Marine Corps Birthday Dinner 111022

: Category: Front Page News Front Page News; Published: 13 November 2022 13 November 2022

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

The Gaffney-Oglesby Marine Corps League Detachment 1328 held its annual Marine Corps Birthday dinner on the 247th birthday of the Marine Corps, which took place at the Western New Mexico University cafeteria.

Master Gunnery Sergeant Dean Bearup served as the master of ceremonies as he has many times over the years. He introduced himself and said Marines always have had strict regimes, “but Col Clyde Ely, who is our featured speaker, gave me two boxes of crayons.”

[A meme accusing Marines of being dumb crayon eaters has become a common joke between branches of the Armed Services. For instance, Army soldiers are said to be fat, Navy sailors to be soft, and Air Force airmen as lazy.]

Bearup said the Marines perform their duties with honor, including the 86 final rites their members have performed since Jan. 1, 2022.

“We’ve all been in under barracks restriction for two years,” Bearup said. “Now we’re free.”

He noted that out of 332 million proud Americans, 1.4 million are on active duty. “That is 0.04 percent of the population protecting everybody every day. We come to this calling because of love of country. Tonight, we’re doing what U.S. Marines are doing all over the world on Nov. 10, 2022, celebrating our 247th birthday. May we never forget the way we come together and may we always be an inspiration to those who may follow. It makes us brothers if we served in the U.S. military. That Marine, soldier, sailor, guardian (Space Force) or coast guardsman chose to put his life on the line to protect our country.”

Bearup presented a brief story about the founding of the Marines. Congress had already created the Army of soldiers but saw a need to put another group together. Capt. Samuel Nichols went to Tun Tavern in Philadelphia to recruit for the group during the American Revolution. A flyer stated that the group was seeking strong men to ensure freedom. “We do our best to fulfill the tradition of our beginning in a bar,” Bearup said to chuckles from the audience.

He introduced everyone at the head table “Doc” Ron Oglesby, for whose son the detachment is named, Col. Clyde Ely, to his right, and to his left were “Doc” Robert Lopez and his wife Danna, and Renee Fletcher and Gunnery Sgt. Garry Gibson.

Bearup explained that Navy Corpsmen are referred to as docs. “They are embedded in the Marines and do everything we do, except for one thing. They save Marines’ lives.”

He asked the veterans of every branch of the Armed Forces to stand, if possible, when their branch was called. Veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard stood. He also asked all first responders to stand, and several were in attendance. He then asked each Marine to stand and tell their rank and years of service.

“We have 201 years of service in this room,” Bearup said. “If it weren’t for the wives and husbands of those who serve or who have served, we couldn’t do it without your support.”

Attendees then had a dinner of prime rib or fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, as well as salad and cheesecake for dessert, served by Sodexo.

After dinner, Bearup read a bunch of quotes about Marines, some were complimentary, and others made fun of the Corps.

Oglesby read the original 1921 message from then-Marine Corps Major General Commandant John A Lejeune, author of Order 47, which declared Nov. 10 as the official birthday of the Marine Corps. Lejeune was the 13th commandant.

Also read was the birthday message from the current Commandant of the Marine Corps General David H. Berger. The beginning of the message stated: “70 years ago, Army Major General Frank E. Lowe was quoted as saying, ‘The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight.’ That testimonial rings as true now as it did then and will remain so tomorrow.” For the complete message, visit https://www.cmc.marines.mil/Birthday/ .

Bearup introduced Col. Clyde Ely, by saying the Army is like “our older brother. We get their hand-me-downs and use them better.”

Ely, who served as command historian for the New Mexico National Guard, said the Marine Corps is so special because they have two birthdays, Nov. 10 and July 11and “today we celebrate their official birthday. The July 11 birthday was celebrated from 1799-1921. In 1921, the date was officially approved as Nov. 10, 1775.”

“This is my first Marine Corps birthday celebration, and I feel greatly honored to be here with you for this 2022 celebration,” Ely said. “I have always been impressed with how well-informed individual Marines I have encountered over the years have been on Marine history. As command historian, I employed history knowledge to help our soldiers and airmen better understand their place in history.”

He said he would tell two stories that he said would help the attendees better understand the exceptionalism of all Marines, soldiers, airmen, sailors, coastguardsmen and guardians.

Before the stories, Ely noted that he was honored to speak at the rededication of the Grant County Bataan Memorial Park at Fort Bayard. “It was a very special event for Grant County. April 9, 2022 was the 80th anniversary of the infamous fall of Bataan in the Philippines. When mobilization for war began in 1941, Silver City and New Mexico were only a small part of the United States’ preparation for war. More than 4100 sons of New Mexico were mobilized and shipped to the Philippines. Of the 1800 in the 200th Coast Artillery, almost half did not survive to the end of the war. Of those who survived, a third died during the first year after they were freed.”

“My uncle, Clyde Ely Jr, died in Japan of wounds received after Bataan when the two unmarked slave ships, known as “hellships,” were bombed by US Naval forces,” Ely said.

He noted that all of those from Grant County’s Battery G and Deming’s Regimental Headquarters were captured during the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942.

