“We can only know who we are
by being certain of who we have been.”
--Gen Leonard F. Chapman Jr.,
24th Commandant of the Marine Corps
Fortitudine
Motto of the Marine Corps in the 1812 Era
Col Donna J. Neary, USMCR(Ret), painted this oil on canvas depicting the 19 February 1945 landing when Marines and sailors of the 4th Marine Division hit the black volcanic sand of Iwo Jima. This painting,commissioned specifically byMajGen Arnold Punaro, the commanding general of 4thMarDiv, was unveiled at a commemoration and change of command ceremony on 19August 2000. It is now a permanent part of the Marine Corps Art Collection.
Marines of 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance pack up to move north into Iraq to join the war against the Ba’ath regime.
Found this publication while searching for this issue's lead. Published by Marine Corps Historical Center. Click the button below for the full issue.
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Members,
We are getting our 79th Anniversary Commemoration into shape. I hope lots of you come join us aboard Camp Pendleton, California in late January to see how winter should be. January 29-31, 2020.

Click the button below to download your Registration Form.

Our next big event is this summer's 73rd Annual Reunion. Set for Washington, D.C., Friday, Aug 14 - Sunday Aug 23, 2020. Details to come.

You can keep current on the Association events at our website:

June is still at home recovering. She says she is feeling stronger every day and is grateful for all the prayers, love, and support you have shown. She wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your families.

And, Happy Thanksgiving from me to you all. We have a lot to be thankful for. Enjoy the holiday, and keep safe.


Semper Fi, 

Jerry Johs


DJC
From Military.com
The Corps has its first-ever female reconnaissance Marine.
Marines and sailors in the Basic Reconnaissance Course practice their helocasting skills at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado and in San Diego Bay on Nov. 6, 2013. The 12-week training evolution provides the students with the basic knowledge of reconnaissance doctrine, concepts and techniques with emphasis on amphibious entry, extraction, beach reconnaissance, Combat Rubber Reconnaissance Craft (CRRC) operator skills and ground reconnaissance patrolling skills. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl Orrin Farmer)
22 Nov 2019
Military.com | By Gina Harkins

The Corps has its first-ever female reconnaissance Marine.
Lance Cpl. Alexa Barth completed the Basic Reconnaissance Course on Nov. 7, Marine officials confirmed. She's the first woman to apply to and complete the course, said Teresa Ovalle, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps' Training and Education Command.

Between 25% and 40% of Marines who attempt the 55-day course don't complete it, Ovalle said, adding that no other women have applied to take the course since Barth completed it.

Marine Corps Times reported Thursday that Barth completed the physically and mentally demanding course.

She is expected to join the California-based 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in late spring or early summer, said Maj. Kendra Motz, a 1st Marine Division spokeswoman. The recon Marine has several more months of training to complete before being assigned to the unit.

The Basic Reconnaissance Course trains students in the basic skills needed to qualify for the 0321 military occupational specialty. That includes amphibious recon operations, ground patrolling and surveillance, land navigation and supporting arms, according to a course description.

All Marines who apply to complete Basic Reconnaissance Course must first complete a tough primer course that predominantly focuses on aquatics conditioning, Ovalle said. More than half of Marines who attempt that course typically don't finish it.
In fiscal 2019, which ran from Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019, Ovalle said 695 Marines began the primer, called Reconnaissance Training and Assessment Program. Just 309 of them went onto start the Basic Reconnaissance Course.
Ovalle said all of the course events and requirements remained the same when Barth completed it.

"There were absolutely no changes to standards," she said.
Recon Marines conduct land or air insertions to gather intelligence, perform surveillance, or carry out small-unit raids, among other missions, in support of conventional operations. It's a demanding job, and the Corps typically offers Marines steep re-enlistment bonuses if they stay in the field.

In 2016, Marine officials announced that the 0321 MOS name would change to become gender-neutral, once recon and other combat fields opened to women. The reconnaissance man MOS was renamed reconnaissance Marine.

