The Founding of the United States Marine Corps 240 Years Ago Today

"Reflect on our history, remember those who have sacrificed and reaffirm your commitment to the strengthening of our Corps."  
-37th Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller 

Those are good words. Semper Fi!

Today marks the 240th anniversary of the founding of the United States Marines.

This is an article by Raoul Lowery Contreras that just appeared in The Hill. 

Here is another that was published in Military Times. 

This video on YouTube is featured on the official web site of the United States Marine Corps. Click here. 

On November 10, 1945 my father and others serving in the USMC were stationed in China. These are pictures he took of the celebrations of the birthday of the Marine Corps on Marco Polo Field in Beijing (referred to in his scrapbook as Peiping). 

In our hearts, we thank your father..." from Beijing Sihai Confucius Academy

This morning's email brought a smile. 

I received a special message from Beijing Sihai Confucius Academy. I was there last month for the 70th year events commemorating the end of World War II in China as a guest of the Chinese government and the Academy.

"In our hearts, we thank your father and all the people who had helped China in the war. We also hope for peace all over the world today and that war stops forever. 

"People should get to know each other and spend sometime together, then understanding, communication, cooperation, happiness, harmony, friendship...all the good things we hope will come."

Dad's Jade Broach Gift from China

At my Greenwich Library lecture on Sunday my eldest sister brought with her a most-prized she received long ago. It was this Jade broach necklace her brought back from China in the mid-1940s:

I must confess that I am not very knowledgable of Chinese charms and symbolism, at least not to the extent of ascertaining the meaning of this broach.

Jadeite is also known as imperial jade in China. Those who know more about such things told me that Jade has been available in China four thousands of years. 

What symbol is featured here? It certainly appears to be a bird. But what kind? I'm not at all certain. I suspect that it might be a heron or an egret which represent a "path" or a "way." 

Lecture Announcement: Jeffrey Bingham Mead to Speak at Greenwich Library, Connecticut

Just before former Greenwich CT resident Herbert Bingham Mead passed away on his 86th birthday in 2010, he asked his son Jeffrey Bingham Mead to research and publish a book about the time he served in postwar Beijing and Tianjin with the 1st U.S. Marine Division. 

With pictures and stories his father left behind, Mead has been researching those post-World War II chaotic, tense times. His history blog, My Dad the U.S. China Marine, has attracted the attention and interest of other China Marine descendants and others interested.

As a result of his interest and work, the Chinese government extended an official invitation to Jeffrey Bingham Mead to attend the September 3 Victory Day commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the surrender of the Empire of Japan in 1945. He represented his late father and the 'U.S. China Marines.'

With other invited dignitaries including the renowned Flying Tigers, Doolittle Raiders and others from around the world, Mead attended the military parade in central Beijing, the luncheon and speech by President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People, and the evening gala at the Great Hall broadcast live on CCTV in China.

He was also a guest of Beijing Sihai Confucius Academy.

Mr. Mead will be speaking on his experiences in Beijing, various
commemoration events and showing photos from those events. 

Mead is a native and descendant of the founders of Greenwich,
Connecticut. He earned his B.A. in Communications from Pace
University, and continued his Master’s studies in Education at
Manhattanville College. Mead is a former trustee of the Greenwich
Historical Society, an author, educator and historian, the co-founder
and president of History Education Hawaii, the official council of the National Council for History Education, a former instructor at Hawaii Tokai International College and the Honda International Center of Kapiolani Community College in Honolulu. Mead is the president of The Pacific Learning Consortium, Inc. He makes his home in Greenwich, CT and Honolulu, HI.

Location: 
Greenwich Library, Second-floor Meeting Room, 101 West
Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830.

Date/Time: 
Sunday, October 11, 2015, starting 1:30 p.m.

Admission: 
Free. Limited seating. Advanced registration/rsvp
requested. 

Call 808-721-0306 or email JeffreyBinghamMead@gmail.com.

Note: This event is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Greenwich Library.