NJ 206OFFICERS

2016 ~ 2017

William Freeman* Commandant

Thomas Miller*Senior Vice

Commandant

AnthonyFiorentino* Junior Vice

Commandant

Bob Stalzer* Judge Advocate

James Loizides Adjutant/Paymaster

Dan DanziChaplain

AnthonyOszmianski

Sergeant at Arms

Artie WilliamsQuartermaster

* = DetachmentTrustees

Welcome To Your OnLine Newsletter - Oct 2017 Volume #5 Issue 10

Links: Slattery Detachment 206 ~ Marines Care Foundation ~ Legacy of a Hero ~ Dept NJ MCL ~ MCL National This newsletter is interactive while online, highlighted links work & sometimes open a new screen. You can print each page separatelyor all, the page number is at top right of page. Officers & members wishing to post in the newsletter, please send info to Pete Gallo.

Feel free to forward this newsletter & web site. Editors: Don Patterson ~ Pete Gallo

Starts This Month

www.marinescare.org

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery Marine Corps League, Detachment #206

Marines Care Foundation, Inc.,In Memory of L/CPL Chris Cosgrove, III

Whippany, New Jersey P.O. Box 566, West Caldwell, NJ 07007-0566 www.mclslatterydet.org

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #1

2017 ScheduleDetachment Monthly Meetings

1st Wednesday of the month - starts 1930 ***UPSTAIRS HALL*** at Post #155 American Legion Home13-23 Legion Place Whippany 07981 phone# 973- 884- 2494

Oct 4th - Installation of Officers - 1930 Legion home, Whippany, "yes at 1930" food served.

Oct 28th - 10 am-4 - Marine Rose Outing at Shop Route 206, Chester.

Oct 28th - (5:30 PM) Mass - Marine Rose Outing Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Verona

Oct 29th - 0730, 0900, 1030, 1200: Masses - Marine Rose Outing Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church,Verona

Nov 1st - meeting - 1930, Nominations for Detachment Marine of the Year - Legion home Whippany

Nov 4th - 2017 MARINE CORPS 242nd BIRTHDAY

Nov 4th - 12 noon, Save this Date for cake cutting ceremony celebrating the 242nd Marine Corps Birthday!! Location: Governor's Mansion, Drumwacket, more details to follow.

Nov 11th - Veterans day ceremony - 1100 meet at Legion Home Whippany at 1030

Dec 6th - meeting - 1930, Legion home Whippany

Dec 7th - 2000 Pearl Harbor day ceremony, Legion Home Whippany

Chucky Blazures Lunch Bunch Skuttlebutt!

19 Oct 1 Billy's Red Room Parsippany Rd, Whippany NJ

16 Nov Charlotte" Web West Clinton Street Dover NJ

21 Dec Black Horse Pub Rt 24 Mendham NJ

Department Meeting dates

Mark your calendars for the following Department Meeting dates at the Marine Reserve Center in Red Bank.

Sunday November 19, 2017 MODD Growl at 1000 and Full General meeting at 1200

Sunday January 14, 2018 Sr. Vice Detachment Meeting at 1000 and Full General meeting at 1200

Sunday March 18, 2018 MODD Growl at 1000 and Full General meeting at 1200

Joseph James Lisa

Here is baby Joey and Grandpa. Granpa: adjutant/ paymaster James Loizides Name: Joseph James Lisa Birthdate: 10:34 am, 9.8.17 Length: 19-3/4" Weight: 8.4 lbs

Baby, parents, gramps doing well.

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #2

This Month in USMC History

OCTOBER

1 October 1997: The first African-American female colonel in the Marine Corps was promoted to thatrank during a ceremony at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. Colonel Gilda A. Jackson, a native ofColumbus, Ohio, made Marine Corps history when she achieved the rank of colonel. She was serving asSpecial Projects Officer, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing at the time of her promotion.

5 October 1775: Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 2d Continental Congress used the word"Marines" on one of the earliest known occasions, when it directed General George Washington to securetwo vessels on "Continental risque and pay", and to give orders for the "proper encouragement to theMarines and seamen" to serve on the two armed ships.

