SKUTTLEBUTT
NEWSLETTER FOR THE
MACOMB COUNTY DETACHMENT
MARINE CORPS LEAGUE AND AUXILIARY
Norm Pfaff, DetachmentD
Commandant
– (586)
– email:norjo2@yahoo.com
EPARTMENT
OF 263-3448)
MICHIGAN
April Brozowski, Auxiliary President – (586) 413-4556 – email: ril.ski72@yahoo.com
MARINE CAORPS
LEAGUE AND
PRIL 2014
Elaine Arnold, Editor, 414 Boardwalk, Walled Lake, MI 48390
UXILIARY
(248) 303-5582 – A
email:
elaine48178@gmail.com
Detachment WEB Site: www.macombmarines.com
Marines & Auxiliary Members:
APRIL MEETING NOTICE
The next General Membership Meeting will
be held on April 3rd at 2000.
The General Membership Meeting will be
held at the American Legion, Post 351, 46146 Cass
Avenue located in Utica. The telephone number to
the Post is: (586) 731-9833.
DETACHMENT & AUXILIARY
BIRTHDAYS FOR APRIL
Charles C. Bailey
Michael J. Carlton, Sr.
Brian A. Chupa
Christopher S. Degasperis
Charles J. Elert
Paul Glesen
James M. Kusiak
Francis J. Marella
Jose T. Ramirez
Hazel Ruehle
Gerald E. Sargent
Nicholas D. Simon
John C. Sneed
Irene Spooner
Gail Trevino
Norman F. Zatorski
MARCH MEETING
Good showing at the March meeting with 39
members present and two guests. Marine Hayes won
the 50/50 raffle of $50.00 and Marine Garofalo would
have won the Attendance Raffle for $24.75.
The attendance raffle works like this – when you arrive
at a meeting, you sign-in and put 25¢ into the kitty. You
have an attendance number assigned to you based on
when you joined the League. After the meeting an
attendance number is drawn and if the member is present,
they will receive the total amount in the kitty. If not present,
it rolls over to the next meeting until someone who is
present wins. Another good reason to attend the meetings!
NEW MEMBERS REPORTING IN
At the March General Membership
Meeting one new member was
sworn in.
Marine Craig Houlihan.
Marine Houlihan was active Dec.1988 to Dec.1992
He was an Infantryman (0311) and later a TOW
Gunner (0352) during the Persian Gulf War.
MEMBERSHIP DUES RENEWAL
Marine Tucci
Skuttlebutt, Newsletter of the Marine Corps League, Macomb County Detachment 154
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AUXILIARY NEWS
At our March general meeting we discussed a rose
sale & membership drive that is tentatively scheduled for
May 3, 2014. Details on the membership drive will be
made available after we are able to finalize the scheduling
with the local area business. We also discussed planning
an outing to visit Piquette Square and the John D Dingell
VA Medical Center finishing our afternoon together at a
local tea room. We are planning to have this outing after
the weather breaks.
It’s never too early to start planning (and collecting) for
the Birthday Party! We are in need of 18 inch or larger
baskets, patriotic themed items, Marine Corps / Marine
Corps League / Marine Corps League Auxiliary themed
items and non-perishables. Donations are being collected
throughout the year.
Some of our members are under the weather; we wish
them a very speedy return to health.
Welcome aboard Marine!
We hope your association with the Detachment will
be
a memorable one.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDANT
Marines,
It’s so wonderful to live in Michigan when the
weather can go from -5 degrees to + 50 degrees, get
a rain storm and then top off with 7" of beautiful snow
and back to the teens, all in 36 hours. Gotta love it.
I'm now the VAVS rep for the John Dignell VA
Hospital and the Marine Corps League sponsors
bingo night on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Let me
know if you want to help and I can get you directions
to the hospital. We had reps from the Dearborn,
Stanley L. Moore, and Macomb Detachments.
Our annual fun shoot will happen on April
19th and I expect see a lot of Marines out there
competing for the top shooter. We also have a spot
for top bench shooter, top women shooter, top non
Marine shooter. So bring your wife, friend male or
female along.
