WIXLIB

O N C E A M A R I N E , A LWA YS A M A R I N ECHIEF OPERATING OFFICER’S LETTERBOB BORKAIRS ProgressMARINES: We have made great progress with Internal Revenue Service (IRS)Employer Identification Number (EIN) management of our 501(c)(4) throughoutdepartments, detachments, packs, pounds and units. During the past 12 months, Ihave written over 100 letters to the IRS on your behalf. The IRS has been makingcorrections to its system as we continue to make the requests.Many Department Paymasters have been coordinating with me on behalf oftheir detachments, and that is awesome. Your efforts are appreciated.The EIN for each Marine Corps League (MCL), Marine Corps League Auxiliary(MCLA), Military Order of the Devil Dog (MODD) entity falls under the NationalHeadquarters EIN (if properly organized). The group designator is 0955, andbecause we have a special letter of exemption, the deductibility of each entityshould be “1” according to IRS Publication 4838, page 5.Here are some quick references for you:1. Each detachment, department, unit, pack and pound needs to have anEIN from the IRS and become a 501(c)(4) organization.2. To check if your 501(c)(4) status has been revoked, search here: apps.irs.gov/app/eos.Note: Do use the dash when searching your EIN.3. To check your overall status, see the Exempt Organization BusinessMaster File (EOBMF): ions-business-master-file-extract-eo-bmf.Note: Do not use the dash when searching your EIN.4. In the EOBMF file, you need to be listed under Group 0955 (column H),have a deductibility of “1” (column M).5. We have reviewed the 2019 IRS regulations and have come to a consensuson the fiscal year date. It is preferred that each entity, under our group,have the same fiscal year ending in June; however, each entity may choosetheir own fiscal year end date.6. If you need assistance call or email Bob: coo@mcleague.org.It is an honor to serve our membership, and we will continue to work on itsbehalf.Semper Fi!EVENTS IN MARINE HISTORYBY ANNETTE AMERMANJuly 7, 1941 By agreement with the Icelandic government, the 1st MarineBrigade landed at Reykjavik, Iceland, to prevent the island’s occupation byGermany for use as a naval or air base against the Western Hemisphere.August 4-19, 1984 Five Marines participated in the 1984 Olympics held atLos Angeles, CA: 2d Lt Greg Montesi, Rowing; Sgt Greg Gibson, Wrestling andwon a silver medal; Sgt Lou Dorrance, alternate in Wrestling; Sgt Ron Carlisle, alternate in Wrestling; and Cpl Julio Aragon, alternate in Soccer.August 7, 1953 SSgt Barbara O. Barnwell, naval gunfire instructor at FortSchuyler, NY, became the first woman Marine to be awarded the Navy andMarine Corps Medal for Heroism. She saved a fellow Marine, PFC FrederickH. Roman, from drowning.September 9, 1950 The first jet mission ever to be flown against an enemyby a Marine pilot was by Captain Leslie E. Brown, USMC, in an F-80 whileattached to an Air Force fighter-bomber squadron in Korea.September 12, 1995 Captain Matthew Cooper and Sergeant Tad Snidecorwere awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for their efforts in theaftermath of the Oklahoma City federal building bombing. Both served atRecruiting Station Oklahoma City located on the federal building’s 6th floorat the time of the bombing.8S F S U M M E R 2 0 1 9Honorary National CommandantAlfred M. GrayGeneral, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)29th Commandant of the Marine CorpsMarine Corps League National Board Of TrusteesNational CommandantWendell W. WebbWWebb@MCLeague.orgNational Sr. Vice CommandantDennis TobinDTobin@MCLeague.orgNational Jr. Vice CommandantJohnny B. BakerJBaker@MCLeague.orgNational Judge AdvocateWarren C. GriffinWGriffin@MCLeague.orgJr. Past National CommandantRichard D. Gore, Sr.RGore@MCLeague.orgNational Vice CommandantsCentral DivisionPhil ZamoraPZamora@MCLeague.orgNorthwest DivisionT. J. MorganTMorgan@MCLeague.orgMideast DivisionBruce R. RakfeldtBRakfeldt@MCLeague.orgRocky Mountain DivisionRuss MillerRMiller@MCLeague.orgMidwest DivisionHarvey L. HarrisHHarris@MCLeague.orgSoutheast DivisionArchie H. SweetASweet@MCLeague.orgNew England DivisionDavid PorterDPorter@MCLeague.orgSouthern DivisionJohnny GothardJGothard@MCLeague.orgNortheast DivisionTim ForbesTForbes@MCLeague.orgSouthwest DivisionBill EbrightBEbright@MCLeague.org

