ILLUSTRATION B Y MIKE DAVIS
This billboard pronunciation guide, sponsored by the author, greets those traveling on roadways near MCB
Camp Lejeune.
ous warfare with a passion. Our Marines
may have been limited to Navy police details, and the Fleet Marine Force may
have never existed. On the Corps’ Birthday on the ’Canal, the First Marine Division paused to recognize the general’s
treasured tradition. A few short days later
on 20 Nov. 1942, John Archer Lejeune, 75,
died and was buried with honors at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery.
John Archer Lejeune (LeJERN) raised
the bar in our Corps from the time he entered the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in the Class of 1888, to his leadership
in World War I and his fight to keep our
Corps of Marines prominent in the War
Department’s long-term planning. The
rock-hard fact is: We Marines owe our
13th Commandant our honor, courage,
commitment and above all RESPECT.
Author’s note: A heartfelt Semper Fi to
the Lejeune family and the chivalrous and
gentile people of Pointe Coupee Parish,
La.
Editor’s note: Patrick “P. T.” Brent is an
infantry Marine who served with 2/24.
He has been a UPI correspondent, embedded with U.S. military units in Afghanistan, Iraq and Africa. A Honolulu
businessman, he is a “founder” for the
National Museum of the Marine Corps
near Quantico and The Marine Memorial
at Pearl Harbor.
