Pentagon portrait of Navy captain a prank
April 17th, 2012 | Battle Rattle History and heritage Pentagon Washington | Posted by James Sanborn
The Pentagon’s halls are adorned with artifacts, paintings and portraits that herald each of the service’s illustrious histories. Walking from one wing to another visitors and staff pass portraits of military greats like Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, Gen. George S. Patton, and Adm. Chester Nimitz.
One portrait, however, was a mystery that turned out to be a prank of epic proportions. Check out this story by the Wall Street Journal on how Capt. Eldridge Hord III, now 53, has had his portrait hanging in the nation’s seat of military power for nearly a year with a plaque claiming it was the likeness of an ensign lost at sea in the 19th century.
His modern blow-dried hairstyle finally gave him away.
Do you have any stories of epic hoaxes or pranks from your time in the military?
At Sywanyk’s, you get Marine Corps lore with every pour
March 13th, 2012 | Battle Rattle Camp Lejeune History and heritage Marines | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
A swing through Jacksonville, N.C., just wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Sywanyk’s. It’s a bar in a building that is so filled with Marine Corps memorabilia that it almost defies description. In fact, retired Sgt. Maj. Ihor Sywanyk, owner of the one-of-a-kind bar/museum can only describe it this way:
“You just come on right in, I won’t charge you and I might even buy you a drink… you will be impressed and amazed and if you don’t like it, don’t come back… but they always come back,” he told me on my third visit.
Sywanyk (pronounced swah-nick), an immigrant from the Ukraine, joined the Marine Corps in 1964 and served on active duty for more than 32 years and in dozens of different jobs from machinist to drill instructor to grunt and beyond. In 1995, a year before retiring from Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., Sywanyk established his nightclub and began installing his collection of tens of thousands of Marine Corps items and memorabilia he has collected over the decades, mostly at gun shows.
Visitors will see a staggering number of weapons, patches, stickers, movie posters, recruiting posters, flags, medals, musical instruments, plaques, figurines, uniforms, documents and other collectibles in the two-story club, which has hosted countless weddings, Marine Corps birthday balls, hail-and-farewells and reunions.
Among his prized possessions are a uniform worn by Lt. Col. John William Thomason, Jr., author of Fix Bayonets, among several other World War I era books; and, a letter handwritten by Archibald Henderson, who was the longest serving commandant from 1820 to 1859.
Next time you’re in Jacksonville — or even on your way through the area — don’t miss Sywanyk’s Scarlet and Gold Traditions. It’s at 222 Henderson Avenue in Jacksonville. And don’t be surprised if you see me there on my fourth or fifth visit. It takes at least that many to see everything and toss a couple of Guinness back.
Smithsonian kicks off Marine aviation centennial exhibit
January 10th, 2012 | Aviation History and heritage | Posted by Dan Lamothe
The Smithsonian launched a year-long celebration of the Marine Corps’ aviation centennial Jan. 11 with an exhibit entitled “Fly Marines!”
The exhibit, created in conjunction with the National Museum of the Marine Corps, will draw on the Corps’ coffers of more than 5,500 works by 350 artists. The works were generated by the Marine Corps Arts Program, founded in 1942 to document the lives of Marines in combat and at home.
The exhibit will run through Jan. 6, 2013.
Three new ships named after Marines — but did the Navy get it right?
January 6th, 2012 | Blue-Green operations History and heritage Medal of Honor | Posted by Dan Lamothe
The destroyer Jason Dunham was named after the Marine Corps' first Medal of Honor recipient in the Iraq war. (Bath Iron Works photograph)
Above, you see the destroyer Jason Dunham. It’s named after Cpl. Jason Dunham, who covered a grenade with his helmet on April 14, 2004, in an attempt to shield the blast from fellow Marines. He died eight days later, and received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroism on Jan. 11, 2007.
No human being in their right mind would question the naming of the ship. It’s a logical, sensible case in which a class of ship frequently used to honor war heroes memorialized one of the greatest heroes of the Iraq war.
It’s no secret that the Navy has taken a hit in the naming other ships in the last few years, though. As Navy Times colleague Sam Fellman pointed out in a story last month, chief among those are the Cesar Chavez and the John P. Murtha, both of which rankled a variety of conservative politicians, service members and military advocates.
