Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Devin Nichols | Marine and Navy insignia representing service members killed during the Battle of Iwo...... read more read more
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Tucked inside the National Museum of the Marine Corps, just outside Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., there is a small, poignant display honoring the Marines and sailors who gave their lives during the Battle for Iwo Jima.
Nearly 6,000 Marine and Navy insignia adorn metallic panels. From afar, the neatly arranged square panes seem mere dotted patterns on the wall. But when one comes in a bit closer, they become a bronzen sea, a forest-like testament to each individual sacrifice made at Iwo Jima.
The tribute to the fallen is subtle, but heart wrenching: one island, paid for in blood, where more than 800 Americans died for every square mile.
For more than 30 Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, Combat Logistics Regiment 2 based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., the monument was only one of dozens of sites they visited in May as they explored their deep Marine Corps heritage.
The battalion organized the special leadership course for its noncommissioned officers the month prior. Senior leaders hand selected corporals from around CLB-6 for the course. The unit then released the Marines from their daily duties for one week so they could immerse themselves in something that goes beyond the battalion itself.
“Ultimately, our goal is to open their eyes and show them the bigger picture of the Marine Corps, something outside of what they’re used to training and working at the Camp Lejeune area,” said Staff Sgt. Larry Morales, one of the senior Marine leaders for the trip.
FUTURE LEADERS
The battalion recently returned from a deployment to Afghanistan, and the leadership course was much more than a walk through Marine Corps history for leaders such as Morales.
Inside the memory of past sacrifices, he hoped to find a firebrand of inspiration and valor that could help shape his junior leaders.
“I want the NCOs to walk away from here knowing that they are capable of doing all the phenomenal things their predecessors, noncommissioned officers, have done in battle and [at home],” said Morales, an Orlando, Fla., native. “We talk about our core values of honor, courage and commitment, and at the end of the day, what do those things mean to them?”
The question was an open-ended theme for the Marines as they set out on a trip that would take them to some of the nation’s most iconic monuments and the Marine Corps’ top schools.
The groups first stop was Marine Corps Base Quantico, where they received tours of the Marine Security Guard school, whose graduates protect American embassies and other official offices around the world. They then visited The Basic School, where new Marine officers train to lead from the front.
“At each of those locations, they were able to get a tour and a brief on what it is that these facilities support and how they tie into the Marine Corps,” said Morales. “This is something that when I was a corporal I was never able to be a part of, and I think we picked the right people.”
In addition to the schools themselves, the Marines also ran the TBS Endurance Course, part of the graduating requirements for Marine Officers going through the school. They stopped periodically during the grueling route to read Medal of Honor citations for fallen Marines and sailors.
“It makes the hair on the back your neck stand up,” said Cpl. Nicholas Roth, a field radio operator with the battalion, as he recalled the short breaks where the Marines paused, came to attention, and read the award citations while catching their breath.
“You read that, and you get the feeling of what they did, the pain and the stress, all the stuff they went through,” continued Roth, a North Saint Paul, Minn., native. “You feel like this doesn’t hurt anymore. It can’t when they went through all that.”
The endurance course marked the end of their first day of touring. Still, for Morales, the highlight of the trip had already been met.
“They had an opportunity to open their eyes,” said Morales. “[As a leader], seeing the reaction of the Marines and what they thought of that particular Marine or sailor who received the award was a big deal for me.”
A BIT OF HISTORY
The NCOs spent the next leg of the trip visiting the National Museum of the Marine Corps where, as Roth noted, “There are the little things they don’t tell you in the history books.”
They set out on the Legacy Walk that connects more than 200 years of history: the American Revolution, World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam and many more. Beside the great battles – Belleau Wood, Chosin Reservoir, Hue City – the NCOs examined personal tales from Marines in the fight.
The museum told stories through the eyes of Marines and relics from their lives: a jacket with a single bullet hole or a candy wrapper from the Chosin Reservoir, where an error in communication dropped pallets of Tootsie Rolls instead of munitions to embattled Marines.
“It’s cool that people kept that alive,” remarked Roth. “You definitely take this back.”
The museum itself is still expanding. Since it opened in 2006, more than three million visitors have passed through its doors. It boasts more than 60,000 uniforms, weapons, vehicles, medals, flags, works of art and other artifacts spanning the Marine Corps’ history.
The exhibits inside are interactive, and the course participants spent most of the day combing through the museum.
“With me being from the Navy, I learned so much about the Marines’ background, heritage and traditions,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Andre Belcher, a Virginia Beach, Va., native and corpsman who took part in the course.
“[It’s] the bonds I noticed among the Marines I came here with,” said Belcher, reflecting on what stuck out about the trip. “Everybody is close. Everybody is interested in learning more about the Marine Corps … It’s a learning experience for me too.”
BEYOND HISTORY
The course took the students to Washington, D.C., for the final leg of the trip. The Marines toured national sites such as the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and the “The Oldest Post in the Corps,” Marine Barracks Washington, D.C.
The tour of the capital was a chance for the Marines to think about their place in the broader picture of what the Marine Corps does as an institution serving the country.
“We’ve gotten [the chance] to learn, taken some time away from our shops, and cleared our heads,” said Cpl. Joshua Foulkrod, a Rossville, Ga., native and motor vehicle operator with the battalion. “Now we get to take everything we’ve learned back.”
Foulkrod recently promoted to the rank of corporal, and said the course was both a chance for him to learn about his heritage and bond with his fellow NCOs.
“I feel like I’ve come a lot closer to all the corporals from the different sections,” he said,” and I’ve enjoyed seeing and learning a little bit more about the Marine Corps.”
CLB-6 is filled with young, aspiring NCOs, said Morales, who is confident in their ability to make an impact.
“We had an opportunity to share some good camaraderie,” he said at the end of the tour. “When they get back, they’re going to be the ones who are going to be leading junior Marines and their peers alike.”
| Date Taken: | 05.29.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.29.2014 16:05 |
| Story ID: | 131509 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | NORTH ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, US |
| Hometown: | ORLANDO, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | ROSSVILLE, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 456 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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