"If you want to destroy an organization, any organization, you destroy it from within, you destroy it from without and then what you do is you convince everybody that you're doing the right thing,"
Author: William McRaven
244th Marine Corps Birthday

COMMANDANT'S MESSAGE
‌
1MARDIV'S MESSAGE
A WORD FROM GENERAL MATTIS
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Members,
Happy Birthday, Marines.

We are trying out videos in this newsletter. Please let us know how you like them, and if you have any problem on your device.

Due to the Division's upcoming exercises in January, the itinerary for our 79th Anniversary Commemoration has been reduced to 3 days. Click the button below to download your copy.

Our 79th Anniversary Commemoration plan:

Tuesday 28 January: Arrive, check into hotel

Wednesday 29 January: Registration/Check in.
Lunch is on your own, but we recommend the catfish buffet at the Seaview, next to the hotel. We'll meet for dinner in Iron Mike's Room to burn our own steaks again.

Thursday 29 Jan: 5th Marines, Memorials, Chow Hall, new Base Hospital

Friday 31 Jan: Morning Colors and Streamers Rededication, Photo,
Lunch at HQ, General Membership meeting, and evening banquet

Depart: Saturday, February 1, 2020.

We have rooms on base set aside at the Pacific Views and the Ward lodge.

Cold enough for you yet? Late January is a beautiful time of year aboard Camp Pendleton and San Diego, averaging a high of 66F and sunny. Hope to see many of you out there then.

We have changed the dates for next summer's 73rd Annual Reunion to get a better choice of meeting rooms. Still tentative, so watch this space.

Washington, D.C.
Friday, Aug 14 - Sunday Aug 23, 2020

And finally, you all have a great Veterans Day. And, keep it safe.


Semper Fi, 

Jerry Johs


DJC
For the Last Man Standing
The Last of the First Bottle

Attention WW II Vets!!
At our last reunion the leadership created a new Committee called:
“The Last of the First”

The mission of this committee is to coordinate the ceremony that will open the “Last Man Bottle” currently residing at the Marine Memorial Club in San Francisco.
Now is the time for WW II vets to contact Chairman, Life Member
and WW II Vet Elmer Hawkins and let him know you want to play a part in this historic event.

Elmer Hawkins
Telephone: (386) 679-3814

The Last of the First

The Division landed on Guadalcanal and the nearby, smaller islands of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tombolo on August 7, 1942. It was the first predominately American ground offensive of World War II. The battles for the three outlying islands were fierce, but short. All were secured within two days. In contrast, the main landing on Guadalcanal met only light resistance. That soon changed. Relived by other Marine and Army units in early December, the 1st Marine Division headed to Australia for rest and rehabilitation and to prepare for its next campaign. While the final outcome on Guadalcanal appeared certain, the replacements continued the struggle until February 1943, when the Japanese finally withdrew the remnants of their forces. The advance of Japanese forces in the Southern Pacific was stopped: Australia and New Zealand were saved. To the men who fought with the 1stMarine Division a legacy was born.
 
Two years to the day after the landing on Guadalcanal 14 Marines who had participated in that battle gathered at the Piedmont Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia to reminisce and establish the "Last of the First," reportedly the first U.S. last man's bottle club of World War II. 
 
Membership was opened to Marines and sailors of the 1 st Marine Division who had "actually participated in active combat operations during World War II and who are active duty or who left the service under honorable conditions." By August 1944 the Division had gone on to fight in New Guinea and New Britain, making some 20,000 veterans eligible. What the founders could not know was that the battles for Peleliu and Okinawa lay ahead. By V-J Day more than 50,000 Marines and sailors would be eligible to join the club.
 
The founders elected Lieutenant General Alexander Archer Vandergrift, who commanded the Division during the Guadalcanal and Solomon Island Campaigns, as honorary president. However, if he happened to attend a meeting, he would have to leave his rank at the door. The By-laws stated that there were to be no officers or enlisted -- just members. 
 