The Cesar Chavez, a Lewis and Clark-class cargo ship, was named after a labor leader and civil rights activist, raising questions about whether politics were involved with some critics. The class of ship is usually named after pioneers, but most other namesakes in the class (Alan Shepherd, Lewis and Clark, Amelia Earhart) were decidedly a different kind of pioneer.
The John P. Murtha, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, was named after the Marine veteran and late congressman. It outraged some Marines and Marine families who remembered that he accused Marines of “killing innocent people” in Hadithah, Iraq, before an investigation had concluded and anyone had been charged.
Those are controversial names, to be sure — and ones that could have been avoided in favor of others on which virtually all Americans could agree.
That brings us to the Navy’s decision, announced yesterday, on what to name the three first mobile landing platform ships.
“I chose to name the department’s new MLPs Montford Point, John Glenn and Lewis B. Puller as a way to recognize these American pioneers and heroes both collectively and individually,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. “The courage shown by these Marines helped forge the Corps into the most formidable expeditionary force in the world.”
It’s hard to argue with using the names. Glenn is an American hero, a Marine aviator who served in combat and later became an astronaut and U.S. senator. “Chesty” Puller is a Marine legend, a five-time Navy Cross recipient who served in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II and the Korean War. Montford Point served as the training ground to thousands of black Marines who served in World War II.
The question is whether the names were used on the right kind of ship — and yes, it has mattered in the past.
There are certainly variations, but ship classes have typically followed themes. For example, many amphibious assault ships are named after famous battles — Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Makin Island, etc.
Montford Point is a place. It’s one that has been memorialized several times in the last year, and rightfully so. More than 20,000 black recruits were trained there from 1942 to 1949, and their service is credited with leading the U.S. to desegregate the military.
Puller and Glenn, on the other hand, are people. In fact, as I learned in a conversation with Defense News sage Chris Cavas, Puller’s name was used on a guided-missile frigate that was decommissioned in 1998. That Lewis B. Puller was part of a class of ship named after another war hero, American Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Wouldn’t it have made sense, then, to wait and name another San Antonio-class ship after Montford Point, memorializing its black Marine veterans with a ship that will carry modern-day Marines? The San Antonio class already is named after a location, so it would have held form. It also certainly would have been more popular across the Corps than naming a San Antonio-class ship after Murtha.
Also, wouldn’t it have made sense to name a destroyer or some other fearsome ship with heavy guns the Lewis B. Puller, rather than a mobile landing platform? Granted, the MLPs will have a major role in seabasing, a Marine Corps concept, but it doesn’t exactly square with Puller’s legendary status.
As Fellman pointed out in his story, Congress is expecting the Navy to report back this year and explain how it names its ships. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year.
Marine paints his way into history
January 3rd, 2012 | History and heritage The CMC Washington | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
Gen. James Amos and artist Staff Sgt. Kristopher Battles on Jan. 1, 2012 at the Home of the Commandants in Washington, D.C. (Gina Cavallaro/staff)
The Home of the Commandants at Marine Barracks Washington is a living museum where all who enter or are fortunate enough to live there are surrounded by artists’ renditions of some of the most famous faces, places and battles in the Marine Corps’ history.
Completed in 1806, the historic landmark is the oldest continuously occupied home in Washington and the names of many of the artists whose works adorn the walls have long since faded into the past.
So, when Staff Sgt. Kristopher Battles was chosen to create the home’s newest painting, he knew it would be one for the history books — and that he’d be around long enough to see it hung on the wall.
“I haven’t done anything with this level of exposure,” said Battles, a Reserve Marine who has been mobilized for five years and works in a studio aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. “I mean, it’s the commandant’s house.”
The oil painting is a faithful replica of the Home of the Commandants after a snowfall and is based on a photo taken by Amos himself in 2009. A reproduction of the work was used by Amos, and his wife Bonnie, for their 2011 Christmas card.
To show his appreciation for Battles’ superb work, and for his contribution of more than 60 studio works for the Marine Corps in the last year alone, Amos awarded Battles the Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal following the painting’s unveiling in the home’s living room on Jan. 1.
Battles, who was invited with his wife to the traditional New Years Day “surprise” musical serenade for the commandant — a tradition that dates to the Civil War – thought he was just another invited guest and was surprised by the award. He hadn’t even met the commandant until that day.