MARINE CORPS LEAGUE2019 NATIONAL CONVENTIONBillings, MontanaExperience Westernhospitality onscenic, historic, andunforgettable tours.Take part in eventsalong the Lewis & Clarktrail or check out theCuster Battlefield. Climbmountains or taste thebest beer, or do both!Don’t miss this bucketlist opportunity!Register Today!thmclnationalconvention2019.com

O N C E A M A R I N E , A LWA YS A M A R I N EATTENTION ON DECKSpecial notes on Veterans AffairsBy Wendell WebbWendell Webb attended a U.S. Department of VeteransAffairs town hall in May 2019 in St. Charles County. Thiswas very informative, and he wanted to share with yousome of his notes.The Department of Veterans Affairs has three basic organizations:Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and National Cemetery Administration (NCA). Eachof these organizations’ titles indicates basically what each of themdo for our veterans’ benefits. In addition, the VA Leadership, PublicAffairs, Congressional Affairs and all the VA Offices and organizations round out the VA Organizations. These organizations can beseen at https://www.va.gov.One area that was not known to me was the Discharge Criteria. AllHonorable and General discharges (under Honorable Conditions) areeligible for VA Benefits. Those veterans with Other Than Honorable(OTH), Bad Conduct (BCD) and Dishonorable Discharge may not be eligible for VA Benefits. The VA does an evaluation of your military medical records and provides benefits based on the findings of the ReviewBoard. I asked whether this information is shared with the Departmentof Defense side of the house, and the answer was “No.” Knowing that fora period of time, many veterans were given discharges based on criteriathat were not deemed reviewable, but not being a legal professional, Ithought this would have some relevance to one’s case.The Appeals Modernization issue has been addressed in theAugust 23, 2017, law named the Veterans Appeals Improvementand Modernization Act of 2017. Higher-Level Review—An entirely new review of the claim byan experienced adjudicator Supplemental Claim Lane—An opportunity to submit additional evidence to support the claim Appeal Lane for Appeals to the Board—Direct review by theBoard of Veterans’ AppealsWhat once took a multitude of years could take less than twomonths under this legislation.A section on VA Suicide Prevention was presented, and againmy view on this is nothing really new because suicides keep happening every day. Actual experience shows the veterans who successfully committed suicide did not meet the criteria currentlybeing used in many areas. This is a subject that still needs a lot ofdiscussions and analysis.A new area than has made the circle of evolution was presentedThe Department of Veterans Affairs website has many links to programsthat benefit veterans.as part of the VA St. Louis Health Care System called “Whole Lifefor Health,” a new six-week program being offered at many of the VAClinics in the Missouri area. The Vision is: “To enhance the overallwell-being of our Veteran population by putting you, the Veteran, in charge of your health, happiness and well-being.” Theprogram looks at the Body, Mind and Spirit.This is in line with the Dr. Bart P. Billings, Ph.D., book, InvisibleScars, as well as with Mac (Michael) McNamara, radio talk showhost of “All Marine Radio,” who has presented at Marine Westand Marine South in 2019 on Suicide. His three goals for handlingtrauma include: Goal #1—Learning to Co-exist with Trauma; Goal#2—Live a Self-Disciplined Life; and Goal # 3—Winning.This also deals with our Marine West Wounded Warrior Bn training given by Breath-Body-Mind by Doctors Patricia Gerbarg andRichard Brown.In summation, VA issues continue to be a challenge, and thesuicide task will take a lot more thinking outside the box toreduce the statistics and will be accomplished on the veterans’side by veterans.CONTACT THE VETERANS CRISIS LINE800-273-8255 & PRESS 110S F S U M M E R 2 0 1 9

