“These are the times that try men's souls.”
― Thomas Paine
Battle for Outpost Vegas
26-28 March 1953
There Was An Angel on Her Back
by Ned Forney

On March 26, 1953, nearly four months to the day that the Korean War armistice was signed, one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history began: The Battle for Outpost Vegas.

Located in the strategically important “Iron Triangle,” a bitterly contested area along the DMZ, or MLR, Main Line of Resistance, Outpost Vegas was one of three pieces of high ground defended by First Marine Division in the closing stages of the war.

The Americans knew the outposts - the others being Reno and Carson - were prized possessions. The Chinese desperately wanted them. It was just a matter of time, most Marines felt, before communist forces launched an all-out assault.

The attack came on the night of March 26, with over 3,500 Chinese troops storming the three outposts. Under withering machine gun fire and constant mortar and artillery barrages, the Marines struggled to defend their coveted positions. Andrew Geer, a Marine Lieutenant Colonel who would later write a book about the battle and one of its most famous Marines, described the horrific engagement as “a bloody crescendo seldom matched in warfare.”
After four days of non-stop attacks, counterattacks, hand-to-hand fighting, and massive air bombardments by First Marine Aircraft Wing, the battle ended. The Marines were in control of Vegas.

The Americans had fought valiantly, killing an estimated 1,300 enemy troops and effectively knocking out two Chinese battalions. But the victory had come at a high price. Over 250 Marines were dead or missing. Hundreds more were wounded.

Throughout the battle, one Marine in particular earned division-wide respect and admiration for incredible acts of selflessness and bravery. Sgt. Reckless, a member of 5th Marine’s Recoilless Rifle Platoon, braved constant enemy fire, carried numerous wounded from the battlefield, earned two Purple Hearts, and on the worst day of the fighting, single-handedly transported nearly five tons of ammunition to the front lines - all on her back. Sgt. Reckless was a horse, a Mongolian mare.

Read more at
MIKE CARONE, PAST PRESIDENT
21 June 1931 - 8 March 2019
First Marine Division Association Past President Michael J. Carone
passed away on March 8th.
He served as President from August 2009 to August 2011.

Thank you, Mike, for your service to our nation and to our Association.

FROM THE HEADQUARTERS
From: Lee Rux <rux@satx.rr.com>
Sent: Friday, March 8, 2019 4:47 PM

Jerry,
Again I will not be able to attend a Board of Directors meeting. My family obligations are keeping me at home for the present. I feel it will be best for the Association to resign as Sargent-At-Arms. After four years as a Chapter President/Director and ten years as a elected Officer it is time to end my service. I will still be available to answer Bylaw questions.
Lee Rux

Jerry Corrento appointed to the office of Sgt-At-Arms
by President Jerry Johs through August 2019.
Richard Cesaroni resigned DAL West to care for his wife, Rose; office open.
Richard Partee, Insurance Committed, deceased.
72nd Annual Reunion
Louisville, Kentucky
Our 72nd Annual Reunion is set for August 3 through 12, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport Hotel.

We'll see old friends, make new friends, and see the sights of the Blue Grass State.

The Registration Form and Program for the week is
now available.





Please start making your plans to join us in a week of tradition, fun, and comradery.
Hello Ladies! 
I'm hoping to see a lot of you at the upcoming Louisville, KY reunion luncheon. I will not be doing BINGO this year as last year didn't have a very good turnout. I am hoping to have someone their for entertainment, and I will be donating a really nice item to be raffled off at the luncheon. There will be no charge for the raffle ticket, you will receive one upon entering the place where the luncheon will take place. You must be registered for the luncheon to be part of the raffle prize.

During the week, I will have items there for a Chinese Raffle. There will be tickets for sale with the office staff all week. I am hoping to have several items for this raffle. How a Chinese Raffle works, is that you you buy a sheet of raffle tickets and then you place the tickets in the bags for which prizes you would like to have a chance to win. I will be drawing the names of the lucky winners on Saturday, and then notifying the winners to get the item/s won so you can take them home.

I am also reaching out to everyone for donation of new items you may have laying around that you would like to donate for this raffle. It doesn't have to be Marine Corps related. I am going to have women and men items up for this raffle. If you have something you would like to donate, please contact me through Jerry Johs email at Geronamo0122@gmail.com or you can mail your items to the office. Please put a note in with it explaining that it is a Chinese Raffle item.