Looking ahead, we have Memorial Day parade
coming up and our annual summer convention the
first weekend in June.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at our
detachment meeting on April 3, 2014.
Semper Fi
Norm Pfaff , Commandant
Don’t forget, we now have a public Facebook page
and a private Facebook group set up for members only. If
you are on Facebook please search our private page,
“Macomb County Marine Corps League Auxiliary” and send
a request to join the group.
Spring has sprung! I’m looking forward to the warmer
weather and seeing everyone at the meetings again! I’d
also like to see our membership grow. Reach out to
potential members and invite them to come along to the
meetings. We have great potential to be a group of ladies
doing extraordinary things for Veterans and their families,
let’s get involved!
April Brozowski
President - Macomb County Unit, MCLA
MACOMB MONGRELS – POUND 345
MILITARY ORDER OF THE DEVIL DOGS
The Dogs of Pound 345 will meet
again on Apri 21. The Military
Order of the Devil Dogs is the Fun
and Honor Society of the Marine
Corps League. We are interested
in quality members, not quantity.
Its purposes are to provide added
strength to the League, to promote
camaraderie among all members, and to help make
the experience of being a member of the Marine
Corps League memorable in every respect.
Questions should be referred to PDD Scott Neff at
(248)798-5776
email: scott.neff@marinemaddog.com.
Remember these two words. They will open up a lot
of doors in your life. Push and Pull.
Skuttlebutt, Newsletter of the Marine Corps League, Macomb County Detachment 154
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MEET YOUR MACOMB COUNTY DETACHMENT 154
MEMBERS
How well do you know your Detachment
membership? This month meet the member with the
greatest longevity in the Detachment, numero uno on
the membership list, A.F. Blumenthal, known to all
as BLU.
After leaving the Marine Corps, Blu joined
the Mt. Clemens Police Dept and retired after 26
years as Detective Sergeant. Blu also spent 23 years
(1969-1992) as instructor and unit commander of the
Young Marines of Macomb County and was named
Instructor of the Year by them.
In Sept. 1969 Blu joined the MCL Wallace
B. Emery detachment which later became the
Macomb County Detachment. Now a life member, he
has held every office but one (Chaplain.) He was
honored by the Detachment as Marine of the year in
1977 and 1984, and also by the Dept. of MI in 1977.
So there you have numero uno!
VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK OF DETROIT
MCL Life member, Mark Spooner recently
wrote an editorial to the Macomb Daily in response to
an article he read about Rosie the Riveter. He is one
of the original members of the Vietnam Veterans of
America, Chapter Nine-Detroit and a five time past
president, vice-president, treasurer and board of
directors member for over 25 years.
Blu entered the Corps in 1956 and was
discharged in Sept. 1962. He went through boot
camp in San Diego and afterwards on to Camp
Pendleton for ITS (Infantry Training School.) He was
assigned 1st Battalion, 9th Marines N. Camp Fuji
Japan. While there, he climbed to the top of Mount
Fuji twice, elevation: 12,388 feet. Of the entire
regiment, he was the first to reach the top on that first
climb. He remembers, “what a view from the top!” He
could see clear to the ocean.
In Sept. 1957 his regiment left the Fuji
Camp for Okinawa, then on to the Phillipines and
later Formosa (Taiwan). In June 1958 Blu returned
to Camp Pendleton, COMM Company, he had a
double MOS as a rifleman and a radio operator.
When the Corps asked for volunteers in
Oct. 1958 to do a tour of duty at MB/NAS (Marine
Barracks/Naval Air Station) Kodiak Island, Blu was
among them. At that time Alaska was a territory, but
in July 1959, Blu was the corporal in charge of the
color guard that mounted the first 49 star US Flag at
the Naval Base. He reminisces “when the territory
became a state, the base lost their overseas pay $10 a month!” From Feb.1960 to Sept.1962 Blu was
in Fort Benning Georgia for jump school, then was
assigned to 2nd Force Recon Company. Training
included SCUBA school in St Thomas V.I., and
Pathfinder school… “We’ll put you in a cold one and
get you out of a hot one.”
