09/12/2026
Chaplain's Coordinates 9-11-2026
Good Friday evening, Marines, FMF Corpsmen, FMF Chaplains, Associate Members and family! I write this from PCB, Florida, where my family and I have been on vacation this week. We are heading home tomorrow. 😪 It is always good to get away and I would usually say there is no place like home, but this time I don't want to leave! It has been a good week of quiet time on the balcony watching the ocean in the early morning and the beach and pool time in the afternoon. We did have rain on and off on Thursday and most of the day today.
It is hard to believe that on this date 25 years ago, American was horribly attacked. 9/11 was a terrible day in our history! We need to remember! Do you know why we were attacked? Evil! An evil group of men and nations attacked the US for what they believe to be legit reasons. Their god told them too. President George Bush quoted scripture that best expain it. Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Do you remember where you were when you heard or saw the news? Do you remember how you felt? Me personally, I was shocked and mad at the same time. If you remember, for week if not months, people flocked to the churches and prayed for our Nation! What happened? Why did we stop? The patriotism was at an all time high! Young men and women were joining the military to fight for our country! What happened and why are we still not felling the same way? Our Nation is being attacked from the inside and no one seems to care. The churches are not full of people praying for our Nation? Why? Patriotism is at an all time low. This by no means a political statement. But a challenge to pray for our Nation and leaders! You don't have to agree with them but you should pray that God would guide them to the right direction!
1 Timothy 2:1-2
"First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
Upcoming Events:
- September 17: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- September 21: 11th Annual Semper Fi Golf Tournament. We need all hands on deck the day of the Tournament! Many hands make lite work.
- October 1: 2026 Toys for Tots campaign officially begins.
- October 15: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- November 7: Marine Corps Birthday Ball.
- November 19: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- December 17: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- December 19: Toys for Tots Distribution Day.
September Birthday's:
Chaplain David Mowbray 1st
Matthew Marz 2nd
Jeremy Nollen 9th
Donald Cook 11th
Robin Griffith 20th
Fred Benjamin 23rd
Kathy Culver 23rd
John Woods 24th
Charles E. Thompson 27th
Bill Buege 28th
Happy Birthday!!
Word of the Day:
"If you don't want the answer, don't ask the question!" Bill "SuperStar" Dundee RIP
Prayer Requests:
- Marilyn Lee, Doc's wife is having back issues.She has a procedure soon. Please pray for her.
- Christopher Thomas' mom, Barbara Lexin, is have some health issues. Pray for her.
- Commandant LC Reed's brother, Robert and his wife, Claudia are have health issues. Please pray for them.
- Chap's dad, Jerry, had his follow up and all is going well. Keep him and my mom, Brenda in prayer!
- Kyle Guinn's cat scan revealed a Stuvite kidney stone. His appointment is set for September 14th. Please continue praying for him.
-Joshua and Hillary Poole: Pray for them as they travel the road to parenthood. Both have health issues.
-There are several unspoken requests.
- Law Enforcement: Keep our law enforcement officers in your prayers, especially our own members: Chief Thom Corley, Sheriff Julian Wiser, and Marshal Tyreece Miller.
- Pray for our country and our military.
Please also continue to pray for:
Ben Baker, Vicki Benjamin, AB & Kay Beasley, John Woods (knee issues), Al Butler (failing health), Telisha Truelove, Bob Newman, Godfrey Howard, Vic & Gert Corson, Jim & Nancy Cook, and Stacey & RJ Beckwith.
We also remember those battling cancer, those grieving the loss of loved ones, and the "22 a day" that take their own life due to PTSD and head trauma. If you are struggling, please call 988 (Press 1) or text 838255. Help is available 24/7.
Please let me know if you have any other prayer requests.
"May the Lord bless thee, and keep thee. May the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace." — Numbers 6:24-26
Devotional: Dr. James Merritt
God’s Frequency
September 11, 2026
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 3:24 (ESV)
God has a frequency, and once you hear it, you won’t ever want to miss it again.
