Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Larry Criteser (left), the honorary command sergeant major of 9th Infantry Regiment...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Larry Criteser still has the original Manchu belt buckle he was given in 1967, just one week after entering Vietnam.
Forty-two years later, Spc. Andrew Zaragoza, an infantryman, received the same belt buckle for patrolling the streets of Baghdad.
Though the two men from different generations fought in different wars, they both served with the 9th Infantry Regiment “Manchus” and thus earned the right to wear the only officially-authorized unit belt buckle in the Army.
Nearly 600 Manchu soldiers received the distinctive belt buckle from Criteser and other veterans during a ceremony at Soldiers Field House Mar. 4 for “meritorious and honorable service with the 4th Battalion, 9th Inf. Regt., during Operation Iraqi Freedom 09-10”.
“The countless miles that these present-day Manchus patrolled through the avenues of West Baghdad, the challenges they faced on the streets of Nasir Wa Salam, Aqur Quf, and in the farmlands of Zaidon 110 years after the march into Tientsin exemplifies that the indomitable Manchu spirit has not changed regardless of year, conflict, or conditions,” narrated 1st Lt. Thomas Beecroft, the battalion personnel officer, during the ceremony.
The 2.5-inch brass buckle is adorned with a five-toed dragon encircling its edges. In the center is the numeral “9” for the regiment, above the unit’s motto “Keep Up the Fire,” the dying words of the 9th Inf. Regt.’s former commander, Col. Emerson H. Liscum, as he passed the unit’s colors to another Soldier during the assault on Tientsin, China in 1900.
The history of the belt buckle dates back to 1921, but was not formally approved for wear until 1926 when, after gaining approval from the Secretary of War, the 9th Inf. Regt. adjutant published General Order No. 5. The order states that the belt buckle, commemorating the Relief Expedition in China, “will be worn by all personnel of this regiment.”
Though the buckle’s design has changed several times over the years, the one given to the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division’s 4th Bn. Manchus closely resembles the original issued in 1926.
One distinct difference between the previous buckles and those given to 4th Bn. is the phrase “Manchus, past, present, future” engraved on the back.
For one Manchu, it wasn’t his first time receiving the honored Manchu belt buckle.
In 1997, while serving in 2nd Bn., 9th Inf. Regt. in Korea, 1st Sgt. Julio Armas, the Company C, 4th Bn., 9th Inf. Regt. first sergeant, earned his first Manchu belt buckle.
Forward deployed along the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea, Soldiers of the 2nd Bn., 9th Inf. Regt., act as a deterrent against North Korean aggression. To earn their Manchu belt buckles, the Soldiers do the “Manchu Mile”, a 25-mile foot march in full battle gear, to commemorate the 85-mile forced march the 9th Inf. Regt. made in July 1900 from Taku Bar to Tientsin during the Boxer Rebellion.
For Armas, the events leading up to both belt buckles were “different, but the same,” he said.
“Of course, the difference being 25 continuous miles, (but) both having the same meaning of Soldiers giving it all they’ve got,” Armas explained. “The pain you feel in your feet, your knees, your back (during the Manchu Mile) is the pain you felt during this war carrying your kit and walking.”
The 9th Inf. Regt. is one of the oldest and most decorated units in the Army, having fought in nearly every major conflict in U.S. history, from the War of 1812 to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
As a representative of the Vietnam-era Manchus, Criteser said he was pleased to give this latest generation of Manchus their own belt buckles.
“This is a tremendous honor for a guy my age,” Criteser, the honorary 9th Inf. Regt. command sergeant major, said. “Most of these guys weren’t even born when I became a Manchu. But we, the Vietnam-era Manchus, look at it as, ‘once a Manchu always a Manchu,’ and we are here to support our younger brother Manchus, as we call them, to the fullest of our ability.”
Whether an old-time Manchu or a “younger brother” Manchu, all generations of the 9th Regt. veterans honor the rite of passage shared among every member of the regiment.
“No matter where you go, not only in the Army ... when you say you were part of the ninth, the first thing they say is, ‘Do you have your belt buckle?’” Armas said. “I am proud to say, ‘Yes.’”
| Date Taken: | 03.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2011 19:42 |
| Story ID: | 66515 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 2,907 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Belt buckle unites ‘Manchus past, present, future’, by Kimberly Hackbarth, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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