It’s their legacy dream to develop a
Memorial Park for veterans in the City of Detroit. To
that end they are developing the Veterans Memorial
Park of Detroit at a proposed site adjacent to the
Belle Isle bridge (a.k.a. MacArthur Bridge) known as
Father Gabriel Richard Park.
It will be a teaching monument about
veterans, referencing the history of past wars and
conflicts. This will be told on a series of pylons
cascading down the park slope toward the Detroit
River. Rosie the Riveter will be included and the
many like her who helped establish Detroit as the
Arsenal of Democracy. Mark’s mother-in-law is a
good example. A young woman who joined the Army
during WII after her three brothers and her husband
were drafted; she was stationed at Walter reed
hospital during her tour of duty.
Skuttlebutt, Newsletter of the Marine Corps League, Macomb County Detachment 154
Guess
whose
tattoo
is
vintage
1945?
Page 3
Skuttlebutt, Newsletter of the Marine Corps League, Macomb County Detachment 154
Page 4
scuttlebutt
1805, "water cask kept on a ship's deck," from scuttle
"opening in a ship's deck" (see scuttle (v.2)) + butt
"barrel." Earlier scuttle cask (1777). Meaning "rumor,
gossip" first recorded 1901, originally nautical slang,
traditionally said to be from sailors' custom of
gathering around the scuttlebutt
Skuttlebutt, Newsletter of the Marine Corps League, Macomb County Detachment 154
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MACOMB COUNTY DETACHMENT
Department of Michigan
Marine Corps League
INCORPORATED BY ACT OF CONGRESS
Mailing Address:
PO Box 183610
Shelby Township, MI 48318
Published monthly for members of the Macomb County
Detachment and Auxiliary. SKUTTLEBUTT Newsletter is a
non-profit monthly publication for the use of the Macomb
County Detachment/Auxiliary, Department of Michigan,
Marine Corps League. Article deadline is the 15th of each
month
Commandant
Norman Pfaff, PC
(586) 263-3448
Auxiliary President
April Brozowski
(586) 413-4556
Senior Vice Commandant
Christine Tonegatto-Salo
(586) 801-0081
Senior Vice President
Irene Spooner
(586) 466-5708
Detachment
Officers 2012 - 2013(586) 776-7177
Craig Brozowski
Junior Vice Commandant
Auxiliary
Officers 2012 - 2013(586)270-6186
Sherri Teeples
Junior Vice President
Judge Advocate
Garth Allen
(248) 918-3720
Judge Advocate
Joan Pfaff
(586) 263-3448
Adjutant/Paymaster
Scott Neff
(248) 798-5776
Co-Chaplain
Dolores Tonegatto
(586) 781-6839
Chaplain
Greg Rugenstein
(586) 216-8616
Co-Chaplain
Mary Ann Music
(586) 783-2362
Sergeant at Arms
Alan Opra
(586) 719-0219
Secretary
Irene Spooner
(586) 463-8890
Editor, Newsletter
Elaine Arnold
(248) 303-5582
Treasurer
Gayle Brown
(586) 598-8533
Honor Guard Commander
Scott Neff
(248) 798-5776
Auditor
Shirley Cichoski
(586) 939-8418
Quartermaster
Craig Overby
(586) 242-8268
Auditor
Gail Trevino
Deputy Quartermaster
John Sternicki
(586) 468-1014
Historian
Brett Jacokes
(248) 761-6513
Highway Cleanup Officer
Gerald Mize
(810) 392-3173
Web Sargent
Don Lyon
(586) 925-5010
Change of Address: Send to the Detachment Adjutant/Paymaster at:
PO Box 183610, Shelby Township, MI 48318
New Address (please print):
Name___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Street __________________________________________________________________________________________________
City/Zip_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Email address____________________________________________________________________________________________
Skuttlebutt, Newsletter of the Marine Corps League, Macomb County Detachment 154
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