Elwood Norris built a hypersonic beam of sound so narrow it landed in one exact spot a hundred yards away. Stand there, and you’d hear him clearly. But one foot over from that spot, you’d hear nothing. Normal sound spreads out, but hypersonic sound stays locked on its target. John says the Spirit works the same way. “And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us” (1 John 3:24, NIV).
Today, on the anniversary of September 11th, hearing that voice matters. Grief can turn into anger and resentment, especially as our country remembers what and who we’ve lost. God’s voice cuts through even that, and it always sounds like healing.
So how can you tune in to His frequency today? You know His frequency not because you see Him, but because you trust Him and take Him at His Word. Open His Word daily, obey what He says, and you’re standing in that exact spot. A saved life is guided by the Spirit, hearing what the person beside you cannot pick up.
That frequency broadcasts a message worth hearing again and again. You are a sinner who needs a Savior, and His name is Jesus. You still need Him, and He’s still your Savior. That’s the ground you stand on every day, not just the day you first believed.
If you’ve never stood in that spot, tell God you believe Jesus died for you and you want Him to save you. If you already have, ask Him this week to turn up the volume on something you’ve tuned out, a habit to stop, a step of obedience to take. God has been aiming His frequency at you the whole time. Are you standing close enough to hear it?
Prayer: Father, thank You for Your Holy Spirit, always speaking exactly what we need to hear, right when we need to hear it. Help us tune in to you today and let Your comforting presence surround our nation and our communities, drawing every leader and person closer to that spot where they can hear Your voice and You can heal our land. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
This Week in Marine Corps History:
September 6 1776 – Continental Congress prescribed first Marine uniform.
September 6 1943 – On Arundel the Japanese begin to resist American attempts to advance.
September 6 1965 – U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese forces launch Operation Pirahna on the Batangan Peninsula, 23 miles south of the Marine base at Chu Lai. This was a follow-up to Operation Starlight, which had been conducted in August. During the course of the operation, the Allied forces stormed a stronghold of the Viet Cong 1st Regiment, claiming 200 enemy dead after intense fighting.
September 6 1983 – Two Marines were killed and two were wounded when rockets hit their compound in Beirut, Lebanon. Heavy fighting continued for the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit peacekeeping force in the area near their positions around the Beirut International Airport.1990 – Iraq increased pressure on trapped Westerners, warning that anyone trying to leave without permission could face life in prison.
September 7 1903 – Marines from the USS Brooklyn landed at Beirut to protect American lives.
September 7 1942 – First air evacuation of casualties to hospital ships off shore occurs at Guadalcanal.
September 7 1942 – A force of Marine Corps Raiders, 600 in strength, attack the Japanese base at Taivu. The raid succeeds in damaging the base and disrupting the Japanese preparation for an attack on the main American position at Guadalcanal.
September 7 1945 – Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December of 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines.
September 7 1950 – The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade withdrew from combat in the Naktong Perimeter and reassembled at Pusan to embark for the Inchon invasion.
September 7 1965 – U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese forces launch Operation Pirahna on the Batangan Peninsula, 23 miles south of the Marine base at Chu Lai. This was a follow-up to Operation Starlight, which had been conducted in August. During the course of the operation, the Allied forces stormed a stronghold of the Viet Cong 1st Regiment, claiming 200 enemy dead after intense fighting.
September 7 1990 – The 13th MEU embarked and arrived in the Gulf of Oman, joining U.N. forces.
September 7 1994 – U.S. Marines began training on a Puerto Rican island amid talk in Washington of a U.S.-led intervention in Haiti.
September 7 2014 – The United States launches new airstrikes on ISIS in western Iraq, in an effort to protect the Haditha Dam.
September 8 1939 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims limited national emergency and increases enlisted strength in the Navy and Marine Corps; also authorizes the recall to active duty of officer, men and nurses on the retired lists of the Navy and Marine Corps.
September 8 1942 – On Guadalcanal, the 1st Raider Battalion and the 1st Parachute Battalion, supported by planes of MAG-23 and two destroyer transports, landed east of Tasimboko, advanced west into the rear of Japanese positions, and carried out a successful raid on a Japanese supply base.
September 8 1943 – American and Japanese reinforcements arrive on Arundel. Fighting continues.
