September 2005
Update, Information & Comments
1. Meetings, 3rd Wednesday, 1900 at the American Legion Post (facing the RR tracks.) 345 South Depot Street, in Clearfield.
2. Our first family picnic is history, it was a great meeting our Marines and their families, and the kids had a great time, especially the little ones playing in the horse shoe sand pits. We were lacking a fire hose to wash them down at the end of the day.
3. Update: Our marine (John C. Miles, Layton, UT.) who we have been financially assisting the past number of months, has been returned to the George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center to continue his rehabilitation. If by chance you are at the Medical Center be sure to stop in to say hello to John. He is on the second floor in building one. You can check in at the nurses station for directions. since the price of gas is out of sight at this time, Mary, his wife will not be able to visit as often as she would like to, as some of us know being a patient in a hospital can certainly be boring and trying. Incidentally, John is able to speak, and able to breath on his own without medical assistance and ready to talk to Marines.
4. In this newsletter, I do hope you will take the time to review the enclosures, and join us on Saturday (0800-breakfast) the 17th of this month. As some of us know the Golden Corral Restaurant is a nice place to dine. the manager is very accommodating and our new Detachment will be meeting monthly on the 3rd Saturday of each month for breakfast at this location, along with the Cpl. Robert M. Sawaya Unit #447. Marine Corps League Auxiliary. At this time we have 30 members in the Utah Headquarters Detachment.
5. Marine Corps Birthday Ball Updates: Fox Company at Ft. Douglas - Point of Contact (POC): 1stSgt Byrd, I&I Staff (801) 583-7318 - Location: Marriott City Center, 220 south State Street, Date: Saturday 12 November 05, Time: 1800 Cocktail Hour, Price: $50.00.
6. Marine Corps Birthday Ball Updates: Charlie Company at Camp Williams - POC is Sgt. Weeks, email: weeks.jonathan@gmail.com Location: Hilton Hotel, 255 S. West Temple St., SLC, UT Date: Saturday, November 12 2005, Time: 1800 Cocktail Hour, Ceremony: 1900, Cost: $45.00, Food Options: Chicken or Beef.
7. If you can't touch base with any of the Point of Contacts, call Joe Surace at (801) 281-6101.
8. If, any of our affluent Marines would like to make a small donation towards helping our younger Marines, and their wives financially to attend the Marine Corps Ball, you may do so by sending a check payable to the Detachment and mail it to our P.O. Box. Last year we were able to assist a few young Marines, and received a number of very nice thank you cards in response.
9. Our guest speaker for the 17th of September event will be Howard A. Christy, who retired from the Marine Corps in 1975 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. His primary MOS was infantry with a secondary in intelligence. He served as a platoon and company commander in the Third Battalion Ninth Marines during his early career and as the company commander of A/1/9 in Vietnam in 1966, during which service he was decorated with the Silver Star and the navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. Upon retirement, he attended Brigham Young University, where he received graduate degrees in American History and Library science. He has published several essays on Western History, and most recently, an essay on military leadership published by the Marine Corps Gazette. He lives with his wife in Provo. They have four married children and nine grandchildren.
11. Following our charter event, we have a number of Marine Corps items which we will auction off for a moneymaker for our new Detachment. If we have any auctioneers in our group, and would like to do the honors of being the auctioneer, be sure to check in with me before the end of the program. Also, if anyone would like to donate any of his or her Marine treasures for the auction, we would certainly welcome any Marine Corps stuff. Come witness more Marine Corps League History being made here in Utah. We are growing at a rapid pace and not locking back. But I am looking forward to meeting with the Marines I have met at the George E. Wahlen VA medical Center during the past few years. Together we can make a difference, and share that common bond that other services are so envious of - Semper Fi!
Joseph P. C. Surace
Department Commandant