“Unknown to the Japanese at the time, they had made a fatal mistake in the Philippines,” Ely said. “Certainly attacking the United States of America was bad for them—but what they could not know and did not consider was the fact that they had now attacked the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment and New Mexico. Worse for the Japanese as it turned out—they had attacked the Ely brothers.”

The brothers were his father Lt. William Ely and his uncle Capt. Clyde Ely, Jr. “With Capt. Ely at the tip of the spear in the Philippines, he was first to fire at Clark Field only eight hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked. His brother, Lt. Ely, was part of the Manhattan Project working in Dr. Workman’s University of New Mexico group. My father helped develop a new special fuse, called a proximity fuse, to trigger the new atomic bomb at about 2,000 feet above the ground.”

“How smart and tough were the people and warriors of New Mexico?” Ely asked and answered. “They were so smart they developed and built the first fission bomb, known then as the atomic bomb, in record time. They were so tough, they exploded the first atomic bomb in the world on themselves just to make sure it worked. At Trinity Site hear San Antonio in the Jornada del Muerto desert a great flash of light was seen many miles away It was seen in Silver City on July 16, 1945.”

Ely noted the Army and Marines have a long history of cooperation and combined or joint combat operations. “I will tell you about an extraordinary event in World War I in which a U.S. Marine, assigned with his unit to the US Army’s Second Infantry Division received not one but two medal of honor awards for his service during the Battle of Blanc Mont Ridge in France, above and beyond what was expected. Marine Private John J. Kelly, 78th Company, 6th Regiment USMC of the Second Division of the US Army, received the medal of honor from the Army and the Navy.”

Why was a Marine unit assigned to the US Army Second Division? Gen. John Pershing, the commander in chief for the American Expeditionary Force had folded the Marines into the Army’s Second Infantry and placed a Marine officer as Division Commander. The commander was Marine Major General John Lejeune during this battle. WWI was the last action in which a US Army Division was commanded by a Marine officer. According to the Medal of Honor citation, Pvt Kelly on Oct. 3, 1918, at Blanc Mont Ridge, France, ran 100 years ahead of the front line, through a friendly forces’ artillery barrage, attacked an enemy machine gun nest, killing two enemy and then took eight enemy soldiers prisoner and ran back through the barrage to friendly lines.”

“Remembering our past helps everyone prepare for the future,” Ely concluded. This celebration for the 247th birthday of the US Marine Corps gives all of us a chance to honor all the branches of the military and the memory of the sacrifices of our local heroes no matter their branch of service, especially for those from Grant county, our families and our entire nation. God Bless the United States Marines and the United States Army.”

Bearup said in 2009, 16 charter members put together the Marine Corps League Detachment 1328. “We had already had birthday celebrations.”

“We had a firecracker of an individual recently come down from another detachment from another state,” Bearup said. “Gunnery Sgt. Garry Gibson came down. He stepped in as commandant and has re-energized the detachment. He saw a need for our members to be patted on the back. This year, for the first time, we nominated people for a Marine of the Year and an Associate of the Year. Our inaugural award goes to Marine Frank Donohue, who kept us together and moving forward. Frank ducked too late three times, but he came back. He is tenacious, a scheduler of events and a keeper of the papers. He is our Detachment Marine of the Year 2022.

“The first Marine Corps League Detachment Associate of the Year award goes to John Sterle, a Navy veteran, a crypto guy, a morse code guy and a spook,” Bearup said. “He’s the past commander of the American Legion Post 18.”

Gibson followed the tradition of the cutting of the birthday cake with a sword. The first piece of cake goes to the oldest Marine in attendance, which that evening was Richard Luna. He then passes the piece of cake to the youngest Marine present, who was Adam Scott Petersen.

Robert and Danna Lopez presented the traditional POW-MIA table ceremony.

Donohue read the names of Marines that “are no longer with us, since the last birthday celebration. Please pray for their families.”

Bearup presented gilt-edged roses to Gold Star Mother Mary Cowan.

Bearup thanked the university for the event. “President Joseph Shepard several years back took the two bills for food and the bar for the celebration and decided he would pay one of them. He chose the food bill because it was the lesser of the two.”

He also thanked Lorraine Anglin for singing The National Anthem.

“I want to remind you that tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 11, Veterans’ Day), a ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at the American Legion Post 18 Hall on College Ave. Another event will take place with dinner offered to veterans at the Woman’s Club tomorrow at 5 p.m.”

He reminded attendees of the Wreaths Across America, which sells wreaths to put on graves at national cemeteries across the country. “We have more than 4,000 graves at Fort Bayard National Cemetery. Not a one of them has been without a wreath for the past few years. I thank those souls who are out there on Dec. 17 at 10 a.m.

Also, boxes for Toys for Tots can be found around the area to collect toys for children. They will be distributed at the Santa Clara Armory on Dec. 10 to those who apply for toys. Last year, they collected 4090 toys, which were presented to 1,300 children. Monetary donations go into a pot that allows the National Toys for Tots to get toys at discount. The locally raised $16,000 last year during Covid. Forty boxes are set up around town. For more information visit: https://www.grantcountybeat.com/community/community-news/74866-the-2022-toys-for-tots-campaign-has-begun. One must apply to receive toys. No walk-ins are accepted.

The ceremony ended with the retiring of the colors.

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Marine Corps Birthday Dinner 111022

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