Pat Donovan commences by recognizing the following:

Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Ronald B. Radich, USMC
Colonel and Mrs. Eugene R. Brady, USMC (Ret)
Major Franklin A. Gulledge, Jr., USMC (Ret)
Marines of HMM-364, "The Purple Foxes"
Mrs. Timothy L. "Michelle" Ryan

On September 30, 2003 you boarded an ATA Commercial Flight in Kuwait, near where the earliest concepts of civilization began at the “Dawn” of the Code of Hammurabi.  Next stop was Cypress, then to Shannon Airport, Limerick Ireland for Irish Breakfast and Guinness.  Next stop was Bangor, Maine and on to Indianapolis and final leg to landing October 1, 2003 at MCAS Miramar – Welcome Home!

Briefly for the next minutes, call upon your imagination and follow me as your “Always Faithful” history guide, through my view of Marine Corps History, beginning with a scene in a classroom in Ellis County, Texas (1959), a church choir in Waxahachie, Texas (1968), then Primm Nevada (10 Nov 2003), then “Tun Tavern”(1775), then to Galilee (30AD), then Camp Pendleton (1967), to Korea (1950-53), then Khe Sahn (1968), to Hue/Phu Bai (1968), to Canoe Creek on Lake Neely, Alabama (2003), to Baton Rouge, La (10 Nov 2003) and Menlo Park, Ca. (10 Nov 2003).

Keep sakes you can gather and take home from this trip are metaphors, a “Sunflower”, “Loops of Thread”, and “Colors of the Rainbow”.

The High School Senior Class Teacher was also our Principal, and prior to the Student Government meeting left our classroom with instructions to one lanky student to conduct an orderly meeting; but later yelling and dispute over plans filled the room.  The click of heals on linoleum echoed a return from down the hall.  Instantly, quiet resumed.  The Principal and Senior Class Teacher, returning to remarkable quiet order, gave praise and congratulations to the Senior Class President, who immediately and smartly sat down. What happened next was formative to his later life:

“Young man, get ya’self back up heah rit’ now!  Y’awta be asham’d, takin’ praise fah awd’ly class meetin’!  Let this be a lesson to ya’ & don’t ya’all  evah agin’ Let me he’ah that y’all accept’d credit fah somthin’ y’all don’t d’suv.”

Lieutenant Colonel Radich said: “if you just got up and said two words” you would be appreciated.  Given that challenge, I would loudly say “Semper Fidelis”.  My son, Patrick, a History & Economics Teacher of 107 freshmen at Tilden Career Community Academy (where our own Purple Fox and now Captain with Alaska Airlines, "Shakey" Gitcho, 1959-63, was first recipient of Mayor Richard J. Daley Scholarship, Student Council President, Letters 4 in Baseball and 4 in Football & 'All City' and Knute Rockne Award nominee as a Senior, as well as National Honor Society at the then all male "Tilden Technical") to whom I first repeated that message.  He thinks like Lieutenant Colonel Radich and said: “Well, just tell ‘em just that!”

Happy Birthday, Marines!  Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Radich and all of you my friends and family of Marines and Squadronmates in HMM-364 “The Purple Foxes.”

That senior class president now personally stands before you to thank you.  Your words of praise will be held in trust and dispensed individually, as we “visit”, calling to mind those who “made it happen” that we are gathered on this 228th Birthday.

Thanks to all who keep the faith and family together: in my case, with me tonight  my Wife “Beba” and my Daughter, Eileen, and also with us in spirit are my son Patrick and married sons and daughters-in-law Brian his wife Liz, Dan and his wife Rachel, and Tom and his wife Judy who join in spirit.

We are linked by our commitment to liberty…still an active duty without leave.  We are linked in our citizenship…from which there is no such thing as Retirement.  We are linked by one oath…to the US Constitution.  We are linked deeply in collective confidence and now lets tell each other how this is so:  Community support from my hometown for Marines is important to me.  Family told me that our parish organist, my Mom, softly played the first few bars of the Marine Corps Hymn during quiet church meditations reminding the congregation to pray for Marines on duty overseas.

Our Chaplain, Lt. Sam Contreras can correct me, if my recollection is off the mark but this is what I heard.