Ralph McGill, editor and publisher of the  Atlanta Constitution  and a World War I Marine, donated a bottle of Joseph Etournaud & Company Extra Grand Fine Champagne, 1st Grand Cru Cognac to be opened by the last survivor among the Marines and sailors who served in combat with the division during World War II. The First bottle most likely dates from 1920 to 1925. Even if its reported age was mistaken, the bottle had great value to club members. McGill placed it in the vault of the 1st National Bank of Atlanta for safekeeping. 
 
Following its establishment in 1947, the 1st Marine Division Association assumed formal custody of the bottle, which remained safely stowed in the Atlanta bank vault, being removed only for formal functions. 
 
In 1991 a 1st Marine Division Association member wrote to the executive director, pointing out that many World War II veterans had died and many of those who remained had become "teetotalers." Rather than wait for the inevitable and waste an opportunity, he recommended that the bottle be opened at the next annual meeting and, starting with the oldest eligible person present, each veteran drink a thimble full until it was empty.  His suggestion was noted without action but is now raised again.
 
There it languished in relative obscurity until 2005 when the association president, Captain Gerald Pendas USMC (Ret), discovered it wrapped in paper lying on the floor near a trash can in the back of the small headquarters. Recognizing its historical value, he placed it in a secured commercial storage space where it remained until 2006, when Colonel Len Hayes USMC (Ret), the association's executive director, found it while conducting an inventory. Hayes saw the need for a better way to preserve and display this treasure. The Marines Memorial Club (MMC) in San Francisco seemed a fitting site. 

Colonel Hayes wrote to the CEO, Major General Mike Myatt USMC (Ret), asking if the Club would take temporary custody of the Last Man bottle until the final owner was determined. General Myatt agreed and Colonel Jack Kelly, USMC (Ret) delivered the bottle to the Club, where it now fittingly resides in a secure display case attached to a wall in the Leatherneck Steakhouse. 
 
The seers of 1965 who predicted that the ultimate owner of the Last Man Bottle would be known by 2010 were nearsighted. According to the 1st Marine Division Association, some 925 veterans are still in the running for the honor of opening the bottle. 
 
* Note: Thank you to Colonel Dick Rothwell for his outstanding article in the Camp Pendleton Historical Society's “Groundbreaker”, linked below.
  
Recommendations:
 
. Review Last of The First By Laws.        
. Establish “Last Man committee”.
. Review and update eligible veterans
. Develop strategy for “Last Man Event
. The event should select the best aspects of the “Doolittle Bottle."

--Colonel Len Hayes
Corps History
From Military.com

Marine Corps Announces It Was Wrong -- Again -- on Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Photo
In this Feb. 23, 1945, file photo, Marines with the 28th Regiment, 5th Division, raise the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. (AP Photo/Joe Rosenthal)
17 Oct 2019
Military.com | By Gina Harkins
Historians have uncovered evidence that another Marine long-believed to be in a famous photo from atop Mount Suribachi during World War II was misidentified.
Pfc. Rene A. Gagnon posed for the Marine Corps War Memorial, a bronze statue that sits just outside Washington, D.C., and features 32-foot figures and a 60-foot flagpole. He was thought to be one of the six Marines captured in the famous photo snapped by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal in February 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

But now Marine Corps officials say Gagnon, visible only by his helmet, wasn't in that famous photo. It was actually Cpl. Harold P. Keller.

The discovery was made by historians who approached Marine officials after a 2016 change to the historic record of Rosenthal's photo. Following an investigation into evidence from another set of historians, the Marine Corps then determined that a Navy corpsman, John Bradley, believed to be in the photo was not...

The new identification doesn't mean Gagnon didn't play an important role in Marine Corps history though, the service stressed. He was directly responsible for getting a larger second flag to the top of Mount Suribachi and returning the first flag for safe keeping.

"Without those efforts," the Marine Corps statement reads, "this historical event might not have been captured, let alone even occurred."

