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If you know a Veteran, someone in your family,
friend of the family, neighbor, who served their
country, take a brief moment of your day to thank them.
Thank them for the sacrifice they made
for the better good of their country.
We at Free Republic, and the USO Canteen FReeper Style,
are thankful for every service member
in our military, who has served our great nation.
So, to the men and women who answered the call,
in both times of war and peace, thank you.
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Message from Snow Bunny to all those who visit the Canteen.
This is how I think of the USO Canteen Freeper Style.
It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night.
Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too.
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of place
that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor, a library, etc.
Many Veterans have written to me,
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they served.
This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy
and sometimes troubling world.
Make yourself at home.
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Camp Lejeune is the largest Marine Corps base in the world
The base is home to an active duty,
dependent, retiree and civilian
employee population of nearly 150,000 people.
Camp Lejeune and Onslow County have
> come a long way since September 1941
when the 1st Marine Division set up camp
in the middle of a sandy pine forest along the Atlantic Seaboard
The Camp Lejeune story began 58 years ago.
World War II had started and military planners
were posturing forces for America's eminent
entry to the fight.
Near the end of 1942, the base took on the name of
Camp Lejeune, named in honor of the 13th
Commandant and Commanding General of
the 2d Army Division in World War I,
MajGen. John A. Lejeune.
MajGen. John A. Lejeune
During his 1920 to 1929 tenure,
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Maj. Gen. John A. LeJeune declared
"That no matter where, no matter what a
Marine was doing, he or she would take
time to honor all Marines."
Unveiling—From left, LSU alumnus and benefactor
> Pat Taylor and Gen. Ron Richard, a retired Marine
and president of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, watch
Maury Drummond, director of the USS Kidd, and artist
Patrick Miller unveil the new statue of Maj. Gen. John
Archer Lejeune, USMC, in front of the battleship in
downtown Baton Rouge.
Taylor donated the piece, which was created by Miller
to recognize Lejeune’s contributions. Born in New
Roads in 1867, Lejeune graduated from LSU and
went on to become the 13th commandant of the Marine Corps.
Camp Lejeune stands out as a superior military base.
Camp Lejeune is a three-time recipient of the
Commander-in-Chief's Award for Installation
> Excellence.
This award recognizes the base on a Department
of Defense-level for effectively managing assets
and developing quality programs to accomplish the
mission of providing expeditionary forces in readiness.
Today Camp Lejeune boasts 14 miles of beach
capable of supporting amphibious operations.
There are 54 live-fire ranges, 89 maneuver areas,
33 gun positions, 25 tactical landing zones and a
state of the art Military Operations in Urban Terrain
training facility.
Military forces from around the world come to
Camp Lejeune on a regular basis for bilateral and
NATO-sponsored exercises.
These include Cooperative Osprey, a Partnership
for Peace exercise that involved 13 countries last year.
The most recent addition to Camp Lejeune,
the Greater Sandy Run Training Area, has
claim to being the "Home of Marine Expeditionary
Forces in Readiness," providing for the training of
Marine Air/Ground Task Forces defending our country.
A Soldier practices patrolling techniques at Camp Lejeune.
Units;
~Marine Corps Base
~II Marine Expeditionary Force
~II Marine Expeditionary Force Augmentation Command Element
~2d Marine Division Reserve Support Unit
~2d Force Service Support Group
~Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force
~Marine Corps Combat Service Support Schools
~School of Infantry
Headquarters for MCB Camp Lejeune.
From this office, Commanding General,
< MCB Camp Lejeune oversees the daily
workings of a "city" of approximately 50,000
Marines, Navy personnel, civilian employees,
and military families.
Camp Lejeune's Main Protestant Chapel was
initially dedicated on 13 December 1942, and
rededicated in January 1943. The history of the
U. S. Marine Corps from its founding in 1775 to
World War II is movingly portrayed in ten stained
glass windows designed by artist Katherine Lamb
Tait and installed in 1948.
Made of colored glass from the U.S., England, France,
and Germany, the windows depict Old Testament
Archangels above illustrations of major events in
Marine Corps history.
In the borders of each window are scenes from wartime
photographs taken by some of the actual Marines for
whom the windows were conceived as memorials.
Because both Protestant and Jewish personnel used
the Chapel, the Star of David, and the Star of Bethlehem
can be found in each window.
Camp Lejeune's Roman Catholic Chapel
was first dedicated as St. Aloysius on 6 December 1942
in memory of Father Aloysius Schmitt, the first chaplain
and first Catholic Chaplain to die in World War II.
It was rededicated as St. Francis Xavier Chapel on 27 January 1943.
