Visiting Yesterday (248)

I am involved in organizing a Marine Reunion in our nations capitol next month and today sending out a final letter about it to the surviving Marines of my old platoon seen to the right. It all happened 54 years ago this summer in San Diego California.

Of the 75 in our platoon about 15 have died, about 10 could not be found but about 50 are still kicking and some of us will gather and visit the sites of DC, Two Marine Corps bases, one at Quantico Virgina just south of DC and the oldest Marine Base of all located very close to the Capitol building called "8th and I"...it is a small base just blocks from the main part of DC...The Marine Corps Commandant lives on the base in the oldest government residence in DC. It was built in 1801 at the request of our 3rd President Thomas Jefferson who helped lay it all out, and remains and is the home of the Presidents own Marine Band and two crack rifle companies of 400 US Marines that handle all kinds of stuff from service at the White House to burial details at Arlington Cemetery to possible riot control in DC should it ever be necessary and let us hope it does not. They also do a great parade on Friday nights during the summer at the base and we will be in attendance on the last parade of the summer of 2010. It is held after Sunset and rightfully called the "The Evening Parade". Click on my title here for link to the Parade.


We will stay in the Hotel on the base at Quantico and be witness to all kinds of training happening on that base, probably be the last gathering of our platoon. It will be fun to once again touch the roots of our past, see Marines do what Marines do so well and what bonds us together..Oh single picture of me here is the very best "john wayne" imitation I could muster....Gee I may even get motivated to do a blog story about this reunion some day, ya think?

Semper Fi.!

P.S. I see here below an add for Stryker Knee Replacement, the kind I have and find it funny that when I visit a friend this afternoon at Clarian Hospital that he was lying in a Stryker Hospital bed....guess you had to be there...