RED RIVER RUNNER

THE OFFICIAL QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF THE

FLOYD L. BAXTER RED RIVER DETACHMENT 875

MARINE CORPS LEAGUE

Volume 13                                                                            January 2012                                                                      No. 1      

THE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE’S MISSION…To aid voluntarily and to render assistance to all Marines as well
as to their widows and orphans.

16 January 1991: Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm as forces of the allied coalition launched an all-out air campaign against targets in Iraq and occupied Kuwait in an effort to liberate Kuwait and enforce the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. Overall, in the theater of operations, the coalition forces included more than 415,000 U.S. troops.

18 January 1951: Marines of the 1st Marine Division began mopping-up operations against guerrillas in the Pohang area, South Korea, following the Division's return from its epic battle with Communist Chinese troops at the Chosin (Changjin) Reservoir.

6 February 1968: Two reduced Marine battalions, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines with two companies, and 2d Battalion, 5th Marines with three, recaptured Hue's hospital, jail, and provincial headquarters. It would take three more weeks of intense house to house fighting, and nearly a thousand Marines killed and wounded, before the imperial city was secured.

15 February 1898: 28 Marines and 232 seamen lost their lives when the battleship Maine was mysteriously sunk by an explosion in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. Though no definitive evidence linked the Spanish with the sinking, the cry went up, "Remember the Maine!", and by late April the U.S. and Spain were at war.

23 February 1945: Four days after the initial landings on Iwo Jima, 1stLt Harold G. Schrier led 40 men from Company E, 2d Battalion, 28th Marines, up Mt. Suribachi to secure the crest and raise the small American flag that battalion commander LtCol Chandler Johnson had given Schrier. Within an hour, the patrol reached the rim of the crater. After a short fire-fight with Japanese defenders emerging from several caves, the small American flag was attached to an iron pipe and raised over the island.

24 February 1991: The I Marine Expeditionary Force and coalition forces began a ground assault on Iraqi defenses in the final chapter of Operation Desert Storm. The 1st and 2d Marine Divisions stormed into the teeth of Iraqi defenses while heavily armored allied forces attacked the Iraqi defenses in Iraq from behind. In 100 hours, U.S. and allied forces defeated the Iraqi Army.

28 February 1991: Operation Desert Storm ended when the cease- fire declared by President George Bush went into effect. I Marine Expeditionary Force has a strength of more than 92,000 making Operation Desert Storm the largest Marine Corps operation in history .A total of 24 Marines were killed in action during the Gulf War.

8 March 1965: The 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade landed at DaNang, Republic of Vietnam as the first U.S. ground combat troops to be committed to that conflict. The 3,500 men arrived both across the beach with Battalion Landing Team 3/9, and at DaNang Airfield with Battalion Landing Team 1/3.

25 March 1945: After 35 days of bitter fighting, the amphibious assault on the rocky fortress of Iwo Jima finally appeared over. On the night of 25 March, however, a 300-man Japanese force launched a vicious final counterattack in the vicinity of Airfield Number 2. Army pilots, Seabees and Marines of the 5th Pioneer Battalion and 28th Marines fought the fanatical Japanese force till morning but suffered heavy casualties --more than l00 killed and another 200 American wounded. Nearly all of the Japanese force was killed in the battle.

27 March 1953: The 5th Marines, supported by the 2d Battalion, 7th Marines, in the first full day of fighting after the Chinese assault the previous evening of Outpost Vegas on Korea's western front, counterattacked to regain enemy-held positions. Companies E and F of 2/7 , down to only three platoons between them, managed to regain partial control of Outpost Vegas that day.

31 March 1801: On this date, LtCol Commandant William W. Burrows rode with president Thomas Jefferson to look for "a proper place to fix the Marine Barracks on." President Jefferson was a personal friend of the Commandant, and deeply interested in the welfare of the Corps and accompanied Burrows on horseback on the morning of 31 March. They chose a square in Southeast Washington, at 8th and I streets, because it lay near the Navy Yard and was within easy marching distance of the Capitol

CHAPLAIN’S CORNER
The following members or family members are ill. Please keep them in your prayers:

    Jack GooteeSr.                                                            Edwana Bourgeois
Jack and Mary Jane Harter                                         Gil Tull & Family
Jack Faragher                                                              Howard Skok
         Earl Lunsford                                                             Danny Parker & Family
         Floyd Earnest                                                              Willie Wynn & Family. 

CONTRIBUTIONS

Bumper-Stickers Seen On Military Bases (Contributed by Dave Gavin):

"When in Doubt, Empty The Magazine"

"Marine Sniper - You can run, but you'll just die tired!"

"Machine Gunners - Accuracy By Volume"

"Except For Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, WAR has Never Solved Anything."

" U.S. Marines - Certified Counselors to the 72 Virgins Dating Club."