6 October 1945: Major General Keller E. Rockey, Commanding General, III Amphibious Corps,accepted the surrender of 50,000 Japanese troops in North China on behalf of the Chinese Nationalistgovernment.

8 October 1899: A force of 375 Marines under command of future Commandant George F. Elliott,attacked and captured the insurgent town of Novaleta, Luzon, Philippine Islands, and linked up with U.S.Army troops. There were 11 Marine casualties.

9 October 1917: The 8th Marines was activated at Quantico, Virginia. Although the regiment would notsee combat in Europe during World War I, the officers and enlisted men of the 8th Marines participated inoperations against dissidents in Haiti for over five years during the 1920s. During World War II, theregiment was assigned to the 2d Marine Division and participated in combat operations on Guadalcanal,Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa, and earned three Presidential Unit Citations.

11 October 1951: A Marine battalion was flown by transport helicopters to a frontline combat position forthe first time, when HMR-161 lifted the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, and its equipment, during OperationBumblebee, northeast of Yanggu, Korea.

19 October 1968: Operation Maui Peak, a combined regimental-sized operation which began on 6October, ended 11 miles northwest of An Hoa, Vietnam. More than 300 enemy were killed in the 13-dayoperation.

23 October 1983: At 0622 an explosive-laden truck slammed into the BLT headquarters building inBeirut, Lebanon, where more than 300 men were billeted. The massive explosion collapsed the building inseconds, and took the lives of 241 Americans--including 220 Marines. This was the highest loss of life in asingle day for Marines since D-Day on Iwo Jima in 1945.

28 October 1962: An 11,000-man 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade left Camp Pendleton by sea for theCaribbean during the Cuban Missile Crisis. One week earlier, the entire 189,000-man Marine Corps hadbeen put on alert and elements of the 1st and 2d Marine Divisions were sent to Guantanamo Bay toreinforce the defenders of the U.S. Naval Base. Other 2d Division units and squadrons from five MarineAircraft Groups were deployed at Key West, Florida, or in Caribbean waters during the Cuban crisis.

31 October 1919: A patrol of Marines and gendarmes, led by Sergeant Herman H. Hanneken, disguisedthemselves as Cacos and entered the headquarters of the Haitian Caco Leader, Charlemagne Peralte,killing the bandit chief, and dispersing his followers. Sergeant Hanneken and Corporal William R. Buttonwere each awarded the Medal of Honor.

The passing of a supporter

Dorothy "Dot" Turrisi passed away on August 30th. She was the mother of Charlene Cosgrove Bowie.Dorothy, for those of you who didn't have the privilege of knowing her, was the lady who oversaw theannual Marines Care "L/Cpl Chris Cosgrove III Golf Outing." The detachments condolences go out toCharlene and Art Bowie. She was a lovely lady.

Reminder of our 241peace keeping heroes who were killed in Beirut on October 23rd 1983

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #3

Welcome to the 2017 Toys for Tots Campaign

Toys for tots coordinator GYST Joseph Clayton.

Our website will be starting Oct 1st 2017. Last year was the best yearwe ever had we gave out over 300,0000 toys in the 7 northern countiesof New Jersey.

Thank you to all the people who donated their time, effort, contributions and money to help make somekids Christmas a little better we are working out kinks in our system to make this year smoother than lastyear. Our Location.

I&I Staff Golf 2/25 O:973-724-4701 ~ F:973-724-4664 ~ C:206-225-7422

Somerset 2017 15th annual veterans day

Toys for Tots

The mission of the U S Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program is to collect new, unwrapped toysduring October, November and December each year. and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needychildren in the community in which the campaign is conducted.

Newly elected detachment officers for 2017-18 Commandant: Eddie NeasSenior Vice Commandant: Norman NuttJunior Vice Commandant: John AndrewsPaymaster Adjutant: Jim LoizidesJudge Advocate: Bob Stalzer

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #4

The Utter Incident By late April, General Westmoreland had restricted authorization of the use of tear gas to only himself. Given the political outcry in March,and while the President had not banned its use, Westmoreland could read the prevailing winds.