Thank you, 

Cheryl Johs
Executive Committee/Board of Directors Meeting
Updated Itinerary

April 7th Travel day Hotel check in

April 8th Free day. Check out the hotel and surrounding area, use hotel shuttle to various places around the hotel go downtown Louisville and look around check the restaurants and pubs

April 9th
0830-1200 Committee meeting
1200-1300 Lunch
1300-1400 Executive Board Meeting
1415-1715 Board of Directors Meeting
1730 Food Tasting

FMDA SCHOLARSHIP FUND INC WILL POST THEIR MEETING TIME AND PLACE AT REGISTRATION
MEMBERS
On Mar 10, 2019, at 12:43 PM, Quint Villanueva < qlv@aol.com> wrote:

Marines/Corpsmen,
It saddens me to inform you that our shipmate Dick Partee passed away early this morning at his home in Palm Desert.

Dick's membership in our Chapter dates back to its early beginning during which he served as Board member, Treasurer and President.
More information will be forthcoming as it is received from Dick's family.

Quint Villanueva
Secretary
Desert Cities / Mitchell Paige MOH Chapter
Attention: C/1/5 Korea Veterans

If you served with C/1/5 during the Korean War from August 1952 through August 1953 I would like to talk with you. My father served during that time, his name was Bernard D. Cressy, PFC "Bernie" and was a draftee. I am also writing a book about my father's service along with his brother who served on Guadalcanal. The book title is "Brothers of the 1st - Their Story of WWII and the Korean War."

COL Nick Cressy
MARINE CORPS KA-BAR/EK
Our latest PX item. 6% of sales support your Association.
Geezers Golf
An Old Marine With a New Idea

At age 87, Chester Allen, a Marine veteran of Korea, is creating a new wave of enthusiasm for golf among seniors. Allen has made the game fun again for seniors who no longer drive the ball 250 yards and who want to spend less than five hours on the course. In speeding up the game by slightly amending the traditional rules of golf, Allen has convinced golf courses to give members discounted green fees for tee times that match the time schedule of retirees. Allen calls this new movement, Geezers Golf . 
Starting in Southern California, the fledgling company has already secured fourteen Member Courses in San Diego and Riverside County. Additional courses are being added each month. The long-range plan is to take Geezers Golf national, and perhaps international.
Currently, Geezers Golf has organized a Spring Scrambles Series, playing twice each week and alternating play among the Member Courses. Gentlemen and ladies are always welcome at these scrambles events, whether Geezers Golf members or not. As a member benefit, Geezers pay discounted green fees.
Allen knows that Marines love a challenge, so Geezers Golf has joined with the First Marine Division Association in creating an incentive for FMDA members to join Geezers Golf. Allen has authorized the FMDA members to join Geezers Golf for $50 for their first year membership, a savings of $45. In addition, for each new member, from the $50 membership fee, Geezers Golf will donate $20 to the Association. Here is the challenge. If a total of 50, or more, members of FMDA join Geezers Golf in the next ninety days, the $20 donation to the Association will be increased to $25 per new member, with no limit on the number of new members.

Your are invited to review information on Geezers Golf, special golf events, and the Rules of Geezers Golf on the company’s website:  www.geezergolf.com.


Upcoming Events
75th Anniversary Commemoration of D-Day
USAF Air Mobility Command Museum, Dover AFB,

I’m on the Staff of the Marine Corps Mechanized Museum, Camp Pendleton providing volunteer assistance in research, administration and operations. Our Museum is basically connected at the hip with the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, MCAS, Miramar. Consequently, we invariably team-up with them when we share mutual interests. In the course of some recent Email exchanges I was having with other museums, the subject above came up.

Additionally, the efforts of the USAF Air Mobility Command Museum (AMCM) to restore their C-119 aircraft (Flying Boxcar) that supported the 1 st Marine Division (Chosin Few) came up. As usually happens, museums try to help each other out and the AMCM asked me if I knew of anyone having one of the M2 Bridge Sections they critically needed to complete their project. I said I would explore that with some Marine Engineer friends. I expanded some of the information they provided about this episode in Marine History and you have what I have now.

I’m not asking you to join in my research about that, but thought that the Association and in particular the Chosin Few would like to have this information. Feel free to pass it on. It won’t surprise me if the AMCM asks CMC to come to Dover AFB to dedicate the Project when it is completed.
 