Our First Commandant, Date of Rank, 10 Nov 1775, Samuel “Sam” Nicholas’ may have chosen as a leadership role model for Marines the story of the  Roman Centurion.  A Roman, he needed an aide, to help him get into body armor, saddle and bridle his horse, and generally made sure he didn’t go to any Birthday Balls out uniform, like forgetting collar EGA’s.  Well, somehow this aide got hurt and needed a Corpsman quick.  Being an astute leader, this Centurion was resourceful and knew the locale, and its people well, when he realized that he was in the presence of his Divine Commanding Officer and sent word:

"Lord, my Servant needs a Corpsman now!"

Faced with report that Divine Commander-in-Chief was going to handle it himself  The Centurion was agast.  Coincidentally, what happened was recorded in an After Action Report that still survives as written by a Corpsman who later became famous as an Apostle named Luke.  Read for yourself what “Doc” Luke wrote:   “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man subject to authority, with men under me.  I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes.  I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it”  Luke 7:6-8

The Divine Commander-in-Chief was amazed as “Doc” Luke quotes his words: “Amen, Amen I say to you.  I have not found such great faith in all of Israel”.

Of course we all know that when the emissary returned to the CP of the Centurion, they found his servant, now restored to health.

The plain lesson is: Faith is all important.

We are linked to each other as we foster that Faith and Hope for a life filled with the blessings of liberty and justice and democracy for all.

It is the “U.S. Constitution” and, under it the Bill of Rights and Rule of Law, which we have taken an oath to defend:

What was the oath of office taken by Samuel Nicholas as he was Commissioned by Act of Congress and gathered at Tun Tavern in 1775?  No written Constitution yet ‘til 1789, it may have been: "I swear to do my duty to protect my country and my fellow man so help me God,” which in my imagination may have been followed by, “Who will come with me?  Let’s get on board.”

Our Marine Corps storytelling reckons from that gatherings at Tun Tavern’s open fire hearth and from there a crescendo of repetition of stories, the transmittal of combat experiences, as we toil in our own “work at hand” that has built a “tradition” in the Marine Corps.

So let me begin some storytelling, at Camp Pendleton, in mid 1968, as a student copilot in Huey with an  Advanced Guns & Rockets Tactics Instructor Pilot.  We approached above Basilone Road enroute to the gunnery range which remarkably had a  still standing old metal water well windmill with blades bent and broken but, none the less a target.  The instructor barked, “Donovan, what is the primary function of this helicopter?”  My reply was, “Sir, to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or to repel the enemy’s assault with fire and close combat, Sir”.  My instructor replied, “The primary function of this helicopter, Donovan, is to get your brain in the area, where you will then decide how to solve the tactical problem and only then you will attack and destroy the enemy.”

In those days, we could only assess what we could see with our own unaided eyes and hear with our own unaided ears. Kneeboards captured it all in pencil.

“You ready Lt. Donovan…lets see what you can do…like that windmill…I’ll make the first pass and fire several rockets and you’ll see the heading from recoil…one miss… two closer… three just missed it…OK it’s your turn."

“Rolling in hot…sideslip…crabbing into the wind…kick right rudder and …fired only rockets…a direct hit in the top of the windmill in the fan gearbox”.

Bill Beebe from the East Coast and I from the West were ready to do battle with the Huey Gunship, but two eager PQM Gunship Pilots were now puzzled Second Lieutenants standing at Hue/Phu Bai when we heard the MAG-36 CO say, “Who at Wing told you, you’d be flying Huey’s, we need ’46 pilots!”

Having no idea what “manual Hover Aft” was, nor the criticality of Station 410 mods, we were welcomed to the Purple Foxes Squadron by the then CO, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Dobbratz,  who was in the process of orienting, as his replacement, the new Purple Fox Squadron CO, Lieutenant Colonel Bud Statzer.

It was 2 Sept ’68.  Beebe and Donovan’s “tag team” transition from “PQM” to “H3P” in country began with “touch and go” instruction at an abandoned French airstrip at the mouth of the Perfume River where “We took sniper small arm fire on our first (hotseat) FAM flight of our CH-46D training syllabus.”

In the Tent O-Club at Phu Bai, above the pallet board bar, a stuffed parrot was perched on a swing, tail feathers blown a way.  In those humble environs, we toasted the Marine Corps.  It was 35 years ago, where the road outside, no doubt like Philadelphia streets outside Tun Tavern 193 years before, was dusty red clay in good weather and knee-deep mud during monsoons, impassible even by foot.

This brings to mind the words of the Marine Corps Hymn: “We have fought in every clime and place where we could take a gun”.

You my brother and sister Purple Foxes faced the most severe “heat, wind and storms of dust” and have reckoned a similar start at Camp Pendleton.