September 8 2004 – US warplanes launched strikes in the insurgent-held city of Fallujah, hitting at suspected militant hideouts used to plan attacks on American forces.
September 9 1945 – American servicemen begin to returning to the United States (Operation Magic Carpet). The effort is marred, on this first day, by a Typhoon Louisa which batters the Okinawa area. Up to March 1946, a total of 1,307,859 troops are brought home aboard a fleet that eventually totals 369 ships.
September 9 1950 – Captain Leslie E. Brown became the first Marine Corps aviator to a fly a jet in combat.
September 9 1970 – U.S. Marines launched Operation Dubois Square, a 10-day search for North Vietnamese troops near DaNang. Marine pilots in their diminutive Douglas A-4 Skyhawks provided vital close air support for ground forces in Vietnam.
September 9 2008 – US President George W. Bush pledges 4,500 troops to Afghanistan over the next few months and orders 8,000 troops currently stationed in Iraq to be home by February.
September 9 2010 – United States Marines board and seize control of a German-owned vessel, Magellan Star, previously captured by pirates off the coast of Somalia.
September 10 1943 – There is heavy fighting on Arundel island. More American reinforcements are sent to the island.
September 10 1963 – Maj. Gen. Victor Krulak, USMC, Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Joseph Mendenhall of the State Department report to President John F. Kennedy on their fact-finding mission to Vietnam.
September 10 2002 – The Bush administration raised the nationwide terror alert to yellow, its second-highest level, closed nine U.S. embassies overseas and heightened security at federal buildings and landmarks in America on the eve of the Sept. 11 anniversary.
September 10 2007 – In a speech made to Congress, General Petraeus “envisioned the withdrawal of roughly 30,000 U.S. troops by next summer, beginning with a Marine contingent [in September].” He warns against a too rapid withdrawal.
September 11 1919 – US marines invaded Honduras (again).
September 11 1952 – Six Marine Corps F9F-4s from VMF-115 crashed into a mountain during an instrument letdown in the vicinity of airfield K-2, Korea. All pilots were killed instantly.
September 11 1965 – 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) begins to arrive in South Vietnam at Qui Nhon, bringing U.S. troop strength in South Vietnam to more than 125,000. The unit, which had a long and storied history, was the first full U.S. Army division deployed to Vietnam. The division consisted of nine battalions of airmobile infantry, an air reconnaissance squadron, and six battalions of artillery. The division also included the 11th Aviation Group, made up of three aviation battalions consisting of 11 companies of assault helicopters, assault support helicopters, and gunships. The division used a new concept by which the ground maneuver elements were moved around the battlefield by helicopters. Initially deployed to the II Corps area at Qui Nhon, the division took part in the first major engagement between U.S. and North Vietnamese forces during the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley fought in November, just two months after the division began arriving in Vietnam. Later, the division moved further north to I Corps in 1968 to relieve the embattled U.S. Marines at Hue during the Tet Offensive; in October of the same year, they redeployed to III Corps to conduct operations to protect Saigon; and in 1970, the division took part in the invasion of Cambodia and conducted operations in both III and IV Corps (the Mekong Delta). Thus, the 1st Cavalry Division, popularly known as the “First Team,” was the only American division to fight in all four corps tactical zones. The bulk of the division began departing Vietnam in late April 1970, but the 3rd Brigade remained until June 1972. The 1st Cavalry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and “First Team” soldiers won 25 Medals of Honor, 120 Distinguished Service Crosses, 2,766 Silver Stars, 2,697 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 8,408 Bronze Stars for Valor.
September 11 1968 – A major battle begins for control of Tay Ninh City.
ARVN 3rd Airborne Brigade and the 4th Marine Battalion were landed by helicopter in the northeast suburbs of Tây Ninh to clear the area.
September 11 1990 – The 4th MEB embarked and arrived in the Gulf of Oman in support of Desert Shield.
