NOVEMBER, 2010 NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER 18th SPEAKER
Sgt.Major Harrison Tanksley, Base Sgt. Major for MCAGCC, 29 Palms will be the guest of honor and speaker at the November 18th meeting.  This Sgt. Major is the epitome of the Marine Corps Sergeant Major.  I can guarantee that no one will slip off into the land of nod!
 
Make your reservation and plan to be there.  Luncheon kicks off at 1130 at Desert Falls Country Club, Palm Desert.
 
NOMINATION OF NEW OFFICERS / DIRECTORS
The process is starting.  We would like to hear from members interested in becoming more involved.  Please prepare a brief resume of your background and experience and send it to the Nomination Committee, P O Box 10856, Palm Desert, CA 92255.
 
DECEMBER MEETING
We will have a different format with the Christmas Season approaching.  Santa Claus has promised to make an appearance at our December 16th luncheon.  We are asking you to bring a wrapped gift which will be exchanged with another member. Let’s keep the value under $10.  More information will be in the December newsletter.
 
JANUARY 20th MEETING
Mark your 2011 calendar to attend the January 20th meeting at the O-Club, 29 Palms.  We have reserved the private room next to the dining room for our luncheon.  We will need your RSVP so we can provide the front gate security with an advance VIP list for gate access.  We should car pool. We will talk about it at our December meeting and in the January newsletter.
 
MEMORIAL SERVICE
 SgtMajor Ray Schum’s wife, Lee,  passed away.  A memorial service was held at St Theresa’s Church, Palm Springs. They were married nearly 66 years. Schum is a member of the chapter and one of the founders of the Marine Corps League.
 
NEW MEMBER
I am pleased to announce that Col Randy Newman, CO, 7th Marines Regiment has joined the chapter.  Col and Mrs. Hillary Newman attended our October 21st meeting where he was the guest of honor and speaker. He just returned from a one year deployment to Afghanistan and gave an excellent review of what our Marines are doing over there to win the war. Welcome aboard Colonel!
 
MARINE CORPS LEAGUE LUNCHEON
Annual luncheon to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday will be 1130, Novembers 10th at Miracle Springs Spa & Hotel, DHS.  LCol John Reed will be the honored guest of honor. Make your reservations now. gg Tickets are $35 if paid in advance.  They will be $50 if purchased at the door. Checks payable to MCL, mail to:  78-548 W. Warton Rd, Bermuda Dunes, CA 92203.  Indicate whether you want chicken or beef.
 
CHINA MARINES - PART 1.                              BY:  COL. MIKE WALKER
The year 1926 proved to be decisive in China.   The Nationalist allied with the Communist Party had finally formed a force, The national Revolutionary Army (NRA)
which looked to break the stranglehold the Warlords had held over China for much of the two prior decades. As the NRA launched its Northern Expedition that year, the anti-foreign sentiments in China reached a peak that had not been seen since the Boxer Rebellion.  Watching and reporting all this was a Marine legend - Major Charles F. B. Price serving in Peking.
 
The China crisis came to a head in late 1926 when the fighting reached the outskirts of Shanghai with its International Settlement, the center of foreign concessions in China.
By November Major Price was reporting fighting covering three different fronts in central China as well as ominous warlords in the north  In December, the Marine Barracks, in Guam was put aboard U.S. ships in Huang River at Shanghai to protect  American lives and property. This was quickly followed by the deployment of the Marine Barracks at Subic Bay and the Marine Detachment assigned to the US Asiatic Squadron.  By New Year’s 1927 there were 39 officers and 380 enlisted Marines ashore and in waters off Shanghai.  These units became the Expeditionary Battalion.
 
Expecting more trouble, the Marines back home began to answer the call to arms.  On the West Coast, the 4th Regiment headquarters with two battalions were pulled from Mail Guard Duty and assembled in San Diego by 28 January.  The 4th Regiment took only six days to embark and set sail aboard the USS Chaumont bound for Shanghai.  On the East Coast, the 3ed Provisional marine Brigade headquarters along with an artillery unit with 75mm howitzers from the 10th Regiment was formed in March at Quantico under the Command of BGen Smedley Butler or “Old Gimlet Eye”, one of only two Marines to have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice for separate actions, the other being SgtMaj Dan Daly.  General Butler and a small group departed ahead of these units so as to arrive in Shanghai of the 4th Regiment.
 