The formal shutdown came during a July 1965 inspection trip to South Vietnam by Secretary McNamara, who ordered Westmoreland notto use tear gas on any more operations. General Westmoreland acquiesced, and MACV informed all the command elements of the newpolicy.

On Sept. 5th, 1965 the 2/7 Marines were engaged in a clearing operation against the VC. As the search and clear moved forward severalhundred civilians were spotted moving into caves along with some Viet Cong.

The battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Leon N. Utter, clearly remembers the operation:

"My battalion was spread out over an area just to the north and east of Qui Nhon city. We received a message from an Army SpecialForces team overlooking an area near the city that they could see a series of shelters, what I would call similar to fruit cellars, that wereholding VC.

Unfortunately, the VC were pulling in civilians behind them to act as human shields. My S-3 turned to me and said that he had a solution,that we had been issued a series of tear gas grenades with our ammunition. I decided to allow the company in contact to use the grenadesto clear out the VC. This worked extremely well, and captured 21 VC and almost 400 civilians without any casualties to my Marines or tothe civilians."

Traveling with Utter was an AP correspondent named Rick Merron. Merron was aware of the ban on tear gas use, which Utter wasn't,although he had arrived in country in late June/early July. Merron asked Utter on whose authority he used the tear gas. Utter immediatelyreplied it was his own decision.

Merron filed the story, and the controversy was instantly rekindled. Once again it appeared that the military was cavalierly using gas as aweapon, and the communist press jumped into the fray with the usual accusations. Responding to the outcry,

Westmoreland directed an investigation of the incident, and sent a JAG Lieutenant Colonel to investigate Utter's communications logs tosee if he had ever been informed of the "no tear gas use policy.”

The JAG officer found no such message, and Westmoreland moved quickly to clear Utter of any wrongdoing.

Utter's seizure of the VC area while not harming a significant number of civilians was precisely the sort of effect the military was seekingwhen it first started testing tear gas as a weapon. The suc-cessful use proved that tear gas, if used in specific tactical situations, couldprovide excellent results. In fact, some press reports were pointing out the humanitarian aspects of the operation.

Within days, Westmoreland decided to use this victory as an example to prod Washington into rescinding the tear gas ban. By comparingother recent Marine missions that had taken significant casualties in a similar environment against this highly effective clearing operation,Westmoreland hoped to starkly illuminate the problem. This time, however, he had an additional lure.

A new procedure had been developed to clear tunnel complexes with the use of a portable air blower and tear gas. Called the "MightyMite," it was a gasoline-powered machine that forced a high-speed column of air into a shaft. It was perfect for tunnels or cave complexes,and was the technological solution to the previous indiscriminate tossing of bags of bulk CS powder and then hoping that the climaticconditions were favorable.

With the "Mighty Mite" and Utter's operation as a backdrop, Westmoreland sent a cable to CINCPAC listing several Marine operationswhere the Marines had taken heavy losses from VC hiding in spider holes and tunnels. In summary he wrote,

"It is my firm belief that substantial military advantages can be gained by employing RCA against tunnels, caves and underground shelters.I am convinced that US and ARVN casualties would be reduced in assaulting these positions. Lastly, I am utterly convinced that the use ofRCA is both militarily and morally preferable to the use of high explosives or flame weapons in circumstances where non-combatants arehabitually encountered.”

And thus we (2/7) became known as “Utter’s Gassers” a title we wore proudly.

A week later, after we finished Operation Stomp, this happened: When we returned to Phu Tai (4) (our battalion command post area) thingsaround the CP were a bit quiet. Behind the scenes things were a bit different. Our Colonel was in a battle for his job as some higher-ups(Marine Corps Generals) were bent on getting rid of him because he authorized the use of gas.