I  achieved “completed Staff Work” for this speech by consulting my family recollection and speaking with my fellow 1968-69 Purple Foxes whose exploits, Homeric as they are Heroic, charge Marine Corps History:

By visiting with Eugene R. Brady, Colonel USMC (Ret) F9F “Deuce” Pilot  in Korean War and Commanding Officer HMM-364 (1969) “Papafox” to us Purple Foxes in Vietnam.  His stories are the stuff of “legend”.

Memories were refreshed,  while bass fishing with Lieutenant Colonel William A. “Wild Bill” Beebe, USMC (Ret) and Major Courtney B. “Snake Shit” Payne, USMC (Ret), who was a Fixed Wing Transport Crew Chief in Korea, Drill Instructor at Parris Island, and, in addition to collateral duties as "Purple Fox Poet", was our Recovery Team Leader and Maintenance Officer of The Purple Foxes in 1969, both of whom invited Beba and I to this bass fishing tournament on "Canoe Creek".

We talked about what has made this Squadron’s Legacy what it is today.  Courtney and his wife, Donna, Beba and I made an amphibious landing with “Beebe at the helm” on a tiny island out in  the exact middle of on G. Henry Neely Lake in Northern Alabama.

Lights came on all around the distant shoreline, for miles, birds flew forsaking their nests, and ground squirrels scampered to safety as loudly Bill, Beba, Donna, Courtney (“S/S”) and I sang all three verses of “The Marine Corps Hymn”.  Our Poet Laureate, Snake Shit Payne then drew from his irreverent stash the “263 Song” we sung and, sure enough, more and more lights came on.  Finally with no time left to waste before darkness set in, we sang with gusto “The Phu Bai Song” and toasted all you Purple Foxes in Iraq, toasted your families and supporting friends here, and then departed.

There and then we reaffirmed the bond of friendship and loyalty to each other.  We called Gene and Ginny Brady at home in Irvine, CA to report on our fishing expedition.

After all we speak of what we know.  We sing of what we cherish.  We laugh and poke fun at each other like rowdy kids. “Gene” is in the middle of all this “Hullabaloo”.  I know we have two Texas Aggies, Purple Fox First Lieutenant Brian Clifton and my daughter Eileen, among us so I use that term “Hullabaloo” reverently.

Colonel Dave “Smiley” McSorley, USMC (Ret) read drafts of this text to ensure that as I try to speak, I do so for the entirety of us all, the Vietnam Veteran Purple Foxes with whom I flew these same aircraft and in some cases the same bureau number as you.  Of course all of my staff work would have been an uphill battle without the on-line Purple Fox Website, managed by “Uncle Frank” Gulledge.  We are truly grateful for his, as he calls it, “my labor of love”.

I would like to say a word of deep gratitude to “The Purple Foxy Ladies”, whose work has complemented and inspired the Purple Fox Website…www.HMM-364.org, which is rich in Purple Fox Family history, photos, links and practical information.

Major Frank Gulledge, would you please stand and be recognized here and throughout the world for all you have done to bring us together in mind and heart.

On behalf of all us Vietnam Squadronmates, I would like to go through all the names, carefully pronouncing each name yet once again.  But, only one representative name will be chosen.  All would open their hearts, were they here now, to the dedication of praise for the example of one solitary dedicated Marine:

He is the embodiment of the Purple Fox Legacy.  Up all night getting ready for dawn launch in the Maintenance Hangar.  Of course, you have seen this Marine’s character and leadership, also among you, the active duty Purple Foxes.

As now, and in 1968, critical to our Purple Fox Squadron “Maintenance” and “Operations” was to gain max “availability” of “up” helicopters for the morning launch.  Sergeant Kenneth A. “Al” Altazan praises his Phu Bai Purple Fox “First Mech” known to “work his butt off” to achieve “up” status.

Corporal James Edward “Johnny”Johnson, USMC is “‘Johnny’, our hero, if no one else’s”, says “Al.”