"Regardless of who was in the photograph, each and every Marine who set foot on Iwo Jima, or supported the effort from the sea and air around the island is, and always will be, a part of our Corps' cherished history," the statement adds. "In the words of General David H. Berger, Commandant of the Marine Corps, 'They are all heroes.'"

Marine officials said they are grateful for the historians' effort, which allows them to preserve their legacy...

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
Concert in Topanga Canyon
Free concert for veterans
Saturday 9 November
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum
1419 North Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Topanga, California 90290
Vincent R. Capodanno, M.M., U.S.M.C.
New Film about Father Capodanno
Father Vincent Capodanno earned the MOH for his courageous actions and incredible support of his Marines on Operation Swift, in '67.

Will be broadcast on Boston Catholic TV on Nov. 11, Veteran's Day.
Was shown before that at BC (see attached), on Sept. 10.

Please check out the links below.

Semper Fidelis! 

Nicholas Warr, 1/5 Vietnam Veteran
Football
Bring your family to the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
4 January 2020, Fort Worth, Texas
Base Access
As about 3 million more people will soon be eligible to shop at military stores, officials are working to make sure these new customers will have access to bases, and that the shelves will be stocked.

Starting Jan. 1, all service-connected disabled veterans, Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war and primary veteran caregivers will be eligible to shop at commissaries and exchanges, and officials from three federal agencies are preparing the way.

The newly eligible customers will also be able to use certain morale, welfare and recreation activities.

It’s the largest patronage expansion in more than 60 years, said Virginia Penrod, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for manpower and reserve affairs, who spoke at a recent meeting of the American Logistics Association.
UPDATE

How Will Veterans Get On Base for Their New Commissary Access? No One Can Say
7 Nov 2019
Military.com | By Dorothy Mills-Gregg
Just how the Defense Department will allow an estimated 3.5 million veterans and their caregivers on base early next year to use commissaries, exchanges and some recreation resources is still largely unanswered, despite a looming deadline and potentially complicated access issues.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, all service-connected disabled veterans, caregivers enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs' Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers program, and former prisoners of war will be able to shop at on-base grocery stores and exchanges. They will also be allowed to use some MWR amenities, such as golf courses and bowling alleys.

But neither officials with the VA nor the DoD were able to offer access details early this month.

Although DoD officials initially said they anticipated a policy in hand this week on when and where veterans and caregivers can start applying for the access cards, as well as on how bases and commissary stores will manage the expected influx of visitors, that rollout has been delayed, they said.

And officials with the VA were unable to say how or when veterans who had received a disability rating through the VA system and caregivers enrolled in the VA's program would be able to access verification letters...
PTSD Research
The Cognitive Neuroscience Lab of Memory at UT Dallas was recently awarded a grant for a replication of an earlier study looking at a novel treatment for combat related PTSD . Our lab is currently recruiting for this new clinical trial, a multisite replication of the previous project that found positive effects of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) paired with Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Veterans from post 9/11 combat cohorts.
 
The success of the initial project was directly related to the assistance that we received from organizations like yours in getting this information out to Veterans who might benefit from participation. We also want to be able to direct the Veterans who participate in our study to local organizations like yours that could help them in other areas of their lives. Can you help us distribute this information?
 
There are a variety of ways that you can assist with this effort. Are there events we could attend coming up in the next 6 months? Please let me know if you would like additional information and if you would like either printed or electronic materials for distribution. We would be happy to schedule a time for you to call or come tour our facility to learn more about our team and project. We’d also like to schedule a time to come to you to learn more specifics about the services you offer.
 
