Good morning Leathernecks, and on this the 3rd day of September in the history of our beloved Corps:
In 1777, the American Flag flew for the first time.
In 1942, Brigadier General Roy S. Geiger and the command echelon of 1st MAW reach Guadalcanal via a MAG-24 R4D transport and assume control of all air elements on the island.
MAG-25 begins shifting from Hawaii to New Caledonia. (MAG-25 will become the nucleus of South Pacific Combat Air Transport Command or SCAT, which will remain in existence until February 1945.)
In 1943, in the European Theater, the British Eighth Army invades the Italian mainland at the toe of the peninsula.
In 1946, the 4th Marines (less 3/4) embark at Tsingtao, China for the United States, where they will join the 2nd Marine Division.
The 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) comes under command of the Naval Port Facilities, Tsingtao.
In 1950, the Marine brigade opens a counterattack to stop the enemy offensive in the Naktong Bulge in Korea.
As elements of the 1st Marine Division combat load their ships in Japan, a typhoon rolls in and soaks much of their supplies on the docks (an eerie repeat of the rain that disrupted the division’s embarkation in New Zealand for Guadalcanal in 1942).
In 1967, a Communist artillery barrage destroys the ammunition dump and fuel farm and damages 17 helicopters of HMM-361.
Thereafter no more helicopters are based there.
In 1969, Ho Chi Minh dies, which will segue us to this tidbit:
One of Boston’s most controversial works of art hangs not in a museum, but on the walls of a massive gas storage tank.
Originally painted by Sister Mary Corita Kent in 1971, the rainbow swashes are a welcome, lighthearted burst of color that have had some Bostonians up in arms for four decades.
Perhaps it was the blue swash that appears to be a profile of Ho Chi Minh that got them upset.
Known for her willingness to stick it to the man, Kent ran into a bit of controversy after painting the gas tank in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, off Interstate 93 south of downtown.
The largest copyrighted work of art in the world, the Rainbow Swash consists of orange, yellow, red, blue, green, and purple stripes strewn over a white background on the tank.
On the left side of the blue strip, there’s a subtle profile of an eye and nose and seemingly long-pointed goatee beneath.
Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas!
Often Tested, Always Faithful, Brothers Forever!
-Richard W. Pettengill, Corporal USMC
And damn proud of it!