Today in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, “Al” will take pride and give credit to Marines such as his “First Mech” who worked overnight on May 25, 1968 to get Altazan’s helo in an “up” status.  Johnny demanded this: “Al go get some sleep for the next launch.”  Johnny 14 feet above the hangar deck, stood out on the access panel outside the aft pylon working on the aft transmission.  Al’s buddy, Johnny, would get this helicopter “up” or “he would die trying”.  When the 122MM rocket hit the aft transmission, Johnny “died trying”.  To this day, a meritoriously promoted to Sergeant Kenneth A. Altazan,  medevac’ed on his last “Mission 5-Mike”, cannot forget a Corporal by the name of “Johnny”

“Johnny,” who gave what Lincoln called, “the last full measure of devotion,”
                  “gave all” without glory,
                          without formal recognition,
                                without an award,
but with a treasure more precious than gold, the undying admiration of his fellow Marine, “Al”.

By my count, we were and we are a tightly woven Marine Air Ground team of “who really and truly ‘Give a Shit’ about each other.”  We care about Second Lieutenant Tom Fong, CO and all of Alpha Co. 1/5 at My Hiep(3), and Bruce Cader, Squad Leader and all of Bravo Co. 1/5 north of Liberty Bridge; along with “Johnny” “Sully” “Gooey”  “Steiny” and "Cash" Casciano and "Stash" Barnes.

As I am representing my fellow Vietnam Purple Foxes,  I accept and hold in trust the praise of my Squadron mates and those Marines whom we helped while under night attack in the mountains north of the Nam O Bridge in Quang Nam (Feb 22), under attack in an open rice paddy northwest of Liberty Bridge in Quang Nam (April 21), engaged in combat with a large North Vietnamese Army force near the village of My Hiep (3) (May 9), under mortar attack on the island near Hoi An (Mar 17), and the lone Recon Second Lieutenant  with red hair who led the attack off our ramp into a fire fight, the same one we came back for, re-entered the zone and grabbed out of the fire fight near An Hoa (April 28).

By my count, on every mission we were a team of pilot, copilot, crew chief, two gunners at each .50 cal, and the Navy Medic, or in the case of Doc Linkous, a Navy Doctor on board, not to overlook the maintenance crew that constantly went without rest to keep the aircraft "up".  We were and are a Marine Air-Ground team linked by oath and blood to those on the ground we serve.  We all achieved the missions and we all respect the memory of our Squadron mates and Marines on board who paid for the lives of their fellow Marines with their own.

And we all did this under the guidance and inspiration of a gentleman named Gene, whom we roast in song and toast in admiration.

The time has now come to praise the leadership and inspiration by this humble West York, Pennsylvania native and championship wrestler, who joined the Marine Corps with his high school classmates, and rose to the rank of “Buck” Sargeant  before being accepted as a “NavCad” (there weren’t yet “MarCads).  Commissioned a U.S. Marine Second Lieutenant after graduating Number One in his Naval Aviation Cadet Class, he married Virginia, proud mother of their six children.  When he took over the Squadron in late January 1969 with forty one Lieutenants, a couple of Captains, of whom one , Captain "Rich" Bianchino, USMC, had two prior RVN tours as Platoon CO and Battalion Staff, followed by his tour as a Purple Fox ending with his medevac to CONUS and several Majors all of whom revered him as “our Papafox”.

Speaking to Colonel and Mrs. Eugene R. Brady:

I would like to ask Colonel and Mrs. Eugene R. Brady, USMC (Ret), now grandparents of many to stand here and now, and be recognized both here and around the world, as we toast their lifetime of service to their country and the Marine Corps:

Speaking to Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Ronald B. Radich:

Likewise, this Marine Corps Family stands with highest praise, for their commitment of service to the Purple Foxes, to their country and to Marine Corps Core Values.

Lieutenant Colonel and Mrs. Ronald B. Radich, please stand and be recognized here, and around the world, for your service to your United States of America, to the Marine Corps and to all Purple Foxes.

We join together with the families of all Marines killed on the field of battle and most especially in “Operation Iraqi Freedom”:

Captain Andrew D. LaMont, USMC
Captain Timothy L. Ryan, USMC
Staff Sargeant Aaron D. White, USMC
Lance Corporal Jason W. Moore, USMC

We stand in respect for Marine Sergeant Kirk Straseskie of Wisconsin drowned while trying to save his fallen fellow Marines LaMont, Ryan, White and Moore;

together "gave all" without concern for glory;
together "gave all", no thought of recognition;
together "gave all" not anticipating award;
relentless in their mission against all odds.

They now receive the most precious award of all, the undying admiration of their fellow Marines.

Thank you Michelle Ryan.  By your presence here we are most assuredly a family in touch with each other.