O N C E A M A R I N E , A LWA YS A M A R I N EBuck sitting in his Corsair with his crew around him after the successful completion of his 87th mission in Korea.NAMED IN HONOR OFColonel Richard “Buck” FranciscoDetachment 1451By Don NilsonWe often read about MarineCorps League detachments’good deeds, events andactivities, but has anyone stopped towonder for whom the detachmentsare named? Semper Fi would like toexplore the history of Colonel Richard“Buck” Francisco Marine Corps LeagueDetachment 1451 of South WhidbeyIsland, Washington.Born in 1927, Richard “Buck” Fran-cisco became a decorated Marine,champion boxer and boxing coach,avid horseman, entrepreneur, belovedphilanthropist and an active MarineCorps League organizer and member.Though he was well known to peopleall over, here are some details.MarineBuck was a Corsair pilot in the SouthPacific in WWII and in Korea. All told,he accumulated over 4,000 hours as aCorsair pilot. That’s the equivalent of flying eight hours a day, every day for twoyears with only two weeks off each year!Reportedly, Buck was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After his activeduty, Buck commanded the MarineReserve Air Wing at Sand Point Naval AirStation in Seattle. A former neighbor ofBuck’s said that Buck once flew an airplane inverted under the Deception PassS F T H E M A R I N E C O R P S L E A G U E11

O N C E A M A R I N E , A LWA YS A M A R I N E“Thanks to Buck’s, uh, shall we say, ‘convincing’ personality, membershipin Detachment 1210 at one time comprised 250 veterans ”Bridge that spans the gap between Whidbey and Hidalgo Islands.BoxerWhile in the Marine Corps, Buck wasthe Marine and all-service light heavyweight champion. He was a championgolden gloves boxer and coached anOlympic boxing champion. He workedwith juvenile delinquents and taughtthem to box, turning many lives aroundas the result. Buck also coached boxing at the Washington Athletic Club.Reportedly at the age of 70 or so, Buckwas at a filling station when a youngman got in his face about the MarineCorps. Buck knocked the kid out cold,for which he got to spend some time inthe local jail.HorsemanBuck loved horses and riding them.He belonged to two riding groups inCalifornia (The Rancheros) as well as(El Viejo De Portola) with the likes of:Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Jim Garner, Andy Devine, Wally Schirra (theastronaut), Gene Autry, Montie Montana and others. It was Andy Devinewho anointed Dick with the nickname“Buck.” It seems one day a bunch ofthem were dove hunting. A dove flewby, and people were blasting away.Buck hit the bird and exclaimed, “I gothim, I got him!” to which John Waynereportedly replied, “Hell, that f***ingbird died of a heart attack!”EntrepreneurAt various times Buck was a car salesman (who’d dare say, “no thanks?”),fireman and EMT. He also owned abusiness in Kent, WA, that sold partially completed airplane fuselagesand wings to Boeing. He purchaseda restaurant in Seattle in 1972 andnamed it “Francisco’s – Famous since1972.” While in Seattle, he visited thelocal Marine recruiting station to helpout with their efforts during the timeof the widespread anti-war sentiment.He also received a “Dear Santa” letter,which most of us have seen, that moti12vated him to form the Forgotten Children’s Fund for which