Best,
Kelsey Watson
 
Kelsey Watson, MPsy | Research Coordinator
Cognitive Neuroscience Lab of Memory | The University of Texas at Dallas
Homes for Troops
KA-BAR/EK
The Association receives 6% of each sale of the KA-BAR/EK
SEMPER FI FUND

The Semper Fi Fund is caring for veterans from all U.S. military service branches. See below for details of services provided.
MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS
MILITARY SERVICE RECORDS, AWARDS, AND UNIT HISTORIES
(See the attached pdf file, or go to the URL at bottom here)
 
A New Congressional Research Service Publication on U.S. Military Service Records, Awards, and Unit Histories
 
The Congressional Research Service has just published a short reference document that might be of interest to many:
 
The guide provides information on locating military unit histories and individual service records of discharged, retired, and deceased military personnel. It also provides information on locating and replacing military awards and medals. Included is contact information for military history centers, websites for additional sources of research, and a bibliography of other publications, including related CRS reports.

 
GENERAL FUND DONATIONS
USAA
Veterans Day video from USAA
New Members
CPL TREVOR MAGNAN, sponsor CPL DUANE MAGAN
RUSS STEVENS
CPL JAMES SUTTON

Taps
We are again updating the database from Social Security records.

COL EDWARD R. ADAMEK JR, 10 Oct 2014
JOHN (JP) P. ADAMS, 14 Nov 2018
HM1 JOSEPH J. ALCEDO, 7 Feb 2018
CAPT BILL H. ALLEN USMC(RET)
CPL JAMES C. ANDERSON, 1 Feb 2018
CPL ROBERT R. ANSON, 8 Oct 2005
MSGT SALVATORE ARNO JR USMC(RET), 24 Jul 2015
SGT CHARLES E. ARNOLD, 21 Apr 2004
CJ ARNOLD, 28 Feb 2013
LT WILLIAM D. ARNOLD, 28 Apr 2004
SSGT JEROME F. ARNOLDY, 9 Oct 2016
SGT GERARD G. ARRIBERE, 13 Jun 2017
SGT TED E. ARTHUR, 16 Jul 2011
SGT EDDIE R. ASH, 7 Dec 2012
CPL F. M. ASHCRAFT, 10 Feb 2015
SGT ERLING (WHITEY) ASHEIM PE, 10 Jun 2019
CAPT CALVIN H. ASHLEY, 17 Aug 2017
PFC MAX ASHLEY, 4 Dec 2002
SSGT JED L. ASHTON, 20 Mar 2003
RITA J. ASHTON, 29 Nov 2013
CPL DARVILLE E. ATHERTON, 9 Jul 2007
BRUCE A. ATTEBERY, 17 Mar 2015
SSGT C. D. AUBUCHON, 26 May 2019
MSGT ROGER P. AUCLAIR, 14 Mar 2016
2NDLT ALBERT J. AUER, 6 Jun 2010
J. M. AULT, 12 Mar 2012
MSGT DONALD E. AUSTIN, 10 Jul 2017
SSGT RALPH G. AVEY JR, 22 Jun 2004
PFC WILLIAM J. BABINEAU, 26 Nov 2015
CPL GEORGE H. BACEL, 3 Mar 2010
CPL STEVE V. BACKER, 29 Jun 2007
CPL RIC BACKMAN, 26 Oct 2014
