Granite State Detachment 542, Marine Corps League

Greater Hillsborough County Area

It has been a very active late spring early summer season for the detachment with excellent results from our steady fundraising partners, Market Basket and Bass Pro, providing space for our tables and banners, and an enthusiastic response from the public, donating to the panoply of Marine and veteran charities we serve. It is always interesting to me to meet other veterans, or veteran families who come up to donate and hear their stories. When I was at Bass Pro for this Memorial Day fundraising, a man came up and showed me a picture of his grandfather who served in Iwo Jima with his commander, Chesty Puller! One donation that really made an impression on me was $20 from a young grocery clerk, probably 16-17 years old, working that day at Market Basket --- I think back to my entry level job like that, as it happens, janitor/toilet cleaner in an auto supply store, and $20 would be a very big deal! He didn’t say much, was really kind of bashful, but must have felt very strongly about veterans, or Marines in particular, to support our work with that great a sacrifice. Likewise, it is the reward of seeing such commitment on the public’s part that makes one’s volunteering efforts so worthwhile. It was also rewarding to work alongside of and get to know my fellow detachment members during the breaks when we are not serving the rush of kids wanting flags, vets and families anxious to connect with us, tell their stories, and make donations (all of which is duly honored whether small or great).

As I said in our last regular meeting, I feel kind of like the old lady who swallowed a fly, taking up this responsibility, but now that you, the membership, have elected me to be Interim Commandant, I take that honor up with great humility, and hope to learn and serve to the best of my ability. I actually do have some background that may come in handy: I was managing Trustee for our two condominium buildings (23 units) in Boston, and so had to run meetings, come up with a budget, mediate conflicts, deal with contractors, fix 100 year old radiators and double hung windows, and make sure everybody paid their dues, keeping those low, equitable and assessments to a minimum.

It has been gratifying for me to see a detachment so active, firing on all cylinders: the ever popular Saturday Breakfasts crammed and jammed, almost over capacity, the blooming and boisterous ladies’ group which has met for lunch twice now; our fundraising shifts being filled. I enjoy getting to know all the individuals in our unit, your backgrounds, and seeing what that amazing spectrum of expertise can do as a team.    

The Marine ethos:

Alieni Semel, Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Fratres et Sorores in Aeternum!   

Strangers Once, Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers and Sisters Forever  

Quidam Dedit Omnibus 

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Acting Commandant - Eric Anthony

Volunteer for GSD #542 Fundraising Events – Let’s Make an Impact!

Hello GSD #542 Members,

If each member volunteers for at least one out of the four upcoming events (or more if you’re able!), we can surpass our 2025 fundraising goals and make a real difference. This effort requires commitment from all of us, and I know Marines never shy away from stepping up!

Each event lasts just six hours, a shift is only 3 hours, and the time flies by. These fundraisers are not only crucial for raising funds but also great opportunities to strengthen our presence in the community, share our mission, and recruit potential members.

Please check your calendars and use the SignUp Genius link below to see available time slots. Sign up for what you can—every contribution helps!

Next Event: July 4th Weekend

📅 Date: Saturday, July 5, 2025

📍 Locations: Market Basket in Bedford, Hooksett, and Manchester

If you haven’t signed up yet, click the button below to secure your spot. Manchester still has open slots that need to be filled!

Thank you for your dedication and support. Let’s make this a success!

Semper Fi,

Office of Senior Vice Commandant

Our Granite State detachment is changing as I write this, and I am optimistic it is for the better. I for one, hope to see us improve on helping our needy Veterans, and to make smart choices for our contributions. I am confident we will be able to meet our agreed upon goals, but it will take all of us, and we can’t allow outside distractions to keep us from making our mission a successful one. Let’s work to make our #542 Detachment efficient, effective, and fun.

Sincerely, Glen Thayer Sr - Jr Vice Commandant

Dear God,

We thank you for the brave Veterans who have fought & continue to serve our nation.

We ask you for your blessing, protection & healing for our families.

Bring Peace, Freedom & Protection to our Country.

Through Christ Our Lord,

Amen 

Joe Duquette, Chaplain

The second quarter of 2025 has been the start of a great fundraising season with the Memorial Day Fundraising event at Bass Pro Shops and Market Basket in Bedford, NH.

Between the two locations we raised $3,723.00! Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers that helped during this event.

I encourage and look forward to GSD #542 members volunteering at one or more of the fundraising venues in 2025 - as I am confident in our membership’s ability to build upon this great start in order that GSD #542 may continue to provide funds and volunteer services to our deserving Veterans and community organizations.

ENJOY THE SUMMER SEASON, MARINES!

Respectfully submitted,

Marge Romano

Pictured below is Jim Ambrose at the GSD 542 fundraiser table while at Bass Pro Shops on Memorial Day.

An inventory of the GSD #542 MCL clothing that we have in our storage facility was conducted.

These are all men's clothes. If there is anything in the list below that interests you, please email the link below and we will work out getting the clothes distributed.

