FORWARDING AND ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED TO: ONCE A MARINE ALWAYS A MARINE Please send your dues in when you receive the notice from National. Our dues are $40.00 a year. Send this amount with your renewal form to: Detachment Paymaster P.O. Box One Ballwin, MO 63022 This newsletter and previous issues can be obtained from the new Detachment Website. http://www.pvtgeophillips.org/ Please contact the Editor to receive future issues electronically. As a suggestion, anyone wishing to provide material should try to have it to the editor no later than the fourth Friday of previous month. (This doesn t mean don t t is a submit anything at all if you need more time, instead please contact the editor.) If sent via email, please note that newsletter submission should appear the subject line. Next Meeting will be October 17, 2017 @ 1930
Commandant: Gerald Gerling 636-271-3778 Sr. Vice-Commandant: Elliot Glassman 314-434-4868 Jr. Vice-Commandant: Ed Rau 636-978-3522 Adjutant/Paymaster: Dennis Simpson 636-230-5976 Judge Advocate: Joseph Gentile 314-488-9440 Sgt at Arms: Vacant Chaplain: Larry Schwartz 314-780-3710 Benevolence: John (Jack) Bickerton 314-304-4360 Web Sgt: Brad McNeil 636-225-2866 October 2017 Volume XIII Issue 10 Email PvtGeoPhillips@gmail.com Detachment Webpage http://www.pvtgeophillips.org/ bmcneil@sbcglobal.net Mail: Pvt George Phillips Detachment Marine Corps League P.O. Box #1 Ballwin, MO 63022 Meeting Location: 225 Old Sulphur Springs Road Ballwin, MO 63021-5356 Trustee 3Yr: JamesGrgurich 314-852-9511 Trustee 2Yr: Mike Cicchese 636-208-4676 Trustee 1Yr: Hugh Smith 636-536-7040 Jr. Past Commandant Dennis Simpson 636-230-5976 Public Information Officer: Hugh Smith 636-536-7040 Ways & Means: Elliot Glassman 314-434-4868 Quartermaster: Don Aird 636-529-1067 Eagle Scout Liaison: John Chris Ketcherside 636-517-1447 Editor/Historian: Carl E. Ramsey 314-304-7915 Meetings 3 rd Tuesday of Every Month 1930 7:30 PM Detachment Membership as of 30 September 2017 105 Meetings 3 rd Tuesday of Every Month 1915 7:15 PM
Commandant s Message. Reminder, your dues are past due as of September 1, 2017. [See Page 6] Collections are set for November. November 3& 4 Sam s Crestwood November 10 & 11 Sam s Des Peres & Shop N Save Ballwin November 18 is pending for Dierbergs, at Heritage Place. November 14 is our detachment Marine Corps Birthday Celebration at American Legion Post 208 s hall at 1930. We are asking for an RSVP as the ladies are preparing food. Also, Joe Gentile is working on a guest speaker, and has some fine door prizes donated. December 16 will be a pancake breakfast. Bring your family. Grand children will have a ball. These are always fun. Chis Cakes does a very good job entertaining everyone. Semper Fidelis, Jerry Gerling Detachment Calendar October 2017 7 Gold Star Luncheon 10:30-1330 Boeing Company 100 Airport Way 10 Staff Meeting 1900 Post #208 17 Membership Meeting 1930 Post #208 17 Auxiliary Meeting 1915 Post #208 20-22 Midwest Marine Corps League Conference Sheraton Westport Plaza (See Brochure, August newsletter) 29-30 Focus Marine Fall Gala and Golf Tournament (See Brochures) November 2017 3-4 Collections at Sam s, Crestwood 3 Veteran Shriner Recognition Day 1750 Moolah Shrine Center 12545 Fee Fee Rd St Louis, MO 63146 (See Brochure) 4 Marine Corps Birthday Ball River City Casino (See Brochure, August newsletter) 10-11 Collections at Shop N Save, Ballwin 14 Detachment Marine Corps Birthday Celebration in lieu of Staff & Membership Meeting 1930 Post #208 18 Collections at Dierbergs, Heritage Place, Creve Coeur, pending December 2017 9 Army Navy Game 1100-1400 Missouri Athletic Club (See Brochure) 12 Staff Meeting 1900 Post #208 16 Chris Cakes Pancake 0800-1100 Post #208 19 Membership Meeting 1930 Post #208 19 Auxiliary Meeting 1915 Post #208 Military Memory with humor. If you are marching three hundred Marines who don t like you, and you call, Count Cadence Count! One! Two! Three! Four!.... You better not have not have a last name that rhymes with the number four. I still remember the subsequent lecture about not using bad words in formation.
