By Jim Cardillo, USMC, Vietnam, 1967-68 In March 2025, I had the rare privilege of visiting the island of Iwo Jima with my brother for the 80th Reunion of Honor. Only a limited number of visitors are permitted on the island one day each year for this solemn occasion. As the nation marks the
By Todd DePastino On February 23, 1945, five days into the Battle of Iwo Jima, a patrol of U.S. Marines raised an American flag atop Mount Suribachi. A few hours later, a second, larger flag was raised, and Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the moment in what would become the most famous American
An Iraqi woman bakes flatbread. (Public Domain) By Brennan Morton After graduating from the University of New Hampshire, Brennan Morton joined the Marine Corps and went on to become a sniper, breacher, and team leader in a Reconnaissance Battalion. He deployed for two combat tours in Iraq before opening a gym in
By Todd DePastino Today, reading the Military Times, I learned that the fast-food chain Taco Bell is named after the founder, Glen Bell. I also learned that Glen Bell started cooking for large groups in the Marine Corps in World War II. Glen Bell spent most of the war in a kitchen. He cooked
By Todd DePastino Thanksgiving 1950. Huge snowstorm in Pittsburgh. "Mild Blizzard" in Chicago. And, in Korea, hope for a quick end to war. General Douglas MacArthur’s stunning landing at Incheon two months earlier had swung the war in the United Nation's favor. Seoul was back in UN hands. President Harry Truman praised the
By Todd DePastino Every Marine celebrates the USMC's birthday on November 10. Some attend balls with cakes, swords and special messages from the Commandant and Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune. But the story of how that date became the Marine Corps’ official birthday is complicated. Not a simple matter of the Second Continental
