Marine Corps League Tar Heel Detachment # 733 February 2018 James Cox, Commandant Scuttlebutt February 2018 SCUTTLEBUTT PAGE 2 Marine Corps COMMANDANT ’ S League COMMENTS J a m e s C o x Tar Heel Detachment # 733 ar Heel De- up in our red blazers. Officers tachment, I would like to know James Cox T It’s hard to be- everyone’s thought on Commandant lieve that a year has having a monthly gather- 919-604-7363 [email protected] passed already. I ing at a local restaurant Bruce Goeden Senior Vice Commandant would like to thank you to just gather in friend- 919-720-7066 for once again placing ship and spend time get- Randal Rempfer Junior Vice Commandant your confidence in me ting to know one another 919-870-0355 James White to lead the Tar Heel better. My suggestion Judge Advocate 919-455-7717 Detachment over the for the first get together Bill Cargill next year. It is a re- would be at Angie’s res- Paymaster 919-363-3468 sponsibility that I do taurant in Garner. She is [email protected] not take lightly. If you a big support of the Tar Doug Smith Adjutant have any suggestions Heel Detachment. 919-862-4432 on how to make the Earl Linthicum We have a slow year as Sergeant-at-Arms 919-362-6471 meeting run any better far as major activities go ————————————— please do not hesitate Next Meeting but we still need volun- March 7, 2018 to speak with me or the teers to take care of the Christ the King Lutheran other elected officers. Church, Cary, NC planning that goes into 1800 Social 1900 Meeting I look forward to get- each event. Besides the —————————————- \ ting more of you in- installation dinner our Scuttlebutt Staff Editor volved in the various next big event is our an- Suellen Beaulieu activities that we do in nual Memorial Day Cer- 919-362-7436 [email protected] particular the Eagle emony on May 28th. Web Sites: Scout COH’s. The Once again thank you for Web Master scouts and their parents Richard Patrick choosing me to lead the www.tarheelmcl.org love it when we show Tar Heel Detachment in- www.ncmcl.org to the future. February 2018 SCUTTLEBUTT PAGE 3 Department of NC COMMANDANT Viet Nam John Dilday Supports the CUSTOM EMBROIDERY BY Tar Heel Detachment. GAYLE Gayle Dilday 919-285-2276 812 White Meadows Dr. 919-602-2068 Semper Fidelis Fuquay Varina. NC 27526 [email protected] Phone 919 772-6234 www.foresthillsflorist.com Forest Hills Florist Forest Hills Shopping Center 1325 Fifth Avenue Garner, North Carolina 27529 Tim and Gena Hamm, Owners Sandy Benson, Manager Marine Corps League Tar Heel Detachment #733 Rev. Mitzi Manning Suellen Beaulieu Women Marine Association Past Commandant/PDD God Bless 502 Fairview Road Chair, Plans and Policy Committee Apex, NC 27502 All Our [email protected] 1129 Checkerberry Drive Morrisville, NC 27560 919-362-7436 Marines and (919) 336-3182 (703) 887-0683 Tar Heel Detachment # 733 [email protected] Membership Capsule Their 33 LIFE members Families 23 Paid Members 26 Total Past Due 82 Total Members 1 December 2017 February2018 SCUTTLEBUTT PAGE 4 Detachment Meeting February 7, 2018 February 2018 SCUTTLEBUTT PAGE 5 MODD Growl Pound 210 Jan 13, 2018 February 2018 SCUTTLEBUTT PAGE 6 DOWN TO ONE MARINE n Nov. 15, 2003, an 85-year-old retired Marine with his gun and when it was destroyed, took over an- Corps Colonel died of congestive heart failure other, moving from gun to gun, never ceasing his with- O at his home in La Quinta, Calif. , southeast of ering fire." Palm Springs. He was a combat veteran of World War In the end, Sgt. Paige picked up the last of the 40-pound, II. Reason enough to honor him. But this Marine was a belt-fed Brownings (the same design which John M. little different. This Marine was Mitchell Paige. Browning fired for a continuous 25 minutes until it ran It's hard today to envision -- or, for the dwindling few, to out of ammunition, glowing cherry red, at its first U.S. remember -- what the world looked like on 26 Oct 1942. Army demonstration) and did something for which the The U.S. Navy was not the most powerful fighting force weapon was never designed. Sgt. Paige walked down in the Pacific. Not by a long shot. So the Navy basical- the hill toward the place where he could hear the last ly dumped a few thousand Marines on the beach at Gua- Japanese survivors rallying to move around his flank, dalcanal. the belt-fed gun cradled under his arm, firing as he went. As Platoon Sgt. Mitchell Paige and The weapon did not fail. his 33 riflemen set about carefully At dawn, battalion executive officer