Also in March the 6th Regiment along with two battalions was activated in Philadelphia.
These units began movement by rail across the United States to San Diego, setting sail in April and bound for Tientsin, China, the gateway to Peking and the foreign legations.  As a sign of the new Corps, VF-03M squadron equipped with 8 FB-1 fighter bombers along with 9 officers and 48 enlisted Marines also embarked.
 
The Marines sailed on the USS Henderson, the first purpose built military transport in the US Navy.  The ship was commissioned in 1917 and served into WWII. Named for the 19th century Marine Commandant Archibald Henderson. There was hardly a Marine alive in that era who did not make at least one voyage of the Henderson.  The 3rd battalion, 6th Regiment was formed in Norfolk and sailed from that port, via the Panama Canal, to Tientsin, China.
 
The proved to be wise precautions for as spring of 1927 arrived in China, the Nationalist offensive began again.  By March, 1927, fighting had spread to Shanghai and Nanking.  On the 21st anti-foreign rioting in Nanking, instigated by the communists had left six foreign nationals dead.  The famous author Pearl S. Buck and her family were only saved when a Chinese family hid them in their hut until U.S. gunboats on the Yangtze Patrol arrived on the 23rd and evacuated them to Shanghai.  When news of this incident reached Shanghai, a state of emergency was immediately declared in the International Settlement.
The 4th Regiment arrived offshore four days later on March 27th.  The Marines were ready to land.”
 
(To be continued in the December newsletter)
 
7TH MARINES BARBECUE
We had nearly 200 members, guests and Marines attend the October 23rd Warriors Appreciation Steak Barbecue.  Thanks to those members and supporters who  supported the event and provided tickets for the 100 Marines.
 
Since not all of our 62 members  provided gift donations for the Marines, so we had to call for help at the October 21st meeting.  Thankfully, the following members stepped up and made additional gift donations to cover the 100 gifts.  A Special Thanks goes to George Hatzidakis, Charlie Garbarini, Mac Dube, Dick Partee Franz Jevne, Harry Covert and Don Tully for their generosity in providing additional gift donations to cover for the MIA’s.
 
We also appreciated Pete Van Vechten handling the check in table, Linda Garbarini decorating the tables with red white and blue table clothes and producing the name badges.  Charlie Garbarini for posting all of the banners, transporting the steaks and all of his help with the organization.  Dick Partee for once again being the “Beer Meister” and collecting and coordinating the gift donations.    Don Tully and Mike Walker for volunteering to guard the kegs and of course frequently taste tasting them. Frank Gillette for arranging for the generous donation of Pepsi’s and Bottled Water from an anonymous donor.
 
 It was also a honor to have our president return from his vacation in Newport Beach to make an appearance.  Be sure to ask Quint about his missing car keys when you see him.
 
PALM DESERT GOLF CART PARADE
All set for Sunday, October 31st.  Parade to kick off at 1300 so plan to join us earlier at the meeting site on San Luis Rey, just south of El Paseo, next to the Palm Desert National Bank.  The Color Guard and Marine Band will assemble there around 1215 - 1230.
 
For those who want to help out we will have a work party there around 0830 to help set up the kiosk tent at Larkspur & El Paseo, a block west of San Luis Rey.  Charlie Garbarini will need help in moving the merchandise from his vehicle to the kiosk
Kiosk has to be set up by 0930.
 
There is plenty to do before the parade.  It’s fun to look at the floats, the people and to look at the golf carts.  Being Halloween there will be plenty of costumes.  There will be food vendors there selling the usual fast food and pogey bait found at parades.
 
Plan to join Karen & I afterwards for a reception around 1500 at 73315 Haystack Road. (1 mile south of El Paseo, between Portola and Rte. 74).  Bring wine or beer and an appetizer.  Thanks.
 
 
 
GOD BLESS AMERICA
 
 
SEMPER FIDELIS
 
Jim Sullivan,
Editor
 
Officers & Directors
Quintin Villanueva, President Jim Sullivan, Sec. / Treasurer
Dick Partee, Director Henry Sanchez, Director George Stettler, Director