Archive for February 1st, 2010

By now most of you should have guessed that I was a career Marine.  What you may not know is that I am still active with the Corps as Deputy Director for Programs of the US Marine Corps Historical Company (USMCHC).  We are a not-for-profit educational corporation dedicated to the Marine Corps by preserving its history, heritage, and traditions.  Although I am not full time, it can come close.  The Director, Tom Williams, another career Marine, spends most of his days and nights managing the USMCHC.  We have evolved over the past ten years into a major business, with the assets and personnel to prove it.

The USMCHC supports the Corps through taskings by the Commandant’s office and as essentially the outreach program for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.  Our programs include presentations, demonstrations, and static displays of Marine history from 1775 through present.  We educate the public, using the uniforms, equipment, weaponry, flags, and other material artifacts covering all the periods in Marine history.  Some of these programs are presented in period uniforms, but many are given in civilian attire with displays and mannequins in the uniforms.  Our audience dictates the method of historical interpretation.

Marine Color Guard (Korean period uniforms) at Navy Memorial in DC

In addition to programs, the USMCHC supports the heritage of the Corps and the Corps, itself, in numerous other ways.  We advise the film and television industries, with such credits as “Windtalkers” and “Flags of Our Fathers.”  We provided historical advise and material artifacts for the new National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico, VA.  We manage the pageantry for various Marine Corps ceremonies, such as the opening of the new Marine Corps Museum, and Marine Birthday Balls, including the Commandant’s Ball. More recently we have been providing comprehensive educational packages to Marine bases, worldwide.  These packages include reproduction uniforms, accoutrements, and weapons of various periods, instructions on how to correctly fit and wear the historical items, and Marine history educational tools/lectures.

All of our members are of the Marine Corps family in one way or the other.  Many are senior Marine NCOs and officers currently on active duty or in the Marine Reserves.  Several are retired career Marines or former active duty Marines.  We have members who are or were Navy Corpsmen, who have immediate family currently serving in the Corps, and even some historians we have adopted as our own, whose passion for Marine Corps history is a great asset to our mission. For many programs we bring in active duty Marine volunteers, kit them in period attire and equipment, train them in the drill of whatever period we are presenting, and let them go.

Korean War display at Navy Memorial in DC

It is amazing how quickly these young dedicated Marines pick up the history and drill.  In only a short time they are face to face, educating the public first hand about their Corps and its values – where we came from.  If you’d like to hear more about what we do, please send me a comment and I’ll be happy to oblige.

The USMCHC Website is at:  http://www.usmchc.org

WW II Parade in Sharpsburg

WW II Seagoing Marines Program - USS North Carolina, Wilmington, NC

1859 Marines at Harpers Ferry Program