" U.S. Air Force - Travel Agents To Allah"

"Stop Global Whining"

"Naval Corollary: Dead Men Don't Testify"
"The Marine Corps - When It Absolutely, Positively Has To Be Destroyed Overnight"

"Death Smiles At Everyone - Marines Smile Back"

"What Do I Feel When I Kill A Terrorist? A Little Recoil"

"Marines - Providing Enemies of America an Opportunity To Die For their Country Since 1775"

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Anyone Who Threatens It"

"Happiness Is A Belt-Fed Weapon" 

"It's God's Job to Forgive Bin Laden - It was Our Job To Arrange The Meeting"

"Artillery Brings Dignity to What Would Otherwise Be Just A Vulgar Brawl"

"One Shot, Twelve Kills - U.S. Naval Gun Fire Support "

"My Kid Fought In Iraq So Your Kid Can Party In College"

"A Dead Enemy Is A Peaceful Enemy - Blessed Be The Peacemakers"

"If You Can Read This, Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read It In English, Thank A Veteran"

...and finally

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world.  But the U.S. MARINES don't have that problem." 

FOR THE GOOD OF THE DETACHMENT

NWLAWVH September Birthday Party – Was held 6 September, at 1400.  The ice cream was provided by our Detachment and the cake was provided by the MOPH Auxiliary. It was a great experience.

Bravo Company 23rd Marines Return Home – On 1 October 2011, 134 Marines from Bravo Company 23rd Marines returned from an extended deployment to Afghanistan. Greeting them at the Shreveport Regional Airport were detachment members Bill Braidwood, Willie Wynn, Doug Salvaterra, Doug  and Tom Tracey.

Veterans Day Luncheon – On 9 November Judge Ted Cox hosted four detachment members as his guests at the Shreveport Bar Association Veterans Day Luncheon at the Shreveport Petroleum Club.  The luncheon was dedicated to the Marine Corps and MajGen Bowden, USMC (retired) was the guest speaker.  Attendees were: Bill Braidwood, Mike Thorton, Dave Gavin and Tom Tracey.

Annual Cake Cutting Ceremony – On Thursday, 10 November., the Detachment, in conjunction with the I&I Staff of Bravo Co., conducted the annual cake cutting ceremony in the lobby of OBVAMC.  We had a great turnout by Detachment members.  As usual, at the end of the ceremony, cake was delivered to all Marine in-patients.  State Representative Barbara Norton presented a resolution she sponsored honoring and thanking Marines. The resolution was signed by Jim Tucker and Governor Jindal.

Marine Corps Birthday Ball – On 10 November the Floyd L. Baxter / Red River Detachment held their annual Marine Corps Ball at the VFW Club outside the Barksdale AFB north gate.

Veterans Day Program – A Veterans Day Program was held on 11 Nov at the Veterans Memorial Park located on Clyde Fant Parkway just down hill from the V.A. Hospital.

 

Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) – 2011 was a great year for the Detachment.  Twenty-eight percent of the Detachments membership volunteered 1123 hours at Overton-Brooks VAMC and the Northwest Louisiana Veterans Home. Those are only the recorded hours. There are more hours volunteered that are not a matter of record, The membership voted to donate $450.00 that would directly benefit veterans at OBVAMC, $100.00 for the homeless veterans at the Volunteers of America facility, $100.00 to pay for shipping items to deployed troops and over $200.00 for the ice cream for the NWLAVH residents monthly birthday parties.         

 

MARINE CORPS RELATED WEB SITES

Marine Corps League –  www. mcleague.org  
Louisiana Department Marine Corps League – www.marinecorpsleaguelouisiana.com  
U.S. Marine Corps – www.tec.usmc.mil
Marine Corps Association – www.mca-marines.org
The Marine Shop (MCA) – www.marineshop.com
Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Paris Island – www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil
Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego – www.mcrdsd.usmc.mil
Together We Served - http://marines.togetherweserved.com/usmc/index.jsp
Sgt. Grit – www.grunt.com
OTHER MILITARY WEBSITES

Military News and Information Editor – www.13105320634.com or ourphonenumber.com
The American War Library – www.amervets.com

 1ST QUARTER SPECIAL OCCASIONS

  January 1^st – New Years Day / January 16^th – Martin Luther King Day
February 14^th – Valentine’s Day / February 20th – President’s Day / February 29^th – Leap Day
March 11^th – Daylight Savings time begins / March 17^th – St. Patrick’s Day / March 20^th – Spring begins

DETACHMENT OFFICERS

Commandant – Bill Braidwood                        Sr. Vice-Commandant - Jim Phillips    Jr. Vice-Commandant – John Hebert           

Judge Advocate – Mike Thornton        Adjutant – Dave Gavin                                    Paymaster – Willie Wynn

Sergeant-At-Arms – Al Peterman         Chaplain – Mat Porter                                    VAVS Representative – Dave Gavin

Editor – Tom Tracey

 NEXT MEETINGS
 Regular Meeting Breakfasts are held at 0900 twice a month on the 2^nd and 4^th Saturday of each month at the
Golden Corral, 7250 Youree Dr, Shreveport.

                                       Jan 14         -        Meeting/Breakfast
                                      Jan 28         -        Social Breakfast
                                      Feb 11         -        Meeting/Breakfast
                                      Feb 25        -        Social Breakfast
                                      Mar 10        -        Meeting/Breakfast
                                      Mar 24        -        Social Breakfast                                   

LM = Lifetime Member / HM = Honorary Member