CPL JOHN T. BACON, 16 Nov 2007
SSGT JOSEPH P. BAGRICH, 10 Dec 2014
BENNY BAGWELL, 8 Jul 2019
BRIAN H. BAILEY, 17 Feb 2019
CAPT JOHN D. BAILEY, 13 Jan 2015
LTCOL HERBERT J. BAIN, 24 Jan 2009
MARCEL BALDINGER, 25 Oct 2009
HM3 DONALD K. BALES, 3 Nov 2007
CPL DONALD J. BALFOUR, 15 Apr 2008
SGT HENRY R. BALL, 2 Jul 2012
CPL ROBERT M. BALTZ, 15 Nov 2014
COL ROGER H. BARNARD USMC(RET), 18 Sep 2017
CPL MARVIN M. BARR, 26 Aug 2017
TSGT CHARLES F. BARTOLOMA, 16 Feb 2010
LTCOL NORMAN C. BAYLEY USMC(RET), 17 Dec 2016
1STSGT GEORGE T. BEAN USMC(RET)
SSGT GEORGE E. BEAUVAIS, 8 Oct 2018
RICHARD G. BECK, 3 Aug 2019
SGT WILLIAM J. BECK, 14 Oct 2003
PLTSGT STEPHEN E. BENKO
SGT CARL E. BENNETT, 30 Nov 2006
HM3 CHARLES E. BERGER, 16 Mar 2019
MGYSGT ALVIN E. BERTAUT, 18 Mar 2016
PLTSGT LEO T. BIERNACKI, 14 Nov 2017
MGYSGT BOBBY G. BIERS USMC(RET), 11 Nov 2018
SGT W. SCOTTY BLOMELEY, 10 Jan 2019
CPL CHARLES G. BOGHOSIAN, 31 Mar 2014
SGT LEONARD L. BONCZEWSKI, 23 Dec 2018
SFC JAMES A. BOONE, 5 Dec 2008
CPL LLOYD Z. BOORE, 2 Nov 2019
CPL FRANK B. BORNHOLDT, 25 Dec 2008
MSGT JOSEPH M. BOTERF JR USMC(RET), 1 Apr 2014
CPL GILBERT J. BOTVIN Sr, 16 Nov 2014
CWO2 GLENN A. BOUCK, 15 May 2012
SGTMAJ LEONARD E. BOWMAN, 3 Jan 2019
SSGT HOWARD A. BRADFORD, 21 Dec 2018
SGTMAJ DANIEL JOHN BRADLEY
CAPT JAMES BRADY, 27 Jan 2009
SGT FRANCIS A. BRENNAN, 2 Jul 2019
LTCOL CLIFFORD V. BROKAW III USMC(RET), 22 Nov 2015
MSGT WILLIAM E. BROWN USMC(RET), 12 Feb 2019
GYSGT NORMAN J. BRUNNER
PFC JAMES F. CARTER
LCPL PAUL M. CHIAROLANZA, 8 Aug 2018
SGT DONALD E. COLLINS, 21 May 2019
MRS ALLEEN COX, 20 Sep 2018
CPL OWEN D. DOSTER
CPL DAVID H. EPSTEIN, 25 Sep 2018
CPL SIDNEY E. ESCHER JR, 23 Feb 2019
GYSGT TAYLOR FAULKNER USMC(RET), 11 Jul 2019
SGT STEPHEN J. FIELD, 12 Mar 2019
SSGT TOM E. FILLA, 12 Feb 2019
PFC FREDRICK W. GROSS, 31 Aug 2019
CPL JOHN J. GUISTI, 8 Jun 2013
PVT WILLIAM W. HAMILTON
SSGT GEORGE HANDZO JR USMC(RET), 18 Jan 2019
CPL THOMAS R. HAYWARD , 7 Jul 2019
SSGT EDWARD L. HOLDER, 8 Nov 2018
CPO (HMC) THOMAS R. HOWARD, 12 May 2019
CPO THOMAS R. HOWARD
CPL MIKE R. HYATT, 22 Feb 2019
SGTMAJ DOMENICK A. IRRERA USMC(RET), 6 Apr 2019
SGT EARL B. JOHNSON, 20 Oct 2018
RICHARD D. JOHNSON, Dec 2018
CPL THOMAS H. KENNEDY, 21 Jul 2019
SSGT DONALD R. KLEMMER, 21 Dec 2018
CWO2 EDWIN J. KUES USMC(RET), 21 Dec 2018
TSGT LAWRENCE J. LACK JR, 4 Feb 2019
TSGT SAMUEL R. LANE, 15 Jan 2018
CPL ROBERT J. LANGDON
WILLIAM H. LANGE
LCPL MELVIN R. LAWS, 13 Feb 2019