2/7 at the time was under the command of the Army and the Army general in charge of us refused to adhere to the Marine generals'requests but instead told them, “You will have to go through me first.” This put the Marine generals in their place and the incident wasdropped. Later, General Westmoreland would clear Colonel Utter of any wrong doing.

I remember the following time related to that incident involving the generals.

One afternoon we received a radio call that we had an incoming helicopter with important cargo. We (those TACP personnel) brought it inand off stepped several high ranking Marine officers including a general.

He asked the directions to Colonel Utters tent which we pointed to the SE. He wasn’t a very friendly person. We knew why he was thereand after about an hour he returned and we brought the helicopter back for him. I couldn’t resist in jamming him a bit knowing what kind ofmood he was in.

“Is it a beautiful day sir or what?” was my remark to him. He just sneered as he hopped on the helicopter. “Have a nice day sir.” but, I don’tknow if he heard me or not. It felt great to jam a general.

Semper Fi Tom Miller

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #5

SLATTERY DETACHMENT 2017 BIRTHDAY BALL AD BOOK

THE PROCEEDS FROM THE AD BOOK is used to maintain the yearly everyday administrative costs forthe detachment this is our only source of funds to maintain the detachment please take an ad or solicit one from your company, organization, local business, accountant, dentist or the local merchant you deal withthis is your detachment help support it. Get your pdf copy Here. Bill freeman ad book chairman

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #6

A Celebration of Life, Charles F. Bigham

On Saturday 2nd 2017 we did a ceremony for a Marine KIA on Sep 2 1967. We (Mario, Dom, HenryZimmermann, LCpl Mike Magliacane and Mike Szymanski) Mario and Henry are by the flags set. Dom didthe three volley salute with the LCpl Jedh C Barker Detachment # 1211. LCpl Mike Magliacane (did taps).The guy in the vest is the nephew the KIA Marine John Kobell

September 2, 2017 marks the 50th Anniversary of the death of Lance Corporal Charles F. Bigham, USMC.

Charles F. Bigham was born on April 6, 1946 and was a life-long resident of Park Ridge, NJ. Charlieattended Park Ridge High School and had a passion for cars growing up. He graduated from PRHS withthe Class of 1965 and was drafted several months later.

While waiting to board a train in Newark to head to Army boot camp, Charlie volunteered to join the USMarine Corps instead and his destination was changed from Fort Dix to Paris Island. Charlie graduatedfrom USMC boot camp on March 22, 1965 and went on to Amphibious Warfare training in San Diego andthen sent to Vietnam.

Charlie was assigned to the First Armored Amphibian Company, Third Platoon in the Quang Tri Province.Charlie made a positive impact on his fellow Marines and was known for his sense of humor, his gentleway of lightening the mood and was easy to get to know.

On the morning of September 2, 1967, Charlie’s unit had just returned to their base camp at the mouth ofthe Cua Viet River, after being on operations the evening before. The camp came under intense rocketand mortar attack. The bunker that Charlie was in took a direct hit from a 140mm rocket, killing him andone of his fellow Marines and seriously wounding another.

Josephine and John Bigham, Charlie’s parents were notified by the Marine Corps of their son’s death onSeptember 5, 1967. The news was devastating. Charlie’s body returned to home to Spearing FuneralHome on September 19, 1967 and he was laid to rest with military honors on September 21.

His family has never forgotten Charlie’s sacrifice. His memory remains strong and lives on with his familyand his friends 50 years after his death.

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #7

Slattery Comes to the Aid of a Dozen MCL Detachments (Part 1 of 3)

Slattery Detachment NJ206 MCL Comes to the Aid of a Dozen Marine Corps League Detachments Hit byCategory 4 Hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

On August 25th, Hurricane Harvey made landfall near Rockport, (Corpus Christi) Texas. As Harvey’s rainsunfolded, the intensity and scope of the disaster were so enormous that weather forecasters, firstresponders, the victims, everyone really, couldn’t believe their eyes. Now, the data are bearing out whateveryone suspected: This flood event is on an entirely different scale than what we’ve seen before in theUnited States.

