presents
Carolina Museum of the Marine and Civic Institute
"The Draft" Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 5 May 2021
Carolina Museum of the Marine and Civic Institute

We understand the importance of preserving the legacy of Carolina Marines and Sailors and are excited to enhance that mission with The Civic Institute - an educational component founded by General Al Gray, 29th Commandant - that will teach citizens of all ages about the ideals that are the foundation of our nation as so ably demonstrated by Marines since 1775. Courses will be offered on location at schools and businesses, online and - when the museum is completed - onsite.
Honoring the legacy, sustaining the ideals,
keeping the flame burning brightly
for future generations.
Photo from Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society - Facebook Timeline

Successful Civilian Leaders
who served as Marines

Baldemar Huerta
aka

Freddy Fender
1937 - 2006
Freddy Fender was born Baldemar Huerta in 1937 in San Benito, TX. Inspired by the 1949 John Wayne movie “Sands of Iwo Jima,” Fender lied about his age joining the Marines at the age of 16 He served from 1954 to 1956. He had dropped out of school in the eighth grade.

After his discharge, he started playing Texas honky tonks and dance halls. Two of his first records, Spanish versions of Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel" and Harry Belafonte's "Jamaica Farewell" on Falcon Records went to Number One in Mexico and South America in 1957. In 1959, Hollywood called him -- not to act but to sign to Imperial Records, the label of such greats as Fats Domino. In hopes of reaching the gringo audience, he changed his name, taking Fender from the headstock of his Electric guitar, and picking Freddy simply because it was alliterative. (TogetherWeServed.com) At the same time, Fender was getting a first-hand education in the blues. His parents were migrant workers and he traveled with them during the picking season. Many of his fellow workers were black, and some of them, Fender remembers, were good enough singers and musicians to have been professionals. The blues music he heard in the fields would become an integral part of his own unique style.
 
"Before The Next Teardrop Falls" was certified gold for sales of one million units by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song also won the Single of the Year award from the Country Music Association in 1975, and was conducive to his also winning that year's Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year awards. His next three singles, "Secret Love", "You'll Lose a Good Thing", and a remake of "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights", all reached number one on the Billboard Country charts. Between 1975 and 1983 Fender charted 21 country hits, including "Since I Met You Baby", "Vaya con Dios", "Livin' It Down", and "The Rains Came". "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" became Fender's second million-selling single, with the gold disc presentation taking place in September 1975.

Fender also was successful on the pop charts. Besides "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" reaching number one on the pop charts in May 1975, "Wasted Days And Wasted Nights" went into the pop top 10 and "Secret Love" into the top 20. "Since I Met You Baby," "You'll Lose A Good Thing" (his last pop top 40), "Vaya con Dios," and "Livin' It Down" (his last to reach the pop top 100) all did well on the pop charts.

Fender was nominated for six Grammy Awards, winning three, one for his final studio recording, a collection of classic Mexican boleros titled La Música de Baldemar Huerta in the category of Latin Pop Album. Rose Reyes, who worked with Fender in 2004 for a Texas Folklife and Austin tribute titled "Fifty Years of Freddy Fender," said of the album: "When he did Mexican standards at that point in his career, I expected it to be good because he's a perfectionist. But that record is so beautifully recorded; his voice is perfection. I was so proud it was coming back to his roots." (Wikipedia).
How Much Do you Know
about the Fourth Amendment?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
FEATURED ARTIFACT

Trench Art from the Collection
 CWO5 Lisa Potts, USMC (Ret) 

Silver bracelet from the personal effects of PFC Michael Joseph Sihelnik, features a heart, an Eagle, Globe and Anchor (EGA), and the words Guadalcanal, Mom, Dad, USMC and his name Michael J Sihelnik.
 
PFC Sihelnik was born November 23, 1922 in Johnstown, Cambria County, Pennsylvania the son of John and Lucy Sihelnik. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps on September 14, 1942 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
He was wounded in action in the battle of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, while serving with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine, 3rd Marine Division. He subsequently died of his wounds on December 9, 1943 at US Naval Hospital #8 on Guadalcanal. On March 4, 1948, he was interred in the Gettysburg National Cemetery, section 2, site #347, Memorial ID 50693189.
May

Important Dates
in U.S. History
May 5, 1865 - Decoration Day was first observed in the U.S., with the tradition of decorating soldiers' graves from the Civil War with flowers. The observance date was later moved to May 30th and included American graves from World War I and World War II, and became better known as Memorial Day. In 1971, Congress moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May, thus creating a three-day holiday weekend.