MEMBERS MATTER by Lyle McFarlin I was born on April 14, 1942, in Hartford, Connecticut and was raised in Hartford and West Hartford. I went to the first five grades of school in East Hartford, and then finished school in West Hartford. I graduated from Conard High School in 1960, entering the Marine Corp on October 17, 1960. I went to boot camp at Parris Island, North Carolina. After boot camp I went to ITR (Infantry Training Regiment) at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. I took leave for about a month and then reported to Jacksonville, Florida, for Ordnance training [later known as Aviation Ordnance A School]. I graduated first in my class at FFAM school, and was able to choose my MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) and duty station. I went to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California, with MOS 6511, Aviation Ordnance. Two and a half years later I was released early to go to college. I attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where I got a BA Degree in 1967. I joined Merck Chemical Company in Lollway, New Jersey, as a Sales Representative for Medical Equipment. I then transferred to St. Louis, Missouri where I met Joany, and we were married in 1969. We have been married 48 years and have three daughters, the first girl in 1971 and twin girls in 1975. We have five grandchildren, all but the first daughter live in Denver, Colorado. I began working for ADAC as a Salesman and then as Regional Manager for Medical Equipment, Imagining Equipment, MRIs, etcetera. I worked there for thirty-five years, retiring at age 62. I then worked for Home Depot for two and a half years, primarily to qualify for medical insurance. In 2007 I retired again, and shortly thereafter joined Pvt. George Phillips detachment, Marine Corps League. I have been Chairman of the detachment Ways and Means committee for several years; have served as Junior Vice Commandant, and currently serve as Senior Vice Commandant. My wife and I travel a lot to Vegas to visit my money, and we have also traveled to Israel, Egypt, Australia. and twice to Hawaii. I enjoy volunteering. I work as a St. Louis County Election Official; I work with Toys for Tots; and have served twice as a Guardian for St. Louis Honor Flights, accompanying WWII and Korean Veterans on flights to DC to visit Arlington Cemetery and the various Military Memorials. I also went on the Vets Roll five day bus Ride of 200 Veterans from Beloit, Wisconsin to DC, to visit Arlington and the Veteran Memorials. I am Elliot Glassman. Elliot Glassman as a Marine in Southern California, 1963, and today.