If anyone needs to order a MCL cover or have any questions concerning uniforms please let us know.

Granite Marine Corps Clothing Inventory

Dress Blue Trousers Size 34R

Black Trousers Size 42x30

Dress Blue Trousers Size 36R

Dress Blue Trousers Size 38R

Dress Blue Trousers Size 44R

Black Trousers Size 44x30 (2)

Short Sleeve Shirt White Neck Size 16

Long Sleeve Shirt White Neck Size 16 1/2

Black Dress Tie

Dress Blue Cover with EGA Size 7 1/8

MCL Seacoast Detachment Annual Picnic - August 16 12:00-3:30pm For full details on the event and to register to attend, click the link in the title above.

Old Dogs, New Pups Poolie BBQ - Event by Dillion Detachment, July 12 10-3pm - Odell Park, Franklin, NH. For full details on the event, click the link in the title above.

New Assistant Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Marine Corps 4-Star General Chris Mahoney, presently the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, has been selected by the President as the next Assistant Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Mahoney is an outstanding Marine and we are very supportive of this selection.

General Mahoney is from Massachusetts.

For full details of the Dave Hamilton Memorial Shoot, please click the flyer image below. Rain date July 12, if needed.

Pictures taken this morning, 18 April 2025, at the VA. Pictures are with Shelby of the VA Community Center. As GSD #542 Bingo for the Vets fell on Easter Sunday, the Detachment volunteers provided three dozen cupcakes and four large bottles of soda for the desserts for Easter dinner. Image one is Joe Duquette, Shelby, and Joey Duquette. Image two is Marge Romano, Shelby, and Joey Duquette.

Below, left to right are the volunteers that visited and helped at the VA Medical Center in Manchester for Bingo afternoon in May, Joey Duquette, Gary Gahan, Joe Duquette, and Marge Romano.

The New England Division has put out their June - July newsletter since our last newsletter in mid-March.

Click on the image to view that full newsletter.

GSD 542 Scholarships for 2025 were open to two different types of scholarships. The first being the Frank A. Diekmann Academic Scholarship, and the second being the Commandant Trade School scholarship.

We had several excellent candidates for the academic scholarship but we had no eligible candidates for the trade school scholarship. So the scholarship committee decided to use the money that was raised for the Trade School scholarship and disburse this as secondary awards to worthy academic scholarship candidates.

Frank A. Diekmann Scholarship

Winners of the Frank A. Diekmann Scholarship

Aubree Fagen - Grand Daughter of Mary Ann and Frank Diekmann

Kathryn (Katie) Otto - Grand Daughter of Joe Duquette

Lily Byers - Daughter of BJ Byers

Rachel Otto - Grand Daughter of Joe Duquette

Xena Sawyer - Daughter of Chris & Ester Sawyer

Luis Cruz - Bedford HS graduating senior

Above is Rachel Otto with her parents and Gary Gaha

Above is Katie Otto with Gary Gahan and her parents.

Above is Xena Sawyer with her parents, members Chris and Esther Sawyer, and Gary Gahan. Also included in the photo on the right are members Kevin Brown and Steve White as they look onto the award ceremony.

Thank you to all that applied and congratulations to all that were awarded scholarships. Now go out and make us proud!

Below is the award of the Theodore Roosevelt Youth Medal that was presented to Reaghan Cook-Moore and the presenter Gary Gahan.

Reaghan Cook-Moore transferred into West High School for his last year of HS and was in the NROTC program for one year! His grandmother approached Gary after the presentation to say thank you and that he will be attending Norwich University in VT on their ROTC program!

We are starting a list of businesses in our area that offer discounts to Veterans. If you know others please email us at granitestatemarines542@gmail.com .

Bass Pro Shops - Hooksett

The Home Depot

Lowes

Tucker's Restaurant -Bedford, Hooksett, and Merrimack

T-Bones - Bedford, Derry, and Concord

VIP's Tires and Service - Bedford -offers discounts for veterans and offer free NH state inspections, check their website for other locations for their offerings.

For a list of Veteran Owned Business in NH please visit: www.veteranownedbusiness.com they have a listing of discounts based on location.

GSD 542 Scout Liaison chair, Kaylee Bass, in late March to early April, awarded to the newly anointed Scout Eagle Samuel D. Crisa of Troop 99B of Goffstown NH the Marine Corps League Good Citizen award. Kaylee advises that there are a number up-and-coming new Eagle scout awards that will need to be awarded in the next few months. This is a lot of fun and any member is asked to participate in these great events.

Chaplain Joe Duquette and Gary Gahan had the honor to attend an event at The Rugged Axe event in April, honoring local Manchester resident John Steven, NH Executive Counselor. As you can see both Joe and Gary were ringers locking in the red on target. This venue is a lot of fun and something that a group of us should plan on having some comraderies to share at.

Below please find all the information about the upcoming event. To volunteer please click the image.

Get one year of LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Learning for free.

In collaboration with SheerID, LinkedIn offers eligible members of the U.S. military community one year of access to LinkedIn Premium. You’ll also get unlimited access to more than 10,000 courses through our LinkedIn Learning platform as a part of the program.