The painting of the Home of the Commdandants, Battles said, is now one of his favorites. But there is one painting he did during a deployment to Iraq that is his favorite of all time. It’s called A Little Light Reading, Marines Enjoy the Morning.
A Little Light Reading, by Staff Sgt. Kristopher Battles
“I like it because it shows what it’s like to be in Iraq, and that’s something for future reference,” Battles said.
Marine commandant gives miniature swords as birthday ball gift
November 17th, 2011 | History and heritage The CMC | Posted by Dan Lamothe
On Saturday night, I attended my first commandant’s Marine Corps Birthday Ball in National Harbor, Md. It was an impressive event with excellent food and music and a guest list that included more than a dozen general officers, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Sgt. Dakota Meyer, the Corps’ recent Medal of Honor recipient.
As is customary, the Marine Corps gave each of the estimated 3,000 guests a gift. This year’s was a 10-inch miniature Marine officer’s sword letter opener, complete with sheath and intricate detailing.
The swords were made by Weyersberg, Kirschbaum and Cie, of Soligen, Germany. It bills itself as the oldest sword factory in the world.
The Daily Show uses Iwo Jima image to spoof Occupy Wall Street
November 17th, 2011 | History and heritage Iwo Jima Memorial Pop culture | Posted by Dan Lamothe
So I was watching The Daily Show last night, and on came a clip spoofing the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City. That’s no surprise.
The twist came when host Jon Stewart noted that the movement had vowed to take over the park, “if only to erect a monument to what was perhaps the occupiers’ biggest challenge.”
That fictional monument looked like this:
The "monument" that The Daily Show says the Occupy Wall Street movement erected in New York City. (ComedyCentral.com screen grab)
The bit got a good laugh, playing on the perceived messiness of the “facilities” at the park, where protesters have demonstrated against the state of the economy, corporate greed, unemployment and other social ills.
“They truly were,” Stewart said, “the least toileted generation.”
Five U.S. Marines and a Navy Corpsman raise the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. This photograph, taken during the heart of World War II, is one of the most iconic U.S. photographs of all time. (Joe Rosenthal/Associated Press)
Plenty of people have mocked the Occupy movement, but I’ll be the fuddy duddy who asks: Did The Daily Show go too far by using the famous image of the U.S. flag-raising on Mount Suribachi?
Every few years, the iconic World War II image of five Marines and a Navy corpsman erecting the flag on Iwo Jima is altered for another purpose. Typically, doing so is blasted by veterans groups and many Marines, whose own Marine Corps War Memorial near the Pentagon replicates it.
In 2008, for example, Time magazine came under fire after it doctored the image to replace the U.S. flag with a tree for an issue about global warming.
Last year, a British Airways employees union sparked outrage by altering the photograph to promote their cause during a labor strike.
And earlier this year, a cultural group in New Jersey apologized after veterans complained about them altering the Iwo image to promote a parade honoring Indian heritage. The Indian flag was super-imposed over the American flag in that image.
Those are just a few examples. The Daily Show wasn’t promoting anything specific with their version of the image, but it certainly had an edge to it. It’s a freakin’ toilet swapped in for the American flag, after all.
Justin Timberlake on the Marine Corps ball: ‘I will never forget it’
November 14th, 2011 | History and heritage Pop culture | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Cpl. Kelsey De Santis and her date Justin Timberlake applaud retired Sgt. Maj. Ralph Larsen at the Instructor Battalion Marine Corps Birthday Ball on Nov. 12 in Richmond, Va. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Emmanuel Ramos)
By now, you’ve probably heard that Justin Timberlake did indeed attend a Marine Corps birthday ball last night in Richmond, Va., with Cpl. Kelsey De Santis. The Corps has released the photograph above, and there are others floating around online.
Timberlake just weighed in on the experience on his website. To say he appreciated the evening would appear to be an understatement. A passage from his note:
To all of you that serve every day for us… Ensuring our freedom, I say: My deepest gratitude to you. I’ve met so many of my heroes… From Michael Jordan to Michael Jackson. And, nothing makes me feel more honor and pride than when I get to meet one of you. Last night changed my life and I will never forget it.
It’s well worth reading the entire message.
UPDATE: 9:50 a.m., Nov. 14: De Santis posted a single message on Twitter about the experience here:
The ball was epic! Had a wonderful time.