World II dog tags returned to family by Adam Rollins Warren County Record Staff Writer Caption: World War II veteran Elmer Dapron examines the dog tags of his late brother, Robert Dapron, which were delivered to his family on Saturday, Sept. 16. The tags were found on the banks of the Missouri River after being lost an unknown number of years. Record photo/adam Rollins. A surprise find on the banks of the Missouri River was cause this weekend to celebrate the life of a World War II veteran whose roots are in Warren County. Almost three months ago, a man in St. Charles County walking the riverbank with a metal detector discovered the lost dogs of Warren County native Robert Francis Dapron. The finder, Chris Owens, hoped the tags could be returned to their owner or his family, so he got in touch with a friend at American Legion Post 312 in St. Charles. Through research contacts, the Legion post tracked Dapron to Warren County, where he was buried in 1999, and found a living family member. On Saturday, Sept. 16, the tags were delivered into the hands of 92-year-old Elmer Dapron, Robert s older brother, who himself is a Marine veteran of the World War II Pacific Theatre and the Korean War. The tags were handed over during a ceremony at the Warrenton VFW Hall. Elmer said for a veteran, Dog tags are the one thing in life that can t be taken from you. They are yours eternally. Planning an occasion to receive the tags became an opportunity for Robert s family and fellow veterans to gather and celebrate the person he was. My brother, Bob, was an incredibly organized, intelligent, and resourceful man, Elmer said. He was dedicated to his family, to his community to a degree that few of us (are). Elmer described growing up in poverty in Warren County during the Great Depression, and said Bob decided as a teenager that was not the life he was going to live. Bob stayed with a family in Wright City so he could go to high school, and joined the Navy his junior year during World War II. He then went to college thanks to the GI Bill. He got married, and eventually found great success as a businessman. Bob was so successful that he was recruited to work on Wall Street in New York four days a week and commute home to St. Louis on the weekends, Elmer recalled. When his employer offered Bob more, he made a choice. He gave up that opportunity to keep his family in the St. Louis area and have a quality life in Missouri. One of Robert s daughters, Julia Dapron, said their family eventually moved to St. Peters and her father became well known in the community as a park ranger known to many as Ranger Bob. He did
work for the Red Cross, helped establish a local recycling program and ran programs for the city s parks department. His work inspired Julia to follow her own career in law enforcement. And no matter how far he came in life, Robert Dapron never forgot where he started. When I was a young teen, we were heading to my grandmother s for Christmas dinner. We stopped at a bridge, and there was a man living in a shack down by the river, Julia recalled. We stopped, Dad got out of the car and took this man living in the shack our pumpkin pies. She said that was characteristic of her dad. Remember that you re not better than anybody else. That s the way he thought. As far as how Robert s dog tags ended up on the banks of the Missouri River, that remains a mystery. Julia said her father didn t talk much about his military service and never mentioned losing the tags. She speculated it might have happened during a fishing outing. Chris Owens, the man who found the tags, preferred not to say where on the river he was at the time. But no matter where the tags have been for untold years, from now on they will be with family. http://www.warrencountyrecord.com/local_ne ws/article_e9c172bc-9e39-11e7-8d80- bf8628931182.html Editor s note: Elmer Dapron, Robert Dapron s brother, provides the Sands of Iwo Jima sprinkled on Pvt George Phillips grave each year. He also gave me a small supply to show students in various schools where I substitute teach. RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW! As I have previously reported, all Marine Corps League membership dues expired on September 1, 2017 (unless you are a life member or pre-paid for 2018). For most of us that means dues renewal time. National Headquarters, Marine Corps League is in the process of upgrading their membership renewal process, and as such, will not be sending out renewal notices. Until that is complete, it is incumbent upon each Detachment to send out renewal notices to each