“Always Faithful” to our brothers and sisters near and far, together and none the less present in spirit, we send our most encouraging words of “Oorah” and "Happy 228th Marine Corps Birthday” to:

Thomas J. Sullivan, 1stLt. USMC,
VA Nursing Home CareUnit
795 Willow Road, Building 331-D
Menlo Park, California 94025

and all Marine Veterans similarly confined to long term medical care facilities.

We recognize Lieutenant Colonel Louis Gulling, USMC (Ret), Commanding Officer of The Purple Foxes in 1968 during the Battle of Khe Sanh.  Upon his passing October 26, 2003, we extend to his family our faith filled prayers and most sincere condolences.

Likewise, we remember and recognized Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dunbaugh who passed away last year.  He was the Commanding Officer of the Purple Foxes, beginning August 1969.

We recognize the passing last month of General Raymond G. Davis, Sr. USMC Medal of Honor Recipient during The Korean War for his extraordinary action in the 1st Marine Division’s historic breakout from an entrapment by overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.  On our watch in I Corps in Vietnam, he was Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Division the Vietnam War from May of 1968 to April of 1969.

We recognize the passing of Bob Hope for whom we are “eternally grateful” for his humor and wit.  Didn’t he leave us in “Stitches” right in the middle of Freedom Hill at Da Nang, with his “golf club” and “witty jokes”.

A poet named Thomas Moore chose as metaphor a flower that follows the sun, a heliotrope, well known in these parts of Nevada, the Sunflower.

That metaphor is chosen now to address our Marine Corps Core Values and our links to each other, Marines, family, friends, neighbors and American Citizens all,  in the spirit of “Semper Fidelis”.  Tonight captures the  persistence of vision, determination to  overcome obstacles and courage, both physical and moral, to focus upon one goal whose value exceeds all:

Service to Others Over Self

Recognizing the “beauty” of the moment, these words touch the edge of the future and we can see therein the Divine.

Believe me if all those endearing young charms,
    Which I gaze on so fondly today,
Were to pass by tomorrow and fleet in my arms,
    Like fairy gifts fading away,
Thou would still be adored as this moment thou art,
    Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
    Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and truth are thine own,
    And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,
That the fervor and faith of a soul may be known
    To which time will but make thee more dear,
No the heart that truly loves never forgets,
    But as truly lives on to the close.
As the sunflower turns to her God when He sets,
    The same look which she turned when He Rose.

With the constancy of that “…same look…” there you see the presence of one “always faithful.”

“Our Flag’s unfurled to every breeze, From dawn to setting sun, we have fought in every clime and place where we could take a gun”

We recognize in “Reville” and the launch at sunrise, the constancy, the discipline and the purpose of all United States Marines in the service to our country.  Flying through the heat of midday and buffeting winds, the sight and sound of Marine helicopters brings hope, and promise of furtherance of democratic values in the future of mankind.

We recognize the service of our HMM- 364 “Purple Fox” Squadron, 66 Marines who “have given all” and are eternally bound as “Always Faithful” Purple Foxes.

 “Veterans honoring veterans” is our purpose today.

We call to mind the faith that quickened your pulse, having come from to Miramar on October 1, 2003, via Indianapolis, via Bangor, via Shannon, Ireland, via Cypress from Kuwait, now as we gather in fact in Primm to commemorate our Marine Corps Family.

Now listen to the quickening of your own pulse as we salute today:
       Eugene R. Brady,
       Courtney B. Payne
Purple Fox Veterans of The Korean War and our Vietnam Veteran colleagues and friends.

Colors presented by Color Guard and Donovan points to the “National Ensign” – The Star Spangled Banner:

Look at our “National Ensign.”  Now come take a closer look.  Count the arrangement of 64 pieces of cloth, in the words of The Star Spangled Banner,
    “Broad stripes”
            Red –   four (4) long  + three (3) short
            White –  three (3) long + three (3) short
    “Bright stars”
            5 rows of 6 + 4 rows of 5:  total 50
            Shining from a “Heavenly blue sky”
Small interlocking loops of thread, sewn by hand, holding these sixty four pieces together:
         unseen but secure,
                unrecognized but stalwart,
                                    unheralded yet they
                                                       hold with precision –
                                                               “stitch by stitch”.

Donovan points to uniformed persons present and the emblems and chevrons on their uniforms:

No man or woman here shall ever forget their first hard earned military unit emblem and chevron sewn by their own hand, carefully hand stitched onto their uniform.

How proud each are at that moment!