Click on the button below and it will bring you to a form to fill out to sign up for one year of free usage of LinkedIn.

Some of you may have noticed that back in May our Facebook page was no longer published on the social media site. It seems that someone attacked (hacked) our page and made it so that it was unpublished and no mater what we did to fix it, nothing worked.

Therefore, we have had to recreate our Facebook page with a slightly different page name.

Below is the link for the new page, we ask that you go to the page and click the follow button so that you can see all of our posts.

Our next FUNday Breakfast is scheduled for June 28th.

Please join us for our next FUNday breakfast at 0800 at the Airport Diner for the FUNday meet-n-greet breakfast @ 2280 Brown Avenue, Manchester to join in on all this fun!

LIVE Music entertainment by our own Pat Anthony and Glen Thayer Sr.

Hope to see you there!

The eight-point Veteran’s Creed is:

1.   I am an American Veteran

2.   I proudly served my country

3.   I live the values I learned in the military

4.   I continue to serve my community, my country and my fellow veterans

5.   I maintain my physical and mental discipline

6.   I continue to lead and improve

7.   I make a difference

8.   I honor and remember my fallen comrades

Source:  https://www.vfw.org/media-and-events/latest-releases/archives/2018/6/veterans-organizations-establish-veterans-creed

Big Op, Day after tomorrow

The valley, been there before

The mouth, marked by old French sign

Dark place, hard country, always bites

We’ll walk in, some won’t walk out

Chase it away that dark thought

Prepping ritual starts, busy, focused

Unit 1, pack and repack

Blindfolded rehearsals bring curses

Till fingers read every piece without sight

Night stops no bullets

Dressings, a full load, not enough

Spares stuff every pocket

Triangles for slings and tourniquets

Two liberated dowels, tie off helpers

Surgical kit, morphine, plastic for seals

Blood’s Taste memory visits for a second

IVs and fluid, F…ing glass bottle

Pile expands and gains weight

Boots, liner, socks, rations, canteens

45, mags, Randall blade, poncho

Flak vest, a New Testament, and a bit of C4

Essential for gourmet c-rats

Pile heavier now, glance in a mirror

A “Mule” stares back

Add extra Malaria meds and bug juice

A marine never met who can’t manage

These items to “lose”, “forget”

A silent prayer, “This load Lord,

Keep it heavy till we return.”

Probably futile but said anyway

Need Him with us

Repeat the “Doc” rules, 1-2-3

And we mount up, Others to meet in the valley

Granite State Detachment #542 MCL has partnered with Revo Casino and Social House with the NH Charitable Gaming in the last couple of years, and has been selected to participate again this year.

The funds we receive from our assigned days at the Lebanon, NH Revo Casino will be designated to support local NH based Marine and Veteran organizations or individuals in need.

Our assigned dates were May 31 - June 9th. We don't know what our portion of the proceeds will be as of the publication of this newsletter, but we will report this information in the next newsletter.

Below please find some links for the VA website that may be helpful to you.

Outreach events

VA benefits can help Veterans and their families buy homes, earn degrees, start careers, stay healthy, and more. Join an event for conversation and information.

Outreach Materials

Use our outreach materials to help Veterans manage their journey with VA and learn about their benefits.

State Departments of VA Offices

Select a state or territory below to visit the website for that location’s Department of Veterans Affairs office.

Download or Print out your VA Welcome Kit

Whether you’re just getting out of the service or you’ve been a civilian for years now, the VA Welcome Kit can help guide you to the benefits and services you’ve earned.

Monthly Member Meeting - Every 2^nd Tuesday at 1800 for the detachment meeting at the American-Canadian Genealogical Society at 1 Sundial Ave., Suite 317, Manchester, NH 03103.

Upcoming Meeting Dates

July 8, 2025

August 12, 2025

September 9, 2025

Monthly Breakfast -Every last Saturday of the month at 0800 at the Airport Diner for the FUNday meet-n-greet breakfast @ 2280 Brown Avenue, Manchester.

Upcoming Breakfast Dates

June 28, 2025

July 26, 2025

August 30, 2025

September 27, 2025

Members of the Marine Corps League join together in camaraderie and fellowship for the purpose of preserving the traditions and promoting the interests of the United States Marine Corps. 

Our mission is to voluntarily aid and render assistance to all Marines, FMF Chaplains, FMF Corpsmen and former Marines, FMF Chaplains and FMF Corpsmen and to their widows and orphans. 

Our Membership Coverage Area is the greater Hillsborough County with some towns in Rockingham County. For the full list of towns we encompass, please check out our membership page on our website.

Monthly Meetings

When: Monthly Meetings of the Granite State Detachment are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month

Where: The American-Canadian Genealogical Society (ACGS), 1 Sundial Ave, Suite 317, Manchester, NH 03103

Time: Meetings begin promptly and 1800



Info: Membership is not a requirement for attendance and guests are always welcome to attend these events.

2025 Officers

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