Thank you for joining us for this issue of Marine Parents News. If this is your first time receiving the newsletter, welcome aboard, we're excited for you to be here!

2016 Registration for Team Marine Parents is now open! Learn how YOU can join the team in our first article.

February is African-American History Month in the United States, and we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the proud, brave, honorable history of African-Americans in the Marine Corps. Learn more in our second article.

To see what else is new with the organization or to learn more about the Marine Corps, check out the rest of our articles. We hope you enjoy! 

Be sure to get your FREE 2016 Marine Parents Calendar. See our articles below to learn about the history of the Marine Corps, and learn about our great Marine Parents volunteers.

Thank you for your continued support of our brave men and women in uniform.

Semper Fi Marine Families!

2016 Registration for Team Marine Parents is now open! Raising awareness and funds for a grassroots organization starts on a grassroots level; it starts with YOU. If you enjoy running or competing in athletic events, encouraging communities to engage in troop support activities, and raising money for a good cause, then TMP is a great fit for you.

Also, if you are planning on running the 41st Marine Corps Marathon, consider running with TMP. We have 50 charity partner bibs and you can purchase one now instead of waiting on the lottery!

The history of thousands of brave men who served our country through numerous wars and battles has been virtually unknown to most Americans for many years. Though many know about the Tuskegee Airmen and Buffalo Soldiers, most civilians, and even many in the military, do not know the struggles and successes of the Montford Point Marines.

In 1942, Camp Montford Point was established with the first African Americans to serve as Marines since the American Revolution. The history of Montford Point and the brave men who trained there is a testament to the price African Americans had to pay in order to gain acceptance into one of the nation's most respected institutions. While the British promised male slaves freedom during the American Revolution if they promised their support, the United States excluded these men from the battle.

The Marine Corps' mantra is "every Marine a rifleman", and Marine Combat Training (MCT) is where that philosophy is implemented. Learning basic combat skills is mandatory for all Marines before moving on to their primary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Whether a Marine is a cook, truck driver, or administrative personnel, first and foremost a Marine is a rifleman.

Marine Combat Training is located at the School of Infantry (SOI) at Camp Pendleton, California and Camp Geiger, North Carolina. MCT is a basic infantry training condensed into 29 days. MCT is for Marines whose MOS is not infantry (03xx).

Forty-nine years ago this week, on February 1, 1967, elements of the 3rd Marine Division began Operation Prairie II in Quang Tri province, South Vietnam. The 46-day search-and-destroy operation, which concluded on March 18, 93 Marines and 693 enemy troops were killed.

Seventy-two years ago this week, on February 2, 1944, the 4th Marine Division captured Roi-Namur and eight other islands in the Kwajalein Atoll. This was done as part of the first assault on islands controlled by the Japanese before the beginning of World War II.

Forty-eight years ago this week, on February 6, 1968, two reduced Marine battalions, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines with two companies, and 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines with three, recaptured Hue's hospital, jail, and provincial headquarters. It would take three more weeks of intense house to house fighting, and nearly a thousand Marines killed and wounded, before the imperial city was secured.