It was one of dozens of MOS titles that included the word "man" to be rebranded.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
Members
A belated Happy Birthday, Marines, and a current Happy Thanksgiving to all.
I sent this picture to June for FMDA Newsletter-USMC Birthday Salute from my dialysis center! Happy Birthday Marines.

Semper Fidelus
 
Mickey Christiason

FMDA Assoc Member
Marine Corps League 
Detachment 0022
Outreach Ambassador
Operation Santa
14 December, Long Beach, California
From: BILL SANDLIN <billsandlin@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2019, 04:04:42 PM PST
Subject: Long Beach VA's Operation Santa

Three of us attended the Operation Santa meeting at the Long Beach VA a couple weeks ago. I attended another meeting at the VA a few days ago to get an update on Operation Santa. Sorry, I am a little late getting this out to you.

The Operation Santa event will be December 14th . This is for the veteran families that would not have Christmas if it wasn’t for this help from other veterans. The event will have food, games, music, toys, face painting, and Santa and elves.

Contact Ellis if you would like to sponsor a family or want to become more involved with this event. You are welcome to come to the party if you are sponsoring a family. They need donations for toys and could use someone to pass out hot chocolate to the families. Let Ellis know if you can help or have some other ideas. I will be taking pictures.

Bill Sandlin
**************
Good morning Everyone,
 If you haven’t reached out to the family you have adopted, please do so. Please reach out to the family and let them know that you received their information from the VA stating that the social worker requested them to be a part of Operation Santa and that you are their sponsor. Go over what is on the form and clarify any questions or concerns, ensure what they are asking for is correct and if it the item is to high dollar, ask for a second gift request, as you are only allowed to spend a certain amount of money. 

Also relay to them, that they will receive another invitation to our event on Dec 14 th.

Ellis McClure,  B.S HCM, MPA
Service Specialist, Voluntary Services
Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center
5901 E. 7 th  Street
Long Beach, CA 90822
Office: (562) 826-8000 Ext. 4672
Chapters
Happy Birthday from the Alamo
Monthly Meeting & Cake Cutting
Guest of honor David Straus WWII Korea
Oldest Marine Bruce Warren
Youngest Marine Orlando Garza
The news from Central Florida:
See the World
8—20 Feb 2020 50th Anniversary of Operations in I-Corps: Operation Texas Star 1970 & the Tet Offensive & Battle of Hue City, Chu Lai – Da Nang – Hoi An – Con Thien - Quang Tri - Dong Ha - Rt 9

25 Apr—8 May 2020 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War —1970 “Delta to the DMZ” & Mili-tary & Helicopter Operations in I-II-III & IV Corps War Zone C – An Loc – Tay Ninh – Bien Hoa – An Khe – Pleiku – Qui Nhon

26 Aug — 7 Sep 2020 50th Anniversary of the Vi-etnam War —1970 “Chu Lai to the DMZ” I-Corps & Op-eration Jefferson Glenn
Football
Bring your family to the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
4 January 2020, Fort Worth, Texas
‌
KA-BAR/EK
The Association receives 6% of each sale of the KA-BAR/EK
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.
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
CAPT TERRY STRASSBURG, Sponsors: Bill Purcell / Paul Garcia
Taps
We are again updating the database from Social Security records.

