Marine Corps League celebrates 246th birthday 111021
Article and Photos by Mary Alice Murphy
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Dick Hozee served as emcee for the Marine Corps Birthday celebration
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Marine Corps League members Robert Lopez and Al Gamboa present the colors.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Hozee salutes as Yusi Lozano sings the National Anthem
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Gamboa and Lopez roll in the birthday cake for the later ceremony
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
The cake
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Danna Lopez reads the descriptions of the symbols on the P.O.W.-M.I.A. table.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Robert Lopez points out the symbols on the P.O.W.-M.I.A. table
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
The cutting of the cake by Gamboa using an enlisted man's sword, and Lopez stands ready to take the slice.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Following tradition, the first slice of cake goes to the oldest Marine present, Master Gunnery Sgt. Dean Bearup, as the youngest Marine, Debbie Silva, waits for it to be handed to her.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Silva, the youngest Marine present, accepts the slice of cake from Bearup, the oldest Marine present.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Hozee presents a sheathed knife to thank John Sterle, at right, for speaking.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Danna Lopez gives the benediction.
Marine Corps Birthday 111021
Robert Lopez and Al Gamboa retire the colors
The Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League Detachment 1328 celebrated the 246th birthday of the Marine Corps on Wednesday Nov. 10, 2021, at the Allingham-Golding Post 18 American Legion Hall on College Street. Dick Hozee served as emcee.
After sounding the Adjutant's Call and posting the colors, Yusi Lozano from Western New Mexico University sang the National Anthem. Roger Wright led the Pledge of Allegiance. Marine Corps League Chaplain Marine Corps League Chaplain Robert Lopez gave the invocation.
Lopez also read the obituary of World War II Marine veteran Eugene Lewis, who died this week at the age of 96.
Lopez and Al Gamboa presented the birthday cake, which would be used later in the traditional cake cutting ceremony.
Hozee gave the welcome and said that the bond that "brought us together is love of country. We never forget why we meet once a year on our birthday. It is to honor those that we have lost and encourage those to come."
Robert Lopez showed each item on the P.O.W.-M.I.A. table, as his wife Danna, also a member of the league, read the explanation of each item.
A bit of history about the Corps: On Nov. 10, 1775, eight months before the Declaration of Independence was presented on July 4, 1776, Robert Mullin, the proprietor of Tun Tavern, was commissioned by an act of Congress to raise the first two battalions of Marines, and Samuel Nicholas became the first appointed commandant of the Continental Marines.
Hozee read the message by Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, which Lejeune made when the Marine Corps birthday was created on Nov. 10, 1921, by the U.S. government to show appreciation for the U.S. Marines. In the 1950s a series of standardizations on how the celebrations would happen continue today to be traditions shared among Marines, their families and friends at the annual birthday party.
Marine Tom Holman read the current commandant, Gen. David S. Berger's message, which invites those participating in the ceremony to celebrate not as an end, but as a beginning. "We must remember those who went before us, and we must look over the horizon at the future."
Following tradition, the first slice of cake goes to the oldest Marine present, Master Gunnery Sgt. Dean Bearup, on this evening. He takes the first bite then hands the slice to the youngest Marine present, which was Debbie Silva.
The speaker for the evening was John Sterle, commander of the American Legion Post 18, Silver City, NM. He spoke about his military career as a cryptologic technician.
Corps Member Frank Donohue read a list of the Marines from the area who have died this year.
Hozee acknowledged the Gaffney-Oglesby Detachment 1328 of the Marine Corps League, which hosted the event, and the American Legion for allowing the use of its facility. He also thanked Anthony Quintana and his staff of Q's Bistro for catering the dinner.
He announced that the following morning Nov. 11, 2021, at 11 a.m. the Veterans Day ceremony would take place at the same venue, the American Legion Hall.
Danna Lopez gave the benediction.