial at the Marine Corps Museum during the 2016 annual conference. (Photo by former Captain Debbie Thurman)
(Editor’s note: An additional obit was published on http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com)
By Capt. Dale Dye USMC (Ret)
It’s indisputable that I would not have survived my service in Vietnam if it hadn’t been for a rugged, rawboned mustang officer who enlisted in the Marine Corps nearly a year before I was born. In fact, none of the seriously twisted bull-goose loonies that served as Combat Correspondents in the 1st Marine Division under Captain Mawk Arnold would have lived through their combat tours — much less avoided serious brig time — without the guidance, patience and protection of the man who was then and continues to be our Skipper.
Mawk Arnold USMC (Ret) 1924-2018 (Photo courtesy of Bob Bowen)
Mordecai R. Arnold, out of Texas via Alabama and practically all points east and west where Marines have planted boondockers, is my hero, but the noun fails to convey what he really means to those of us who served with The Skipper. There aren’t enough terms in a thesaurus to cover the depth of gratitude, emulation, admiration and devotion we feel for the gentle giant in whose shadow we spent the most seminal times of our lives. For the double handful of us Marine Corps combat correspondents who made it through the crucible of frenetic combat operations in northern I Corps circa 1967-69, only one term fits when we talk about The Skipper: love. We loved The Skipper unashamedly and unabashedly and we’ll gleefully rip the lungs right out of any macho sonofabitch that wants to challenge that emotion. We learned that from The Skipper who often threatened to do something similar — if less violently — to anyone who messed with his wayward boys in or out of combat.
Executive Director Note: The Stars and Stripes writer of the article, “War-movie adviser looks to troops, vets to fund his directorial debut” should not have been surprised at anything during this interview. I’ve known Dale Dye since he was a young lance corporal and nothing surprises me these days about […]
Pre-order your copy today!
Certainly, if your name is in the index below, you will want a copy of the book that commemorates the role you played in our history, right? The original history “Last to Know, First to Go” covered our history from slightly before WWII to about 1987. We have included excerpts from the original and brought it forward from that date – thanks to those who answered our requests – to about 2012.
The book’s cost is $33 to members; $40 to non-members. If you use a credit card, add a dollar. There is a button on our website www.usmccca.org that permits this. If you wish to use a check, make it payable to USMCCCA, 110 Fox Ct., Wildwood, FL 3478. The book will be shipped from St. Johann Press directly to you with free postage.
President’s Notes The current issue of Proceedings, the U.S. Naval Institute’s 144-year-old flagship pub, is replete with names familiar to USMCCCA folk. CC Joe Plenzler was praised by USNI CEO Vice Adm. Peter Daly for his “positive impacts on membership and engagement” as he leaves the Annapolis outfit to join […]
BERNICE RUTH STAVISKY (Age 95). On April 10, 2017. Beloved wife of the late Samuel E. Stavisky; devoted mother of Robin D. Stavisky of Palo Alto CA and Judy S. Stavisky (husband Alan Schiff) of Wyncote PA, and grandson Evan (wife Marina Oliveira) of London, beloved friend and ardent Francophile and teacher passed quietly away. Funeral services and interment at Arlington National Cemetery will be privately held.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family is asking that donations be made to: US Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association Foundation, usmccca@cfl.rr.com, or 1-352-748-4698.
As one wag attending our 74th conference put it: “New Bern was a ‘bear’ of a town.” Now, whether or not he was referring to the many bear statues around town or the fact that New Bern takes its name from Bern, Switzerland (named after the German word ‘bear’) we […]