Each of the ten stained glass windows also designed by
New Jersey artist Katherine Lamb Tait and depicts
two life-size images of saints of Catholic tradition.
The windows were funded as memorials to their wartime
dead by the six World War II Marine Divisions,
the 3rd and 5th Amphibious Corps, Fleet Marine Force
Pacific, Navy personnel, and personnel of Camp Lejeune
M-48 tank dedicated to Medal of Honor recipient
Sergeant Grant T. Timmerman (right) and M-60 tank (left)
are displayed on the front lawn, flanking a sign advertising
the "Masters of the Iron Horse"
(members of the 2d Tank Battalion) who now occupy the building.
World War II Mockup Dry Net Amphibious Training Site
During World War II, Marines conducted amphibious
landing operations using open-topped landing craft,
which they boarded by climbing down netting hung from
the sides of troop transport ships.
Due to the threat from German submarines, Marines training at
Camp Lejeune could not practice these operations in the sea off
Onslow Beach. Instead, a full-scale mockup of a troop transport.
Sheltered from the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean
barrier islands, this inland waterway formed a reliable
and safe route for coastal shipping. During World War II,
Camp Lejeune operated a Signals School on Onslow Beach.
Landing Vehicle, Tracked, Personnel (LVTPX12),
now commonly called as Assault Amphibian (AA),
which is the Marine Corps' principal vehicle for ship-to-shore
amphibious assaults.
During World War II, the Amphibian Base supported an
amphibious tractor detachment, a Coast Guard detachment,
and a "boat detachment" that provided support for amphibious>br> training exercises at Camp Lejeune. The vehicle displayed here is an LVTP-5A1.
The vehicle displayed here is a "BMP"
(from the Russian "Boyevaga Mashine Piechoty",
or armored personnel carrier) captured from Iraqi
forces by Marines during Operation Desert Shield/Desert
Storm in 1991.
This particular vehicle is a Russian-built BMP-76PB,
an armored amphibious personnel carrier, which
conspicuously shares many of the components and
design features of the Russian PT-76 light tank.
Weighing 12.5 tons combat-loaded, the vehicle
carries eight troops plus a crew of three.
Its armament consists of a 76.2 mm gun,
a 7.62 mm machine gun, and the and the
"Sagger" anti-tank guided missile.
Camp Geiger Monument Circle
Within Monument Circle are four monuments.
One honors Lance Corporal Julius C. Foster (1938-1968).
Lance Corporal Foster, a member of Company E, 2d Battalion,
26th Marines, 3d Marine Division, was killed on 22 February
1968 by hostile mortar fire during the battle for Khe Sanh, Quang Tri Province,Republic of Vietnam.
A second monument, installed by the Military Order of
Devil Dogs Fun and Honor Society of the Maine Corps
League, honors Marines who died in Lebanon during 1982-84.
A third memorializes the service of the 4th Marine Division,
which fought on Roi-Namur, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima
prior to its deactivation in November 1945.
The fourth monument was erected in honor of
General Roy Stanley Geiger (1885-1947), a pioneering
Marine aviator and the namesake of Camp Geiger.
General Geiger commanded the 1st and 3rd Marine
Amphibious Corps, and the 10th Army briefly during World War II.
United Services Organization (USO)
The United Services Organization (USO) was formed in 1941
as a joint effort of the Salvation Army, YMCA, YWCA, National
Catholic Community Services, National Travelers Aid Association,
and National Jewish Welfare Board to help in providing off-duty
recreational opportunities for the U.S. Armed Forces.
During World War II, the USO offered opportunities for community
participation with 3,000 USO centers established as "homes away
from home" for U.S. Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen. This
Jacksonville USO center was formally dedicated April 19th,1942.
After nearly 58 years the Jacksonville USO is the oldest
continuously active USO in the world. It has become famous
as a training ground for hundreds of USO workers who have
subsequently gone on the staff USOs on behalf of American
servicemen and servicewomen around the globe.
Canadian soldiers practice convoy operations at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Canadian soldiers practice convoy operations during a
Situational Training Exercise at Camp Lejeune, N.C.,
Sand bags are laid in the bed of the truck to protect the soldiers from mine blasts.
U.S. Marines clear a building of hostile civilians at Camp Lejeune.
U.S. Marines clear a building of hostile civilians during
a final training exercise in the Military Operations in
Urban Terrain facility at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
 
 
 
U.S. Marines sight in with an M-240G machine gun at Camp Lejeune.
U.S. Marines sight in with an M-240G machine gun as
they stand by to provide cover fire during a Military
Operations in Urban Terrain Situational Training Exercise
at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
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