HM2 ROBERT D. ADAMS, 27 Oct 2016
MRS SHIRLEY J. ADAMS, 4 Jul 2019
GYSGT HENRY L. ADCOCK, 20 Jan 2010
LCPL VICTOR L. AGPALO USMC, 21 Aug 2016
SGT CLAYTON E. BENNETT, 4 May 2019
MRS HILDA BENNETT, 25 Dec 2012
MRS MARIE BENNETT, 26 Mar 2014
PFC ROD T. BENNETT, 23 Dec 2017
SSGT GERALD L. BENOIT, 19 Sep 2015
LCPL CHRISTOPHER E. BENSON, Sep 2019
MSGT KENNETH R. BENSON USMC(RET), 23 Mar 2012
EDWARD J. BENSTED, 8 May 2008
SSGT JOHN A. BERCICH, 29 Mar 2003
SGT JOSEPH C. BERGAN, 11 Jan 2006
COL SPENCER S. BERGER USMC(RET), 6 Jul 2007
SGT BERNARD R. BERIAU, 20 Feb 2013
RDMN 3D CLS PAUL BENJAMIN BERKE, 23 Aug 2014
SGT RUBIN BERMAN, 11 Dec 2009
SGT RICHARD E. BERNARD, 27 Feb 2009
CPL JOSEPH A. BERNARDO, 7 Mar 2019
PFC MICHAEL BERNARDO, 23 Nov 2014
HAROLD D. BERNATH, 14 Aug 2018
SGT LEE J. BERNDT, 14 Dec 2012
SGT ALFRED C. BEROT, 7 Aug 2017
TED W. BESSER, 8 Feb 2009
GYSGT WILLIAM A. BETTIS III, 24 Feb 2015
HOLLY W. BEYER, 7 Sep 2019
CWO3 NEAL S. BEZOENIK, 21 Aug 2013
SGT I. PAUL BHAME, 15 Aug 2015
ROBERT A. BIANCHI, 8 Apr 2013
LTCOL DON BICKEL, 5 Mar 2019
ROY E. BIDDLE
FREDRICK W. BIEBERICH, 8 Apr 2019
SSGT LAWRENCE R. BIELICKE, 7 Jul 2012
SGT RICHARD B. BIGELOW, 11 May 2016
CPL JIM E. BIGGINS, 2 Oct 2013
SSGT BILLIE C. BIGGS SR, 31 May 2001
PFC W. E. BILNEY, 24 Nov 2001
SN NOEL J. BINDER, 19 Jul 2010
COL CARLETON D. BINGHAM, 11 Jul 2015
SGT PETER J. BINGHEIMER USMC(RET), 4 Mar 2008
SSGT CLAUDE D. BIRKHEAD, 18 Oct 2007
PFC WILLIAM R. BISSELL
PFC JAMES R. BISSONNETTE, 21 Feb 2000
CAPT EDWARD C. BITNER, 6 Aug 2019
SSGT HARRY M. BLACK, 14 Sep 2012
LCPL RON G. BLACKBURN, 2 Aug 2016
CPL WALTER C. BLADSTROM, 4 Jun 2019
PFC DARWIN J. BLAINE, 17 Jun 2012
CPL MATTHEW B. BLALOCK, 12 Dec 2012
SSGT ALVIN J. BLANKEN, 6 May 2017
CPL JOHN A. BLAZER, 20 Mar 2018
SGT GARY J. BLEEK, 3 Jan 2015
SGT BUD R. BLISS, 30 Dec 2011
MR. CHARLEY O. BLISSIT , 15 May 2017
SGT GEORGE M. BLOOMFIELD, 21 Dec 2012
CPL DALE A. BLUM, 6 Jul 2019
CAPT RICHARD G. BLUM, 1 Nov 2016
QMS1 FRANK JOSEPH BOBER, 11 Sep 2019
CAPT A. JEFF BODENWEISER USMC(RET), 25 Sep 2009
DAVID S. BODINE, 4 Jul 2016
CPL VAL HEITUR, 3 Oct 2019
Challenge Coin
Association's Challenge Coins Available
From: Steve "Doc" Lakernick

These Challenge Coins commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tet 1968 are available to members. The price is $5 per coin, plus shipping.
 
Headquarters Office (760) 763-3268
President Jerry Johs Email: geronamo0122@gmail.com
Please visit our website: www.firstmardivassoc.com

First Marine Division Association
P.O. Box 9000, Box # 902
Oceanside CA 92051

(760) 763-3268