May 5, 1961 - Alan Shepard became the first American in space. He piloted the spacecraft Freedom 7 during a 15-minute 28-second suborbital flight that reached an altitude of 116 miles (186 kilometers) above the earth. Shepard’s success occurred 23 days after the Russians had launched the first-ever human in space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, during an era of intense technological competition between the Russians and Americans called the Space Race.

May 7, 1992 - The 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, prohibiting Congress from giving itself pay raises. (This may be on a future quiz! Study hard!)

May 9, 1862 - During the American Civil War, General David Hunter, Union commander of the Department of the South, issued orders freeing the slaves in South Carolina, Florida and Georgia. He did so without congressional or presidential approval. The orders were countermanded by President Abraham Lincoln ten days later.

May 14, 1607 - The first permanent English settlement in America was established at Jamestown, Virginia, by a group of royally chartered Virginia Company settlers from Plymouth, England.

May 14, 1942 - During World War II, an Act of Congress allowed women to enlist for noncombat duties in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), the Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), and Semper Paratus Always Ready Service (SPARS), the Women's Reserve of the Marine Corp.
May 17, 1792 - Two dozen merchants and brokers established the New York Stock Exchange. In good weather they operated under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street. In bad weather they moved inside to a coffeehouse to conduct business.

May 17, 1954 - In Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that segregation of public schools "solely on the basis of race" denies black children "equal educational opportunity" even though "physical facilities and other 'tangible' factors may have been equal. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Thurgood Marshall had argued the case before the Court. He went to become the first African American appointed to the Supreme Court.

May 18, 1998 - In one of the biggest antitrust lawsuits of the 20th century, American software giant Microsoft Corporation was sued by the U.S. Federal government and 20 state governments charging the company with using unfair tactics to crush competition and restrict choices for consumers. The lawsuits alleged Microsoft used illegal practices to deny personal computer owners the benefits of a free and competitive market and also alleged Microsoft extended its monopoly on operating systems to "develop a chokehold" on the Internet browser software market.

April 11, 1968 - The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law prohibited discrimination in housing, protected civil rights workers and expanded the rights of Native Americans.

May 24, 1844 - Telegraph inventor Samuel Morse sent the first official telegraph message, "What hath God wrought?" from the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to Baltimore.

May 25, 1787 - The Constitutional Convention began in Philadelphia with delegates from seven states forming a quorum.

May 29, 1787 - At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia the Virginia Plan was proposed calling for a new government consisting of a legislature with two houses, an executive chosen by the legislature and a judicial branch.

May 30, 1783 - The Pennsylvania Evening Post became the first daily newspaper published in America.
The History Place
Early telegraph, Magnet Academy
Two shotgun starts - same day!

0800 or 1300.

Lunch provided by Golden Corral.

Want more information on the 11th Annual Golf Classic? Contact SgtMaj Joe Houle, USMC (Ret).
Click on the Eagle, Globe and Anchor (above )
for our project update.

2020-2021 Board of Directors

Executive Committee
BGen Dick Vercauteren, USMC (Ret) - Chairman
Mr. Mark Cramer, JD - Vice Chairman
CAPT Pat Alford, USN (Ret) - Treasurer
Col Joe Atkins, USAF (Ret) - Secretary
Col John B. Sollis, USMC (Ret) - Immediate Past Chairman
General Al Gray, USMC (Ret), 29th Commandant - At-Large Member
LtGen Gary S. McKissock, USMC (Ret) - At-Large Member

Members
Mr. Terry Branton
Mr. Tom DeSanctis
MyGySgt Osceola Elliss, USMC (Ret)
Col Chuck Geiger, USMC (Ret)
Col Bruce Gombar, USMC (Ret)
LtCol Lynn "Kim" Kimball, USMC (Ret)
CWO4 Richard McIntosh, USMC (Ret)
CWO5 Lisa Potts, USMC (Ret)
Col Grant Sparks, USMC (Ret)
GySgt Forest Spencer, USMC (Ret)