With the help and input of wounded, ill, and injured warriors, we have designed a Warrior Reintegration Bag filled with resources. These bags are being distributed to wounded, ill, and injured warriors in both military facilities and in homes around the United States. These bags include a variety of items to accomplish two things: to provide resources to the warrior to aid in recovery, and to provide items to help re-establish their team identity. 

We recently made it our goal to raise money on  #GivingTuesday to supply these Warrior Reintegration Bags to recovering warriors at military medical facilities on both coasts. So far, we've received $1,500 in donations, which covers the cost of supplying 20 of these bags. While we're thrilled to have raised this much already, we'd like to be able to supply even more this holiday season, and you can help!

Even if you weren't able to donate on  #GivingTuesday, you still have the opportunity to help our campaign be successful. Any amount, no matter how large or small, is greatly appreciated, not only by those of us here at Marine Parents, but also by the men and women in the hospitals who receive these bags. 

There's no better way to show our wounded and recovering warriors you have their backs this holiday season.  Click here to donate today!

Click here to learn more about Warrior Reintegration Bags...

To learn more about our outreach program, Gold Star Legacy, visit www.GoldStarLegacy.com.

Click here to learn more....

The EGA Shop has all of the Marine Corps-themed holiday gifts you need this season! Your purchase at the EGA Shop makes what we do in our outreach programs possible, because 80% of our income comes from store sales, while only 20% comes from grants, donations, and fundraising. Shop where every purchase supports our troops, EGAshop.com!

Click here to learn more...

*Image info: U.S. Marine machine gunners provide precision fires during a live-fire and maneuver exercise as part of sustainment training. (USMC photo by Gunnery Sgt. Rome M. Lazarus).

Artillerymen are a peculiar breed. Part grunt, part Motor T (transport), part communications, and part deaf, they have a long lineage dating back to the Roman legions in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the modern era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew have relied primarily on wheel or tracked vehicles as transportation, though some of the largest were railway guns. 21st century artillery consists of the M777 Howitzer as well as various other naval and land rocket pieces. Despite the years that separate the earliest artillerymen and today's modern warriors, for a number of centuries they've all shared one thing in common -- the veneration of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of artillery. 

Click here to read more...

*Image info: Marines the 1st Marine Division fire an M777 Howitzer during an exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (USMC photo by Cpl. Demetrius Morgan)

Here at Marine Parents, nothing we do would be possible without our amazing volunteers across the country. Our volunteers truly are the backbone of our organization, and we'd like to take this opportunity to recognize the efforts of one individual in particular.

This week's featured volunteer is a proud Marine mother from Bethesda, Maryland -- Mary Ann Schilling.

Mary Ann has been working with Marine Parents for more than a decade, after first discovering the organization in 2004. “ I was looking for something meaningful to do with my time when my daughter was first deployed to Iraq as a Marine in 2004,” Mary Ann said, “through a random computer search I came in contact with Marine Parents. I live very near Walter Reed Military Medical Center (at the time it was the Navy Hospital) and it seemed a perfect fit.” At the time, both Mary Ann and her husband, Paul, were working full-time, so serving dinners with what was then Purple Heart Family Support (now the Warrior Support Team) on Sunday evenings fit their respective schedules quite well and both were “grateful” to have the opportunity to volunteer their time together.

Click here to read more...

*Image info: Mary Ann and her husband, Paul, with their Marine Parents Christmas mugs.

Sixty-five years ago this week, on January 4, 1950, after four days of fighting their way through the Taebek Mountains, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond G. Davis and the  1st Battalion, 7th Marines arrived in Hagaru-Ri, in present-day North Korea. Their victory over the numerically-superior North Korean and Chinese forces helped clear the way for the 5th and 7th Marines, and Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism.

 
Click here to read more...

*Image info: Raymond G. Davis (official USMC photo)

Of course, the   EGA Shop   is the #1 place to shop for all of your Marine Corps clothing, decor, and accessory needs, because 100% of the proceeds benefit the outreach programs of   MarineParents.com, Inc.  But...for those non-USMC gifts this season, Amazon is a great place to shop and STILL SUPPORT our outreach programs. When you shop, Amazon gives, but be sure to begin shopping by following our charity link first:   https://smile.amazon.com/ch/20-2294408

Thank you so much for supporting our troops!

This Monday, November 30, i n a ceremony at  Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,Lieutenant Colonel Lauren Edwards  assumed command of the  8th Engineer Support Battalion from Lt. Col. David Morris. In doing so, Edwards became the first female Marine in the history of the Corps  to assume command of an engineer support battalion.

In Officer Candidates School, Edwards  was her platoon's honor graduate, and she was also the honor graduate from Combat Engineer Officer’s Course, where she also received the leadership award. During her time in the Corps, Edwards has deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She has received numerous awards during her Marine Corps career, including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with combat "V" device and two stars in lieu of third award, and the Combat Action Ribbon, among others.

 
Click here to read more...

*Image info: Lt. Col. Lauren Edwards became the first female commanding officer of a Marine engineer support battalion. (USMC photo by Cpl. Ryan Young)

After abruptly firing Army Lieutenant General Ronald A. Lewis on Nov. 13 amid allegations of misconduct, defense Secretary Ash Carter has appointed Brigadier General Eric M. Smith, currently commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces South, to serve as his senior military adviser, according to a defense official speaking on the condition of anonymity because the appointment hasn't been publicly announced yet.

 
Smith is a former foreign-area officer who served in Venezuela from 2001 to 2003. Between 2003 and 2006, he deployed twice to Iraq while serving in the 1st Marine Division. As senior military adviser to the Secretary of Defense, Smith will be tasked with providing the Defense Department’s civilian leader with key military advice on all matters of policy and strategy.

 
Click here to read more...

*Image info: Commandant of the Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Robert B. Neller, left, greets Brig. Gen. Eric M. Smith, right, whom Defense Secretary Ash Carter has chosen to be his top military adviser. (USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Immanuel Johnson)

Staff Sergeant. Alexander Panos, a trombone player with the 1st Marine Division Band and San Diego, California native, was recognized as the Marine Corps' Staff Non-Commissioned Officer "Musician of the Year" for 2015 on November 23 at Camp Pendleton, California.

After growing up in the San Diego area and graduating from San Diego State University with a  Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Performance, Panos spent two years playing for the San Diego symphony, local groups, brass quintets, and various bands before joining the Corps.

“I decided I wanted a career in music,” Panos said. “I met up with a Marine recruiter who was a musician and he opened that door for me, told me the good and the bad and it all worked out for me. I joined two years after college and I’m glad I did it.” 

 
Click here to read more...

*Image info: Staff Sgt. Alexander Panos was recognized as the Marine Corps Musician of the Year Award for 2015. (USMC photo by Cpl. Will Perkins)

The Marine Corps has recently announced that the  National Museum of the Marine Corps will close to the public from January 4 through March 31 as the next phase of its seven-year, $100 million renovation project begins. 

 

The museum, which opened in 2006 and attracts approximately 500,000 visitors per year, currently exhibits 200 years of Marine Corps history, from the Revolutionary War through Vietnam. New displays will exhibit the history of the Marine Corps in the years since 1976. 

The expansions, which began in March, will nearly double the size of the complex and are expected to last until March of 2020.

 
Click here to read more...

*Image info:  Workers drill holes in the wall of the Marine Corps museum in Triangle, Va. The new space will be the site of an expanded education suite, a Marine Sports Hall of Fame, a Hall of Valor Gallery, a Marine Corps Combat Art Gallery and two additional galleries depicting Marine Corps history from 1976 to the present. (USMC photo by Adele Uphaus-Conner)