Latest News

Jack Paxton and Dave Biesel are attempting to put together a brief historical piece for our 75th anniversary meeting in Fredericksburg, VA next August.  Hopefully, the publication we prepare and distribute will lead to an extension of our current unofficial history, "Last to Know, First to Go" .  To do this we need your help. If you read Last to Know, you know that the early CCs were critical of the system and said so.  We would like the same feelings from you. If you were a

On March 27, a Marine operating an excavator along the north wall of the National Museum of the Marine Corps drove the machine’s bucket into the earth, officially breaking ground on an historic expansion of the Nation’s tribute to Marine Corps history. That moment was the first step of a long journey that the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation , Museum staff, and teams of engineers and tradesmen will take over the next four years to complete this magnificent institution. When

The Archive of Modern American Warfare at Texas Tech University is asking for donations from military veterans. The Archive is particularly interested in collecting digital material such as emails, blogs and other personal websites, text and instant messages, word processing documents, oral histories, digital photographs, digital videos, and digital audio recordings. These materials are of vital importance because digital materials are more susceptible to deterioration over

There has been much traffic recently concerning Norm Hatch . Various folks have visited him in the Hermitage Senior Living Center in Alexandria, VA. Walt Ford spoke to him recently. We print his remarks below: Norm has moved to Room 319, in the Hermitage Senior Living Center. Mailing address: Major Norm Hatch, USMC (Ret) Hermitage Senior Living, Northern Virginia Room 319 5000 Fairbanks Ave. Alexandria, VA 22311 His wife, Loy, is in a room on the 4th floor, so he may

As one wag attending our 74th conference put it: “New Bern was a ‘bear’ of a town.” Now, whether or not he was referring to the many bear statues around town or the fact that New Bern takes its name from Bern, Switzerland (named after the German word ‘bear’) we do not know. Apparently though, he and the 65 other former CCs and ComCam Marines and their wives/guests had a good time during our August 16-20 Annual Conference. While it may not have been the easiest venue to reach

Hey CCs and ComCam Marines:  The indications we got at our annual conference lead us to believe that you like the new logo shirts and the caps designed specifically for CCs and ComCam folks.  Here's a chanced to purchase them at a sale price.  Go for it by clicking on USMCCCA Gear on the right sidebar of this page. Get a jump on the savings with our Pre-Labor Day Sitewide Sale! All embroidered and printed apparel is marked down - with prices starting as low as $5.95. Shop t

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the Conference this year and photograph/document the events. If you are attending, please take copious candids  of all events, hospitality suite, etc. Need photos for website and high res images suitable for a multi-page photo story in the Annual Journal. Caption info will get you a special place in the HUMVEE of after life. I have set up a dropbox email to send photos from your mobile devices. If you have a lot of images, then cont

(last updated 8/13/2015) Sunday – August 16 Early bird arrival – No scheduled activities Monday – August 17 0800: Work morning, assemblage of welcome bags - Gaston Room 1000:  Registration begins - Gaston Room 1400: Old Board Meeting, USMCCCA – Executive Conference Room 1600: Board Meeting, USMCCCA Foundation – Executive Conference Room 1800-2000:   Welcome Reception- Library/Morgan/Veranda Rooms 2000-2400:  Hospitality Suite Operational - Executive Conference Room Tuesday

If you are attending the USMCCCA VIEC/DPA Awards Banquet in New Bern August 19, you need to do the following: 1) If you are an award winner your dinner is free. If you are accepting for a winner, the cost is $25. You must notify Executive Director Jack Paxton ( usmccca@cfl.rr.com ) if you are attending by NLT Wednesday, August 12. When paying, use the website: www.usmccca.org. You do not have to have a PayPal account. Use the Pay by Credit Card drop down box. If you do not u

There will be a wake for Michael Pitts Sunday from 1800-2000, Aug. 2, at Mullins & Thompson Funeral Services in Fredericksburg, Virg. Mullins & Thompson Funeral Service 1621 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 Phone:(540) 373-5842 The funeral service will be Monday 11 a.m., Aug. 3 at St. Patrick Catholic Church (in the Lake of the Woods area). St. Patrick Catholic Church 9149 Elys Ford Road, Fredericksburg, VA 22407 Burial will be at 1 pm at the Quantico National

From the Executive Director:   Due to recent activities, we are removing the USMCCCA  Membership Roster and access to it via our website.  Both President Manny Pacheco and I feel this is necessary in light of recent activities, both nationally and on our Facebook pages.  In the latter situation there were implications that  individuals might have been granted permission to use member’s names for mass emailings; several of which could be considered political in nature. I wou

Maj. Gen. Gary Thomas , CG 2 nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Cherry Point, will represent the Commandant of the Marine Corps as guest of honor at our Distinguished Performance Awards Banquet, August 19 in New Bern, N.C. With that locked in, President Manny Pacheco announced this week that plans for our 74 th anniversary conference are fairly complete.  “I think everything is falling into place nicely,” Pacheco said.  “We have a couple of loose ends but, overall, we will have a gr

We are working on the Final Phase galleries, which includes an exhibit about Beirut . One of the design elements in the exhibit will be a wall-sized image of the barracks rubble. Do you have a negative or slide that we could scan for this purpose? We can scan the film, or give you the specs if you'd prefer to scan the image yourself. If so, please contact me at charles.grow@usmc.mil . Many thanks, SF Charlie Grow Deputy Director National Museum of the Marine Corps

Conference Registration: $80. Hotel Reservation: $90 per room. Nearest Airport: Coastal Carolina Regional Airport in New Bern (airport code: EWN ). If you are coming to New Bern next month you need to immediately make your hotel reservation (easy on this site) and also register with CCHQ (also easy here).  Our hotel contract guarantees the room rate of $90 only until July 27 .  After our allotted room block is filled the rate goes up.  Do it now!

The USMC Combat Correspondents Association Board of Directors have unanimously voted to posthumously present the 2015 Brig. Gen. Robert L. Denig Sr. Distinguished Service Award   to the late Georgette Louise "Dickey" Chapelle on this, the 50th anniversary year of her death, near Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam November 4. 1965 during the combat operation "Black Ferret." In making the announcement President Manny Pacheco called attention to the fact that in addition to this be

"So Dad and I met the [Red} Sox Ambassador outside a special gate and received wristbands allowing us access to all corners of the park. It was just the three of us for the next 90 minutes as we were allowed onto the field for batting practice and inside the famous Green Monster in left field. We walked the warning track and got to visit the Monster seats and the right field roof area. Then it was onto the Royal Rooters Club (for season ticket holders) and the Red Sox Hall

The second quarter of “Now Hear This” the official USMCCCA newsletter, should be arriving in your mailbox soon. If you DO NOT receive it, then you need to make sure CCHQ has your correct mailing address. You can MAKE SURE you get future newsletters by using the membership update form here .

Friends, I have waited until today for official word and notification to families out of respect for my brother and sister. We are still down range as I write this. On May 12 a UH-1Y helicopter from HMLA 469 carrying two of my hard charging COMCAM Marines crashed high in a mountainous area in Nepal. All souls on board were lost; six Marines and two Nepali soldiers. They were on a mission to help save lives and reduce suffering after a second massive earthquake hit the country