It has been has determined that Harvey is a "1-in-1000-year flood" event that has overwhelmed anenormous section of Southeast Texas equivalent in size to New Jersey. Nothing in the historical recordever rivaled this.

In the morning of August 27th, a member of the Slattery Detachment sent out a message that he wasgoing to make a request at the September detachment meeting to go to the aid of Texas detachments thatwere in need of monetary assistance. The return emails to him were all positive.

The Slattery member then started to collect data andfirst hand reports from various Texas detachments inthe effected area. These reports came from differentMCL Texas District 5 detachment commandants, apast state commandant and the current District 5 ViceCommandant.

The list was whittled down to mainly the detachmentsin the worst condition. These detachments weremainly in District #5 (of which 8 detachments areinvolved) and Corpus Christi that is in District #6. Theproposal and in it the list were presented at theSeptember 6th meeting and overwhelmingly approved.

Slatterly's Marines Care Project came through by sending aid checks to five different detachment’scommandants. The detachments include: 1st. Sgt. Joyce Venable Detachment #1382 (Beaumont/PortArthur), Galveston County Detachment #668 (Galveston), Brazoria County Detachment #982, McLemoreDetachment #324 (Houston) and the Corpus Christi detachment.

Continued Next Page

(Part 1 of 3)

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #8

Slattery Comes to the Aid of a Dozen MCL Detachments (Part 2 of 3)

There wasn’t any need of detachment aid in Louisiana. One of the LA commandants said, “They had someproblems but the aid would better be used in Texas.” These are also the feelings of the commandant of theKaty, Texas Sgt James R Tijerina #1295 detachment in Texas, Mark Oldmaxion. He said, “Forget ourdetachment, and concentrate on Houston.” Mark has been a lot of help with the logistics.

So, these happenings show how our detachmentfollows our “Mission of the Marines Care Program.The mission is stated as follows - 'Marines Care willprovide benevolent assistance nationwide towounded military members those on active duty andveterans as well as their families who areexperiencing hardship'.”

This sure qualifies as hardship. Well-done Slattery &Marines Care, now on to Irma.

Two weeks after we were through with Hurricane Harvey and all its research, Hurricane “Irma” arrived.This was the strongest hurricane on record. Right behind it is another hurricane, “Jose´” but, we’ll deal withthat later if it causes trouble.

We were given the “go ahead” to check on the detachments on the eastern seaboard for aid by GunnyMario Monaco, the chairman of Marines Care. But, the eastern wasn’t the only area we would beconcentrating on as the western coast and the Keys would also be hit hard.

Irma made first landfall near Cudjoe´ Key 20 mileswest of Marathon at 9AM. It's powerful eye landed inthe Keys as a Category 4 hurricane swellingwaterways to an estimated 10 to 15 feet in someareas. Conditions were dire in the Middle Keys city ofMarathon. The power was out, there was no runningwater, and everything outside was submerged bystorm surge and rain. The local sheriff said,“Everything was underwater.” It was the mostpowerful storm to strike the Keys in more than a half century. The Keys were devastated with 90% of thehomes damaged or destroyed. Damage to the islands, particularly the lower islands was catastrophic.Every house on the Keys was impacted.

As Irma moved north the second landfall was at Marco Island, attacking it with downpours and wind gustsup to 130 mph. That was enough power to knock down cell towers, damage roofs and uproot trees.

The hurricane's powerful eye wall crossed the Gulf ofMexico island at 3:35 p.m. Sunday as a Category 3hurricane.

Despite taking a direct hit, the island appears to haveescaped some of the major damage feared byofficials. A 10 to 15 foot storm surge that waspredicted did not materialize instead the storm surgewas between 3 and 4 feet. Still bad enough to causeall kinds of problems.

After Marco Island, Irma moved past Naples and up towards Fort Myers bringing floods, loss of power anddestruction. Streets were still flooded five days later.