MGYSGT JAMES H. LEATHER USMC(RET), 11 Aug 2015
PFC JAMES P. LEDDY, 7 Sep 2018
SSGT ROBERT A. LEFTWICH, 7 Jul 2018
GYSGT CLEVELAND J. LEONESIO JR, 10 Jul 2015
SGT ROBERT W. LOCKE, 12 Nov 2018
GYSGT WALTER F. LOFINK
SGT EDWARD M. LONDOS, 10 Feb 2017
CPL JEB S. LORD JR, 10 Jun 2016
SSGT GERALD L. LOYD, 23 Apr 2019
SGT FREDERICK WILLIAM MADDEN, 2 Nov 2018
1STLT E. C. MADENFORD USMC(RET), 13 May 2015
CPL ALAN MADSEN, 13 Dec 2007
CPL EDWIN B. MAGEE, 4 Mar 2010
SGT ANDREW J. MAGIERA, 20 Feb 2013
SGT LOUIS R. MAGNOTTI, 11 Sep 2017
SSGT MILTON R. MAGNUSSEN, 25 May 2000
LTGEN WILLIAM R. MALONEY USMC(RET), 13 Nov 2018
PFC JOHN A. MANOOGIAN, 6 Feb 2016
HMC J. P. MARINO, 2 Dec 2016
SSGT BRUCE C. MARLEY, 16 Mar 2019
LCPL BARRY L. MARQUARDT, 3 Nov 2018
CPL MANDELL L. MATHESON, 10 Dec 2011
SSGT JOHN A. MCEACHERN, 21 Oct 2018
SGTMAJ HOWARD J. MEMMER USMC(RET)
SGT MILTON E. MONTGOMERY
MRS DOROTHY NEWCOMB, 3 Apr 2018
WILLIAM J. O'KANE, 20 Oct 2018
SGT FRANCIS C. OKRASKI, 13 Mar 2019
CPL DAN R. OMELINA, 11 Jul 2019
SGT CHARLES R. OSTERHELDT
SGTMAJ WILLIAM S. PARKS USMC(RET), 2 Aug 2018
SGT JAMES V. PELLA, 25 Aug 2018
PFC ROBERT G. PORTER, 15 Dec 2018
PAUL J. PRESTON, 13 Sep 2018
1STLT EDWARD W. RACELY, 10 Apr 2019
SGT JOHN H. RAU, 19 Jul 2019
PFC WILLIAM H. REIL, 26 Sep 2018
CYRIL J. ROUSSEAU, 20 Jun 2018
MRS CYNTHIA SAKIN
CPL WILLIAM J. SAKOWICZ, 19 Feb 2019
SGT CLARENCE A. SCHUTT, 9 Feb 2019
JOHN L. SHARPE, 18 Oct 2018
CAPT LEONARD R. SHIFFLETTE, 6 Sep 2019
TSGT JAMES G. SKIDMORE, 15 Feb 2019
1STLT ANTHONY P. SLAVEC, 3 Feb 2019
HM1 ARTHUR Y. SPRAGUE MD, 13 Jun 2019
SGT GILBERT ANDREW STAFFORD, 9 Feb 2018
LTCOL HENRY W. STANKUS USMC(RET), 9 Oct 2018
HENRY T. STINSON, 10 Dec 2018
CPL THOMAS H. TOMPKINS, 28 Jan 2019
CPL JOHN CHARLES TRAINOR, 14 Mar 2019
LCPL WESLEY J. WAINWRIGHT, 13 Nov 2018
1STLT LAWRENCE G. WARD USMC(RET), 2 Jul 2015
LTCOL WILLIAM J. WERSELL USMC(RET)
CWO2 ROBERT L. WINFIELD, 7 Feb 2019
SGT TOMMY J. WOOTTON
CPL LARRY W. WORLAND
SGT RICHARD A. YOUNG, 15 Sep 2018

Challenge Coin
Association's Challenge Coins Available
From: Steve "Doc" Lakernick

These Challenge Coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tet 1968 are available to members. The price is $5 per coin, plus shipping.
 
Headquarters Office (760) 763-3268
President Jerry Johs Email: geronamo0122@gmail.com
Please visit our website: www.1stmardivassociation.com

First Marine Division Association
P.O. Box 9000, Box # 902
Oceanside CA 92051

(760) 763-3268