Detachment member. Consider yourself notified. Please save the Detachment a lot of money on mailing costs and the Paymaster a lot of time and work. If you are not a life member and have not already pre-paid your 2018 membership dues, then please do so now. Do it now while you are reading this illustrious newsletter, which your dues help support. Pvt. George Phillips Detachment membership dues are $40.00 annually. Please send a check in that amount, payable to Pvt. George Phillips Detachment #1214 and mail to: Pvt. George Phillips Detachment, MCL Attn: Paymaster P.O. Box 1 Ballwin, MO 63022-0001 We appreciate your continued support of our Detachment. If you have any questions regarding your membership please contact Paymaster Dennis Simpson at Dennis.Simpson4420@gmail.com or (636) 230-5976. Semper Fidelis, Dennis Simpson Paymaster / Adjutant
September Candids Candi Rau also promotes Toys For Tots SSgt Joshua Deneve promotes Toys For Tots Andrew Hendrix, member and police officer Marisa Grgurich promotes November 18 side of beef raffle
October Birthday Scroll George Dragan Gregg Follmer Buck Freeman Jason Gollon James Hellman, Sr Erik Nielsen Eric Paz Carl Ramsey Joshua Suedmeyer Gene Tichacek Bernard Widdis, Sr Rosalie Jacobs Jeane Statler Dear Military Friends & Supporters, I would like to extend a personal invitation to you and your guests to join us for the Veteran Shriner's Recognition night that will be held on Friday, November 3rd. I'm assisting Moolah Shriner, Matt Niedringhaus coordinate this special evening to honor our Veterans, and hope that you can join us! The first 60 U.S. Veterans that register will get a complimentary STEAK dinner! SEE the attached invitation for additional details. [Last Page] We are enthused to get confirmation that U.S. Veteran Dustin Row, Founder of Songs4Soldiers, and drummer of his popular band "Dazed and Confused STL" will be performing for us. Rusty, the lead guitarist, also a U.S.combat veteran, was the NATIONWIDE winner of the V.A. contest "V.A.'s Got Talent" and we guarantee, their Rock n Roll band will impress you with their musical talent! CHECK Out...Vimeo PROMO Video https://vimeo.com/225719339 & www.songs4soldiersstl.org In addition, we will have some surprise demonstrations with Tactical Sh#t of St. Peters, Missouri. Please share the attached invitation with your friends, and get the word out on Social Media! Don't Miss Out - RSVP TODAY!! ALL not for profit organizations are welcome to have a complementary Veteran Resource table to promote their cause. Register with Monica at the Moolah office in advance at 314-878-6301 or e-mail at monica@moolah.org Respectfully, Jeanne Savel Military Support Advocate Founder / STL Veteran Support Network V.P. of Family Programs / AUSA - St. Louis Chapter 314-276-2664
You are cordially invited to attend The Saint Louis 31st Annual ARMY vs. NAVY Football Game Celebration In support of the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots Campaign Saturday, 9 December 2017 Pre-game: 1100 (11:00AM) Kickoff: 1400 (2:00PM) -Missouri Athletic Club- 405 Washington Avenue Saint Louis, Missouri 63102 Welcoming Guest of Honor -Lt.Col. Rob Wunderlich, Jr. United States Illinois Air National Guard, Retired Former USMC Pilot and member of the US Navy Blue Angels Complimentary Parking Cash Buffet & Bar Admission: One (1) Unwrapped Toy Civilian Dress: Army/Navy Business Casual Jim Naumann RSVP 636-227-3559 VFA-214@sbcglobal.net
Veteran-Shriner Recognition Day This Event is open to all veterans!! DATE: Friday, November 3, 2017 TIME: DOORS OPEN AT 5:30PM; WITH DINNER @ 6PM, AND THE PRESENTATION @ 7PM LOCATION: MOOLAH SHRINE CENTER 12545 FEE FEE RD ST LOUIS, MO 63146 GUEST SPEAKER: RANDY OTTINGER, RETIRED ARMY HELICOPTER PILOT, SHRINER AND PAST POTENTATE OF 1993 FEATURED GUESTS: BAND: DAZED & CONFUSED STL VET DUSTIN ROW S TACTICAL SH#T OWNER, ALEX MILBERG WILL BE PROVIDING MILITARY DEMO S IN RECOGNITION OF OUR VETERANS, A FREE STEAK DINNER WILL BE SERVED FOR THE FIRST 50 THAT RSPV; THEREAFTER, THE COST WILL BE $12.00. All other guests: cost is $20.oo and served a buffet style dinner consisting of Chicken and Beef with 2 sides and dessert. There will be a cash bar available as well. PLEASE! RSVP so that we can have an estimate of how many guests will be in attendance. RSVP by calling Moolah Shrine Center @ 314-878-6301; email at monica@moolah.org Mail your checks for dinner to Moolah Shriners-Veterans Event, and mail to the above address. FREE resource table to promote your Military Support Organizations. If you would like one, please let us know.