Semper Fi,
Bob Turley
LtCol, USMC (Ret.)
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.
REUNIONS
74th Anniversary of End of Battle of Iwo Jima
Reunion March 20-23, 2019

MCB Camp Pendleton, MCRD San Diego, MCAS Miramar

or call (858)792-8897
26th Marines Association

26th Marines Association Annual Reunion. August 23, 24 and 25th, 2019 in New Orleans, La. 26’ers of all times, Iwo to current (Regiment, MEU, and supporting units) are welcome. See www.26thMarines.com for details. Or call Sonny at 512-825-4730 or email sonnyusmc@gmail.com .
1st Battalion 3rd Marines

Reunion in Branson, Missouri, September 17-22, 2019. All eras welcome.

Contact: Don Bumgarner, dbumc13usmc@verizon.net (562)897-2437

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
New Members

SGT ROBERT M BEARUP, Sponsor Paul Bisbee
MARY K GALLAGHER, Associate
SGT PAUL GARCIA, Sponsor Bill Purcell
PFC THOMAS A LUTTENBACHER
LTCOL GRAYSON STORY
SGT PAUL STUART, Sponsor Nick Warr

Taps

Another long Taps Report as we continue
to update the database from Social Security records.

CAPT TOMMY H ACUFF 21 Jul 2006
SGT CLAY A ALBRIGHT 30 Jun 2013
CAPT JOHN R ANGLOCH 04 Jan 2011
MRS NANCY BARRY 03 May 2013
PAST PRESIDENT SGT MICHAEL J CARONE 08 Mar 2019
SGT MICHAEL A CARONE, 20 Aug 2010
CPL JOHN M COLE 14 Nov 2017
PFC THOMAS J CORRIGAN 11 Feb 2011
CPL BARRY D CRITES 31 Aug 2009
PFC GLENN C CUTHBERT
SGT RICHARD P DOYLE 08 Jan 2019
CPL JOSEPH T EVANS 28 Oct 2013
CAPT ROBERT B FARRELL 19 Sep 2011
HELEN FOWLER 01 Dec 2013
PFC ROBERT C GEIGER 10 Apr 2017
CPL RONALD J GREIG 29 Jan 2019
SGT RONALD R HEIDIG 27 Dec 2013
SGT REGIS W HELCH 24 Nov 2014
SGT CHARLES R HENNINGS 13 Nov 2018
SGT HOWARD E JOHNSON 29 Jun 2013
SGT GORDON J JORGENSEN 05 Feb 2019
ROBERT KASTELIC 02 Jan 2012
TSGT JAMES W KAUFMAN 04 Nov 2014
SGTMAJ ROBERT F LANCE 14 Jul 2018
MRS SARA LINCOLN 09 Dec 2013
CPL ROY R MADARA 25 Nov 2013
TOM J MCBRIDE 23 May 2018
CPL WADE B MCKENNEY 04 Jan 2015
CPL CHARLES J MORROTTO SR 24 Aug 2012
CPL ANTHONY T MUCCIARONE 06 Dec 2010
COL RICHARD A PARTEE 10 Mar 2019
MRS. GERTRUDE M PFAHLER 24 Nov 2013
COL FRANCIS D RINEER 10 Aug 2013
COL GERALD F RUSSELL 24 Feb 2014
SSGT JOSEPH D RYAN 26 Feb 2019
1STSGT ALBERT A SCARSELLONE 04 Jan 2015
CPL JOSEPH A SPECHT 08 Mar 2018
CPL JAMES M STINSON 02 Jan 2013
LTCOL DEAN E STOVER 13 May 2011
CPL ROGER W SUMMERS 07 Apr 2018
SGT RANDALL L SWANSON 20 Jun 2016
MSGT FRANCIS H TREAT SR 23 Nov 2015
SGT EDWIN E VOGEL 04 Jan 2018
SGT JAMES U WILKINS 01 Nov 2010
Challenge Coin
71st Annual Reunion Challenge Coins Available
From: Steve "Doc" Lakernick

These Challenge Coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tet 1968 are available to members. The price is $10 per coin, plus shipping and handling.
Pictured here are front and back of the coin.
 
1 coin: total $12.00
2 - 5 coins: $10.00 per coin + $7.00
7 - 12 coins $10.00 per coin + $15.00
More than 12 coins ship via UPS Ground. Please call the office or write for a quote. Mailing address and phone at bottom of this page.
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