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PRESIDENTS LETTER
December 24, 2024
The Board and Trustees want to wish all our members a very Merry Christmas,
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Enjoy the season with family and friends.
The 2024 reunion was held in Milwaukee in September at the Milwaukee Hilton hotel. A great time was had by all. Everything from the two cute Labradoodles who roamed the beautiful hotel lobby, the nice hotel rooms, the fun Pub, the excursions to the Harley-Davidson Museum and the Brewers vs Mets baseball game, and the delicious food at the banquet buffet provided a splendid stay for all.
The banquet was held on Saturday and was kicked off with a tribute to our beloved Navy Corpsmen. Those Corpsmen included Doc Paul Stein, Doc John Erceg, and Doc Brian Murphy. We only had three Corpsmen attend the reunion but that did not stop us from paying tribute to their critical care, bravery, and a Marines best friend in combat. It was affirmed that these three men, and the remaining Corpsmen of the Vietnam Veterans of the 2d Bn First Marines who did not attend the reunion, are a valued part of our organization and they are MARINES. Each of the attending Corpsmen received a beautiful quilt from the Quilts of Honor organization chapter with Bev Crocker taking the lead for creating the beautiful quilts and presenting them to the Corpsmen and Doc Stein presented each Corpsmen with a unique Challenge Coin with "Devil Docs" engraved on the coin.
Speaking of Quilts, there were also 10 other quilts awarded to members of the organization to those who have not received one in the past. Beverly contacted us after the reunion to let us know that she is creating 15 more quilts to be presented at the reunion in D.C. this coming July. If you have not received a quilt in the past and would like to receive one of the 15 to be awarded at the 2025 reunion, send us an email to FirstMarines@juno.com and we will have a drawing prior to the reunion to determine the recipients.
Now to the nitty gritty. The 2025 reunion will be held in Washington D.C. The dates of the reunion are July 9th through July 13th. with the Banquet being held on Saturday, July 12th. We are currently in discussion with the Arlington Hilton (where we stayed last time we were in D.C.), and the Crown Plaza. We should finalize the contract for the hotel by the end of next week. While in D.C., we plan on excursions to the Vietnam Wall Memorial and then travel down to the Marine Corps Museum on Thursday, July 10th. On Friday, July 11th, we will hold the Fourth Annual Ladies Luncheon and then attend the Friday Night parade at the Marine Barracks later that evening. Saturday will be an off day with Happy Hour starting at 5:00pm followed by the banquet. We will distribute a single sheet agenda for the reunion with timelines and events as soon as we finalize the plans.
Enjoy the Holidays
SEMPER FI
Tony Kilroy
