Memories of the 1940's

Luxurious Living Quarters for Marines - Camp David, 1945

(Item submitted by Bob Sears)

Celebrating the 167th Birthday of the Corps with a dance at the Barracks —
Grouped around the cake are (from left) Pvt. Joseph Moscatello, Jean Mazzei,
Sgt. Edmund Turiello, Mrs. Turiello, Pvt. Howard Mackey, Kaye Betzig,
Pvt. W.O. Hansen, and Mrs. Hansen.

What a Role Reversal!





(submitted by Bud Hansen)















1947 encounter with President Harry S. Truman at Shangri-La
(now called Camp David) and a commendation from 1st Lt. Carroll D. Rowe, USMC,
for his service at Shangri-La.



This picture was taken November 2009 at the home of President Truman (died 12-26-72) in Independence, MO.

(submitted by 8th & I Marine RICHARD DAVIS, 1946-1948, Lutherville, MD)





In '47-'48 I was in the “Barracks Detachment”. My M.O.S. was screwed up for some reason the entire time that I was in the Corps; I was an AA machine gunner, infantryman, and cook. At 8th & Eye (as we called the Barracks), I went on many, many funeral details to Arlington, drilled & paraded on the Barracks field, guarded dignitaries and cooked many meals. At the time the Corps was being downsized and I guess they used us wherever necessary. A cook's duty at this base was heaven compared to Lejeune, and we served visiting athletic teams from other services….so nothing but the very best was on the menu. Another non-military “perk” was that right after the war there must have been 5 gals to every man. Arlington Farms was where many of the female govt. workers lived. We frequently visited !

Bunks were above the galley, & several of my bunkmates were guys that each day left to be models for the Iwo statute. One I remember well was “Chief”. He was native indian, of course, & he bunked alongside me as I remember. I ran into him fairly recently, last 5-10 years, that is, at one of the semi-meetings at 8th & I. Believe it or not after all these years I remembered him. He had retired as a Gunny as I recall\, & was living in the D.C. area.

(submitted by 8th & I Marine Bev Jordan, 8th & I, Barracks Detachment, 1947-1948, Lynchburg, VA)





8th & I Marine Norm Hatch's Mid-1940's Memories Of
The Efforts To Abolish The U.S. Marine Corps

6-23-13 ... John, Bob King (8th & I, 1961-1964, retired colonel) always writes very well about our Corps. I read the talk that Gen. Vandegrift was going to present to Congress before he did so and thought it an excellent but somewhat long piece for the members of the committees he had to go through. There were three of them. The House and Senate and the special Consolidation Committee that President Truman created. The President thought that it would be a good idea to consolidate the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines into one organization. If you have heard of the "purple suit" that was a joke bandied around because we would all be wearing the same uniform!

That must have been the case because Lt. Col. Victor Krulak came to my office , in HQ at the Naval Annex, and said that the General that morning told him he was concerned that he was losing the Corps and asked the Brute if he had any ideas. Well, Lt. Col. Krulak asked me if we could make a film of the efforts we extended through the Pacific War. I said yes we had all of the film over at the Navy Photographic Lab, in Anacostia and all I would need was some money and a script. They had complete production capabilities so it would be a simple job. He came back in two weeks, after collaborating with the Chowder Society, the organization of senior officers of the Corps that had been gathered to prepare the CMC's talking papers at Quantico, with the script and funds. So within a month we had our film, "Bombs over Tokyo."

Lt. Col. Krulak, with several enlisted men, carried that film, projector and folding screen to all the important offices on the hill, the White House and our important friends in the business community in Washington. After about thirty-five days he came to my office and said that the heads of the three committees had told him that the film had been instrumental in them keeping the Corps in perpetual existence and controlled by congress only. This was made into law in 1951. Now we are fighting the same battle over again. A film saved us once and I am sure it could do it again. Can you imagine how a 24 year old Warrant Photographic Officer felt that he and all of the other combat photographers had helped save the Corps?

8th & I Marine Norman T. "Mustang" Hatch, MCI Company, 1939-1941, Major, USMCR (Ret), Alexandria, VA

NOTE: Major Hatch is a WWll, Academy Award winning combat cinematographer and we honor him on our website's Hall Of Valor,

...................

6-22-13 ... Hello John:

Subject speech (General Vandegrift, 1946) is attached and I hope that you will want to read it and publish it to your list, as we are once again experiencing a recurrent effort to abolish or marginalize the Marine Corps. As you will see, despite all the changes that have occurred since 1946, the themes and arguments remain very much the same. Every Marine should know this territory like the back of his hand, and it should infuse his thinking at every level.

Gen Vandegrift was fighting the fashionable argument in 1946 that amphibious warfare was no longer feasible in the nuclear age, nor was it deemed essential to the nation's preservation. Although the fashions of thought about the future of warfare have changed repeatedly since 1946, aggressive moves to abolish the Marine Corps have been recurrent, most notably in the 1970s and again today.