At sea, a place of their own
November 11th, 2011 | Blue-Green operations Food Life at Sea Marine Raiders MEU operations | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Marines heading out to sea in any of the Navy’s fleet of amphibious ships get quickly and acutely familiar with a few spaces inside those large gray warfighting hulls: their berthing space, the ship’s gym and the enlisted mess decks.
Carlson Cafe aboard amphibious assault ship Makin Island, was busy at lunchtime during at-sea training last month. The cozy section of the much-larger enlisted mess decks is named after a legendary Marine Raider. (Gidget Fuentes/staff)
There’s usually nothing spectacular about those spaces, which are often crowded and offer little in the way of physical privacy or familiar comforts of home. But aboard Makin Island, the Navy’s newest big-deck amphibious assault ship and homeported in San Diego, what would have been some storage area off the main mess decks has been remade into a cozier space with a more intimate “cafe” feel.
Unlike the fluorescent-lit, Navy-blue color schemes more typical of ships’ mess decks, this area called “Carlson Cafe” features walls wrapped in paneling, blue vinyl-covered bar stools and booths and tables topped with the Mandarin phrase of “Gung Ho” on red vinyl.
The cafe, which is opened during the ship’s meal hours for E-6s and below, is named for the late and innovative Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson, one of the more colorful leaders among the Marine Corps’ small but elite World War II force known as Marine Raiders. Carlson had served in China and adopted the phrase “gung ho,” which means “working together” in Mandarin, for his men of 2nd Raider Battalion known as Carlson’s Raiders. They and another group of men – “Edson’s Raiders” of 1st Raider Battalion led by Col. Merritt Edson – were formed in February 1942 and quickly deployed to fight in the island campaigns in the Pacific. Their legacy was short-lived – the Marine Corps disestablished its four Raider battalions two years after their formation – but the more than 8,000 men who earned the title were pivotal to the Marine Corps’ development of its unique amphibious warfare capabilities and its reconnaissance, force recon and special operations communities.
The Carlson Cafe includes a growing collection of Raider memorabilia. News clips and movie posters, including of the 1943 flick “Gung Ho” that told the story of Carlson’s Raiders, hang on the wall. Wooden cases display Carlson’s combat medals and a period uniform. “They’ve got room to grow,” noted Navy Senior Chief (SW/AW) Donnie Ryan, the ship’s public affairs chief. “Gung Ho” is designed into the table coverings. Sconces on the walls can provide some “mood” lighting, an improvement on a ship where glaring overhead fluorescent lights are the norm.
That may be welcomed once Makin Island leaves San Diego Nov. 14 on its maiden deployment, leaving a force of three amphibious ships, including dock landing ship Pearl Harbor and amphibious transport dock New Orleans with Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit for the Persian Gulf and Western Pacific regions.
Marine headquarters dedicates room to Major Megan McClung
October 28th, 2011 | History and heritage Iraq | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Shown here as a captain, Maj. Megan McClung was the first female Marine officer killed in the Iraq war.
Sometimes, the little things mean a lot.
The Marine Corps Division of Public Affairs showed that this morning, dedicating its conference room to Maj. Megan McClung, the first female Marine officer killed during the Iraq war.
McClung, 34, was killed when her up-armored Humvee hit an improvised explosive device on Dec. 6, 2006, in Ramadi, the site of some of the most violent fighting in the war. She had been serving as a public affairs officer for Multi-National Force West, which was led at the time by Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer.
About 20 Marines and a small handful of media gathered at DIVPA for the event with Mike McClung, Megan’s father. They remembered her as an energetic, no-nonsense Marine who also loved running and went out of her way to make sure people felt included.
Maj. Charlie Baisley, a reservist, recalled that she also had a quiet confidence about her, and would correct senior officers when necessary. In one case, she pointed out to a colonel in Iraq that his boots weren’t tied correctly, he said with a laugh.
“She had a quiet confidence about her dealing with senior officers that a lot of us didn’t have,” Baisley said.
Mike McClung said his daughter would have been embarassed by the attention, but thanked the Marines for remembering her.
“One of the reasons you have so few photographs of Megan is because she preferred to take the pictures,” he said. “We appreciate greatly that the Marine Corps is a family, and that we are part of that family.”