he raised moneyto provide toys for needy children atChristmas time.PhilanthropistWhile living in Seattle, Buck purchased the beautiful M–Bar–C Ranchon South Whidbey Island, which heused for riding his horses and relaxing with his family and friends. Hesoon began to invite challenged children to the ranch to ride and forgettheir troubles, if even for a few hours.That is now the full-time purpose ofthe ranch, which Buck donated tothe Forgotten Children’s Fund. As anaside, the Marine Corps League stillworks with the Fishing Club at theM–Bar–C to provide toys for needyfamilies at Christmas.Here are just two M–Bar–C relatedstories: (1) Buck once asked FederalCourt Judge Burns from Oregon tosentence some offenders to helphim around the ranch, including theconstruction of a small WesternTown for the kids. While showingthe judge around, the judge threw acigarette on the ground. Buck said,“Your honor, you have two choices.You can either pick that up andfield strip it, or you can eat it. Yourchoice.” The one room hotel at theranch is named, “The Burns Hotel;”(2) One day Buck was hanging aroundwatching grey-haired, former juvenile delinquents working with thekids. A developmentally delayed12-year-old girl came up crying abouta scraped elbow, knee, etc. Buck said,“I can fix that,” and held the back ofthe girl’s head while giving her adrink of his lemonade as if it werea potion of some kind. She went offhappy, then returned with a woodenmock-up of a rifle and motioned toBuck to raise his hands, which he did.Then the girl went to Buck’s side andgrabbed his hand. Reportedly, a fewtears appeared in Buck’s eyes. Bigman, big heart!Buck was also the recipient of theJefferson Award in Seattle in 1995. Thegymnasium at Greenwood Boys Club inSeattle has a plaque over the door thatreads, “The Dick Francisco Gymnasium.”Marine Corps LeagueIn 2005, Buck attended an MCLmeeting in Sedro Woolley, WA, withEd Donery, our new detachment organizer. Afterward, Buck said, “Eddy, whatdid you think?” to which Ed replied, “Iliked it.” “Well then damn it, let’s doit!” That resulted in what is now theMajor Megan M. McClung Detachment1210 in Oak Harbor. Thanks to Buck’s,uh, shall we say, “convincing” personality, membership in Detachment 1210 atone time comprised 250 veterans (thelargest veteran’s organization in thecountry at the time).Buck’s many friends held a dinnerroast for him in 1991 at the Four SeasonsHotel in Seattle. They had seating for400 people; 500 showed up. At the roast,they coined the phrase, “There wasn’t aman he wouldn’t stand up to or a child hewouldn’t stoop to help.” One of his thousands of friends who contributed to thispiece wrote, “He was the most amazingpersonality I have met in my lifetime, andI count my blessings to have shared hiscompany. I would not have been a Marinewithout his influence.”Even in failing health, Buck wasinvited to, and attended, PresidentReagan’s funeral. To paraphrase former President Reagan, “Some peoplespend their whole lives wondering ifthey’ve made a difference. Buck Francisco did not have that problem ”Buck passed away June 11, 2016. Thanks to several of Buck’s closefriends who provided all the informationin this summary: Ed Donery (co-organizerof Detachment 1210 and organizer of theBuck Francisco Detachment 1451), Dick“Shooter” Nord, Colonel Al “Animal” Ransom (very close friend of Buck’s and commander of a Marine Air Squadron aboardthe carrier USS Midway).S F S U M M E R 2 0 1 9101 2