As to the value of "fashions" in thought about the future of warfare, consider that just four years after General Vandegrift's speech, a Marine brigade was all that saved the "last stand" in the Pusan Perimeter from quick annihilation in Korea, and this was quickly followed by the stunning amphibious master stroke at Inchon, which ranks as one of the most famous and decisive battles of history. A pretty convincing commentary about the relevance of amphibious warfare in the nuclear age. Although the current fashion is to focus on fighting terrorists and "cyber warfare," there is no good reason whatsoever to believe that we will never again have to fight or deter an enemy country that has formidable ground, naval, and air forces to deploy against us and challenge our vital national interests. Just as one small example of this, consider the inestimable value of our amphibious capability based on Okinawa in the equation vis-a-vis North Korea. Whether it's just deterrence or comes to war, the ability to repeat an Inchon-like stroke against the rear of an advancing North Korean army weighs very heavily in the balance there. More, I would say, than our nuclear capability, given that our will to use it is in such doubt.

Semper Fi,
8th & I Marine Col. Robert King, MCI Company & Ceremonial Guard Company
1961-1964; Retired From The Corps In 1979, Madison, NH

General Alexander A. Vandegrift's 1946 speech to Congress





11-10-17 .... Marine Corps Birthday Ball, Watertown, WI, Marine Corps League



Pictured: Front Row, L To R ... Fred Cornelius, MCI Co., 1946-1948 & Gary Stueber, 8th & I, 1970's

Back Row, L To R ... Nick Grabske (Fred's neighbor) & Lee Buescher (Fred's neighbor)

Submitted by Al Pasquale, USMC 1954-1962, Associate Member of the 8th & I Reunion Association, Norristown, PA





11-22-17 ... 8TH & I MARINE FRED CORNELIUS, MCI COMPANY, 1946-1948, WATERTOWN, WI,
HOLDING 8TH & I REUNION SHIRT THAT WAS GIVEN TO HIM BY AL PASQUALE, USMC, 1954-1962



Submitted by Al Pasquale, USMC 1954-1962, Associate Member of the 8th & I Reunion Association, Norristown, PA





1-10-19 ... LEON BUESCHER'S MEMORIES OF 8TH & I MARINE FRED CORNELIUS, MCI COMPANY, 1946 - 1948 (DIED 6-28-18)

It's been just over 6 months since Fred's passing and I'm sure he is enjoying his rack in Heaven Detachment. I miss stopping to gab about his time in the Marine Corps. He enjoyed your stories and it brought back good memories. His kids put his house up for sale and there may be a buyer but it's always going to be Fred's place to me. I can just see his house a half- mile down our road.

I may have already passed on this story but here goes again - I was driving my Jeep into to teach my late afternoon microbiology class to future nurses. I drove by Fred's house just to glance and kept going. He's got 2 acres surround by farmers fields. As I drove down toward the next farm house I saw something large in the ditch. As I approached, I realized it was a person lying down in the ditch. As I slowed down, I rolled down the passenger window and here it was Fred. I waved at him and yelled “hi Fred” and then slowly moved forward, then came to a dead stop. Here was our dear Fred lying on his back with his cane in hand. He looked like a turtle on it's back. I yelled at him “what the hell are you doing that far from home in this ditch”. He looked up at me and said he wanted to do his part cleaning up all the bottles and cans along the road side. I rolled him over, got him upright and put him in the Jeep, no easy job because it a big step. We sat there a few minutes catching our breath and started laughing. I reminded him that our road doesn't have a lot of traffic and I don't always take that road to town. I said “Fred, you could have spent the night out here”, we laughed again.

This is a photo of the Marine Honor Guard that presented an American flag to the family.



As the Marines folded the flag, a detachment from theWatertown American Legion had a bugler play Taps and fired a 3 gun salute for Duty, Honor and Country.

He and I told that story about falling in the ditch over and over. I miss him a lot and feel honored to have spent the last 16 years hanging out together at church, breakfast and at his house.

Submitted by Lee Buescher, 8th & I Marine Fred Cornelius' former neighbor





5-19-18 .... Howard Fulton Bell was assigned to 8th & I, London Embassy Detachment, 1940 - 1941 (refer to the diagram in his letter).
Sadly, he passed away on 8 October 2014 at the age of 97. 4 May 2009, he wrote a fascinating letter about his 8th & I / USMC experience
and sent it to 8th & I Marine John T. Reim (click on the below link to read that letter). According to his Obituary , Howard served in the Pacific during WWll
and received a Purple Heart. Rest in peace, Howard! Well done, Marine!











Submitted by John T. Reim, Ceremonial Guard Company, Silent Drill Platoon, 1958-1961, Franklinville, NJ