Continued Next Page (Part 2 of 3)

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - #9

Slattery Comes to the Aid of a Dozen MCL Detachments (Part 3 of 3)

While this was going on the Miami area wasbeing battered by surges that flooded notonly Miami, but also many of those areas onthe Eastern Coast. This was a huge stormwas 400+ miles wide and reached thenorthern most cities. Only the pan-handlewas spared.

Irma then moved up the western side of thestate as it marched north just off the GulfCoast. In doing so, it brought flooding andpower outages statewide before headingnorth and heading into Georgia and other southern states. In the Jacksonville area, the storm surgebrought some of the worst flooding ever seen there.

What Slattery will be doing by the end of the month is sending aid to approximately 8 to 10 differentdetachments commandants from Marathon, Naples and Miami and up north. As of this newsletter printingthere isn’t enough reports to pick the exact detachments because of the statewide poweroutages. Statewide, an estimated 13 million people, or two/thirds of Florida’s population, remained withoutpower on Tuesday.

All in all, over a dozen detachments will have received our help to eliminate some of the problems that thetwo Category 4 hurricanes created. Our aid of over $12,500 to Texas and Florida is given with noexpectations. Our only hope is that they can recover.

Semper Fi Tom Miller

MARINE ROSE DONATION COLLECTION EVENT

MARINE ROSE DONATION COLLECTION EVENT September 10th 2017 at the 9th Annual Corvette andopen car show (L-R) volunteers Bob Stalzer, Tony Fiorentino, Ted Jemas, Ed Moscariello.

Marines Carewww.marinescare.org

Slattery Det206 www.mclslatterydet.org

Dept NJ www.njmcl.org

MCL National www.mclnational.org

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - 10

Lyon's Community Care Center Visit

On Saturday morning, September 23rd, the Slattery Detachment led by Dan Danzi brought a coffee socialand visit to the Lyon's VA Hospital. Approximately 30 patients of the Lyon's Community Care Centerenjoyed buttered or cream cheese hard rolls, donuts, crumb buns, coffee, orange juice and bananasdelivered by Dan and a dozen other members. It was a good time enjoyed by both the residents and themembers.

This event happens about every two months on a Saturday morning and has been going on for 10 yearswith Dan directing the festivities. If you'd like to help out on the next one in November contact Dan Danzi.or be at the Legion at 0900 we car pool from the Legion we depart the Legion at 0930.

Semper Fi, Tom Miller

Sunday September 24th Marine Rose Event

Sunday September 24th Marine Rose Event At The Natural Corvette Glass Association open Car Show 42nd Annual Charitable Event.The spectators donated a total of $233.00. Event chairman Tony Fiorentino Tony thanks all the donors and volunteers for their support

L/CPL Robert J. Slattery, Marine Corps League Det #206, NEWSLETTER, Oct 2017 - 11

Fallen Navy FMF Corpsman, HM1 Thomas A. Parker

There will be a Vietnam veterans war memorial ceremony inHuntington, Indiana on Saturday Nov 11. This will be to honor a fallenNavy FMF Corpsman, HM1 Thomas A. Parker. HM1 Parker was KIAon a medical evacuation mission when the HU1E was destroyed by acommand-detonated mine. His body was not recovered.

A Slattery member, Donald Campbell was a friend of Parkers while inVietnam and served with him there. Corpsman Campbell has designedand created a memorial honoring his friend.

Don got together a committee and they purchased a plaque, to goalong with the monument because they liked what it said about the warand its veterans . It will be mounted on a separate granite stone and itwill be placed in front of the six foot, 13,500 pound Indiana limestonethat the bronze statue will be standing on. There will also be a separateplaque with a short bio about HM 1 Tom Parker.

Another one of our members, Tom Miller, also willhave a friends’ name on the memorial. Bycoincidence, Tom’s friend, Tom Wardrop III, was amember of his Tactical Air Control team in Vietnamand died in 1966. And, Tom was from Huntington.

We’ll have a report from Don in a future newsletterand pictures about the ceremony in November. Wayto go Don! That's watching out for friends.