Marine CorpsPrideMen’s Polo ShirtALL-OVER CUSTOMPATTERN WITHEMBROIDERED DETAILS AVAILABLE IN FIVEMEN’S SIZES,M TO XXXLBack of ShirtAn Exclusive Apparel Design from The Bradford ExchangeA Great Marine Corps Look for When You’re “At Ease”A proud statement of Semper Fi pride, this casual white polo shirt iscrafted of 100% polyester and features an all-over custom pattern ofthe USMC emblem of eagle, globe and anchor in a gray, light blue andcamouflage coloration. USMC is fully embroidered on the front andthe left sleeve proudly displays an embroidered American flag patch.Commanding attention and the ultimate in comfort, design detailsinclude rib knit cuffs, a white collar and 3 buttons. It’s available in 5sizes, medium to XXXL. Imported.Exceptional Value Satisfaction GuaranteedThe “Marine Corps Pride” Men’s Polo Shirt can be yours for just 79.95*,payable in 3 easy installments of only 26.65 each, and backed by our 30-day,money-back guarantee. To reserve yours, send no money now; just return yourPriority Reservation. But don’t delay! This custom polo shirt is only availablefrom The Bradford Exchange, and this is a limited-time offer. So order today!*For information on sales tax you may owe to your state, go to bradfordexchange.com/use-taxOrder Today at bradfordexchange.com/29489Officially Licensed Product of the United States Marine Corps. 2019 The Bradford Exchange 01-29489-001-BIB PRIORITY RESERVATIONSEND NO MONEY NOW9345 Milwaukee Avenue · Niles, IL 60714-1393YES.Please reserve the “Marine Corps Pride” Men’s Polo Shirt for meas described in this announcement in the size indicated below.Please Respond Promptly Medium (38-40) 01-29489-011 XL (46-48) 01-29489-013 XXXL (54-56) 01-29489-015 Large (42-44) 01-29489-012 XXL (50-52) 01-29489-014SignatureMrs. Mr. Ms.Name (Please Print Clearly)AddressCityStateZipE-mail*Plus a total of 10.99 shipping and service, plus sales tax (see bradfordexchange.com).Please allow 2-4 weeks after initial payment for shipment. All sales are subject to productavailability and order acceptance.E26401

O N C E A M A R I N E , A LWA YS A M A R I N ECHIEF DEVIL DOGCDD LEONARD SPICER, 58TH CHIEF DEVIL DOGIt’s time to get out of your Doghouse and get ready“The MilitaryOrder of theDevil Dogs isthe fun andhonor societyof the MarineCorps League.”- From theMODD HandbookMARINES: Barking out to all PDDs, DDs andPups my 2-year term as Chief Devil Dog willcome to an end during the 80th Supreme Growlin Billings, MT, this summer! It has been anhonor to serve the Kennel in this capacity,and I had a wonderful time meetingDevil Dogs across the country. I wantto bark out “thanks” to everyone onthe Kennel Staff. It takes teamworkto accomplish the goals of theMODD, and I was fortunate to havemany great Dogs helping me duringthe last 2 years. I especially want torecognize Kennel Dog Robber Steve Joppa, Sr.Vice Devil Dog Tom Hazlett, Jr., Vice Devil DogAlan Sanning and Kennel Executive DirectorLeanna Dietrich.The MODD is doing wonderful things in thecommunities where they meet and function. Irecently presented a new charter to the MSgtTroy G. Mitchell Pound 383 in Jackson, TN, andthey are anxious to help the children in theirarea. Congratulations! That being said, thegrowth of the Order has been slow, and we needto continue to talk to League members aboutjoining us. I encourage you to read this magazine, remove the membership applications soyou can sign up new League members and thenpass the magazine on to non-member Marinesso they can see what we do.It’s time to get out of your Doghouse and startmaking preparations to attend the signatureevent of the MODD It is our duty as Devil Dogsto bring FUN to the MCL National Convention. Inaddition, as the HONOR society, we have a tra-dition of providing financial help to the childrenin those communities where we convene ourSupreme Growl. We have a lofty goal to presenta significant gift to the children’s hospital in Billings, and I

to Semper Fi. For non-members, single-copy price is 10; yearly subscription is 30. Call (703) 207-9588 for any issues related to Marine Corps League membership, subscriptions or Semper Fi changes of address. Editorial Contributions: Letters, manuscripts, stories, materials or photographs are welcomed but cannot be returned unless sender provides