No one shall ever forget that it was and is the service of each of you Marines, holding secure in the gale force sandstorm winds of Iraq joined in contrast and memory with the bitter cold of the Chosen Reservoir 53 years ago where then and now the Marine Corps still holds together the sacred fabric of freedom.

Your service in Operation Iraqi Freedom links us all,
person to person,
         neighborhood to neighborhood,
                   state and nation
                              to all on this earth.
Just like those interlocking loops of thread in the flag, you hold the line, with relentless grip.  Yes, you were and are at times unseen, unrecognized and unheard as you  faithfully discharge your duties, but never shall you be forgotten as buddies, as neighbors in a world of freedom, holding forth in gale force winds of war.

Because of all who preceded us, freedom has flourished here in America and because of you, our active duty Purple Foxes, freedom shall now flourish in Iraq, although it is threatened daily, even as we speak.

Yet, we sing carefully chosen question of our National Anthem  “Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave…?” and we sing the carefully chosen words of:
“America the Beautiful”,
         we sing “Oh beautiful for spacious skies”
                “for amber waves of grain”,
giving thanks for gifts of providence.

“Satch Mo” Louie Armstrong comes to mind today:

Donovan sings, "I see skies of blue and clouds of white.  I say to myself it's a wonderful world."

Faced with dark clouds of personal loss, we may yet see “The Colors of the Rainbow”, and can sing with Satch Mo, "I say to myself what a wonderful world”

Today,  our freedom is anchored in adherence to responsibility and accountability

The adherence to responsibility and accountability ensures continuing respect for authority, granted by consent of the governed.  It is an awesome task, for every nation of the world, and, facing mounting problems, nations may say:

“I have my limitations”

But you and I may say, together as Marines, together as neighboring residents from just across the street, and with neighboring nations from just across the ocean:

“Together - We can do anything!”

Together, we stand with respect for all that you have done in Operation Iraqi Freedom to advance freedom and democracy.  Acknowledging the fact that education is the best defense against tyranny, it is noteworthy that on October 21, 2003 Mr. Deputy Secretary Armitage announced Fulbright Scholarships shall be available for study in Iraq.

Drawing to a close, we cherish tonight the memory of our POW’s and MIA’s, one of whom is my lifelong friend, Ronald James Janousek, First Lieutenant of Posen, Illinois, HML-267 “Scarface” Huey Pilot shotdown 9 Aug 69 UH-1E Bu.No.155339 on Operation Prairie Fire – Laos, and we cherish all the Viet Nam Marines and Navy Corpsmen who together gave their last ounce of heroic effort.

There are gale force winds pulling at the fabric of freedom, hoping to rip it to shreds, in violent acts of terrorism, in response to which I leave you now with a reflection on
      the needle, thread and the securely sewn joinder
              of our fabric of freedom stitched
                     together as world neighbors,
just as our flag is joined by interlocking sewn loops.

There are no insignificant Veterans, among our Coalition Nations united in commitment and purpose first, reversing the invasion of Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm and as we speak building a nation of free citizens of Iraq.  We continue to oppose tyrants and terrorists.  There are no insignificant stitches holding secure the fabric of freedom and democracy on this earth.  There is a life of freedom in the balance.  We shall be responsible for its protection.

You have served well.  You have secured on your watch a beginning of leadership in freedom within Iraq and a legacy there of democracy.  Your mission has been achieved.  Now others must take up the responsibility.  But, you shall NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

Behind every veteran there are family and friends, places like right here in this room joining together as “Veterans Honoring Veterans” which is what we have done this anniversary day.

To you our honored and revered active duty Squadron Mates and your families, we confer upon you our highest award, the most precious award of all, the undying admiration of your colleagues in arms, men and women, Veterans all.

In closing, please join me in saluting United States Marines on duty around the world tonight, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and along the DMZ across the Korean Peninsula.  We salute our emissaries of State, Marines on active duty, who struggle in the intense theatre of negotiations, worldwide.  We salute the sacrifices of many to protect the cause freedom and democracy, and for all we pray with faith and hope for the providential guidance of Wisdom to those Marines charged with plans and programs designed to ensure the perseverance of freedom, and life of Spirit filled Faith Always!!!

Semper Fidelis! OORAH!!
Happy 228th Birthday, Marines!

H:Docs\VeteransHonoringVeterans in Speech to HMM-364 “The Purple Foxes”10Nov2003 for The 228th Marine Corps Birthday Ball, as Guest of Honor Speaker to 'The Purple Foxes'. Written and given by Joseph P. Donovan©2003 author.