Major Odell M. emplacing their four water- Conoley was first to discover the answer to our ques- cooled .30-caliber Browning ma- tion: How many able-bodied Marines does it take to chine guns, manning their section of hold a hill against two regiments of motivated, combat- the thin khaki line which was ex- hardened Japanese infantrymen who have never known pected to defend Henderson Field defeat? against the assault of the night of 25 On a hill where the bodies were piled like cordwood, Oct 1942, it's unlikely anyone Mitchell Paige alone sat upright behind his 30-caliber thought they were about to provide Browning, waiting to see what the dawn would bring. the definitive answer to that most One hill: one Marine. desperate of questions: How many able-bodied U.S. But "In the early morning light, the enemy could be seen Marines does it take to hold a hill against 2,000 desper- a few yards off, and vapor from the barrels of their ma- ate and motivated Japanese attackers? Nor did the com- chine guns was clearly visible," reports historian Lipp- manders of the Japanese Army, who had swept every- man. "It was decided to try to rush the position." thing before them for decades, expect their advance to For the task, Major Conoley gathered together "three be halted on some jungle ridge manned by one thin line enlisted communication personnel, several riflemen, a of Marines in October of 1942. few company runners who were at the point, together But by the time the night was over, the Japanese 29th with a cook and a few messmen who had brought food Infantry Regiment has lost 553 killed or missing and 479 to the position the evening before." Joined by Paige, wounded among its 2,554 men, historian David Lippman this ad hoc force of 17 Marines counterattacked at 5:40 reports. The Japanese 16th Regiment's losses are un- a.m., discovering that this extremely short range allowed counted, but the[US] 164th's burial parties handled 975 the optimum use of grenades. They cleared the ridge. Japanese bodies. The American estimate of 2,200 Japa- And that's where the previously unstoppable wave of nese dead is probably too low. Japanese conquests finally broke and began to recede. Among the 90 American dead and seriously wounded On an unnamed jungle ridge on an insignificant island that night were all the men in Mitchell Paige's platoon; no one had ever heard of, called Guadalcanal. But who every one. As the night of endless attacks wore on, remembers, today, how close-run a thing it was, the Paige moved up and down his line, pulling his dead and ridge held by a single Marine, in wounded comrades back into their foxholes and firing a the autumn of 1942? few bursts from each of the four Brownings in turn, con- Some time after, when the vincing the Japanese forces down the hill that the posi- Hasbro Toy Co. telephoned ask- tions were still manned. ing permission to put the retired The citation for Paige's Medal of Honor Citation defines Colonel's face on some kid's doll, the event: "When the enemy broke through the line Mitchell Paige thought they must directly in front of his position, P/Sgt. Paige, com- be joking. manding a machinegun section with fearless determi- But they weren't. Today, that's nation, continued to direct the fire of his gunners until his face on the little Marine they all his men were either killed or wounded. Alone, call "G.I. Joe." against the deadly hail of Japanese shells, he fought Contributed by DoNC Commandant Jeff Jones February 2018 SCUTTLEBUTT PAGE 7 Chaplain’s Corner Upcoming MCL Events… Jason Hall Det Meeting Feb 7 Pistol Shoot Feb 21 e are quickly approaching the Lenten Season. For some this is a solemn observance marked by fasting, Eagle COH Feb 25 W repentance, and preparing for the coming of Easter Eagle COH Feb 25 Sunday. Others will casually make reference to “giving up” something for Lent simply because it is a pop-culture feel good measure. Some people have no clue what or when the season is Future Events observed. It is my hope that this article will help clarify some of the reasons and misunderstandings of Lent for the Christian and non-Christian alike. I am not writing this to exclude any- Eagle COH Mar 3 one but rather to educate everyone in an attempt to bring more people together. Knowledge of customs, views, and traditions Eagle COH Mar4 outside that of our own is the only way to grow closer with our neighbors. This is by no means a complete explanation but Det Meeting Mar 7 rather, to pass along a basic understanding.