September 11 2001 – At 8:45 a.m. on a clear Tuesday morning, an American Airlines Boeing 767 loaded with 20,000 gallons of jet fuel crashes into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact left a gaping, burning hole near the 80th floor of the 110-story skyscraper, instantly killing hundreds of people and trapping hundreds more in higher floors. As the evacuation of the tower and its twin got underway, television cameras broadcasted live images of what initially appeared to be a freak accident. Then, 18 minutes after the first plane hit, a second Boeing 767–United Airlines Flight 175–appeared out of the sky, turned sharply toward the World Trade Center, and sliced into the south tower at about the 60th floor. The collision caused a massive explosion that showered burning debris over surrounding buildings and the streets below. America was under attack. The attackers were Islamic terrorists from Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Reportedly financed by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda terrorist organization, they were allegedly acting in retaliation for America’s support of Israel, its involvement in the Persian Gulf War, and its continued military presence in the Middle East. Some of the terrorists had lived in the United States for more than a year and had taken flying lessons at American commercial flight schools. Others had slipped into the U.S. in the months before September 11 and acted as the “muscle” in the operation. The 19 terrorists easily smuggled box-cutters and knives through security at three East Coast airports and boarded four flights bound for California, chosen because the planes were loaded with fuel for the long transcontinental journey. Soon after takeoff, the terrorists commandeered the four planes and took the controls, transforming the ordinary commuter jets into guided missiles. As millions watched in horror the events unfolding in New York, American Airlines Flight 77 circled over downtown Washington and slammed into the west side of the Pentagon military headquarters at 9:45 a.m. Jet fuel from the Boeing 757 caused a devastating inferno that led to a structural collapse of a portion of the giant concrete building. All told, 125 military personnel and civilians were killed in the Pentagon along with all 64 people aboard the airliner. Less than 15 minutes after the terrorists struck the nerve center of the U.S. military, the horror in New York took a catastrophic turn for the worse when the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed in a massive cloud of dust and smoke. The structural steel of the skyscraper, built to withstand winds in excess of 200 mph and a large conventional fire, could not withstand the tremendous heat generated by the burning jet fuel. At 10:30 a.m., the other Trade Center tower collapsed. Close to 4,000 people died in the World Trade Center and its vicinity, including a staggering 343 firefighters and 23 policemen who were struggling to complete an evacuation of the buildings and save the office workers trapped on higher floors. Only six people in the World Trade Center towers at the time of their collapse survived. Almost 10,000 other people were treated for injuries, many severe. Meanwhile, a fourth California-bound plane–United Flight 93–was hijacked about 40 minutes after leaving Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Because the plane had been delayed in taking off, passengers on board learned of events in New York and Washington via cell phone and Airfone calls to the ground. Knowing that the aircraft was not returning to an airport as the hijackers claimed, a group of passengers and flight attendants planned an insurrection. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett, Jr., told his wife over the phone that “I know we’re all going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.” Another passenger–Todd Beamer–was heard saying “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll” over an open line. Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and explained that she had slipped into a galley and was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words to him were “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.” The passengers fought the four hijackers and are suspected to have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The plane then flipped over and sped toward the ground at upwards of 500 miles per hour, crashing in a rural field in western Pennsylvania at 10:10 a.m. All 45 people aboard were killed. Its intended target is not known, but theories include the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, or one of several nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard. At 7 p.m., President George W. Bush, who had spent the day being shuttled around the country because of security concerns, returned to the White House. At 9 p.m., he delivered a televised address from the Oval Office, declaring “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” In a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he declared: “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.” Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led international effort to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network based there, began on October 7.
September 12 1917 – General John J. Pershing selected the 7th Marine Company to guard his headquarters in France.
September 12 1942 – On Guadalcanal, major attacks by the Japanese units, from General Kawaguchi’s 35th brigade, begin. Fighting is heavy especially around the aptly named “Bloody Ridge”. Reinforcements of aircraft are flown to the Americans from the USS Wasp.
September 12 1942 – The Battle of Edson’s Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United States Marine Corps) ground forces, begins on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, and was the second of three separate major Japanese ground offensives during the Guadalcanal Campaign. In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an attack by the Japanese 35th Infantry Brigade, under the command of Japanese Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, which was captured from the Japanese by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942. Kawaguchi’s unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces from the island. Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal–about 12,000–Kawaguchi’s 6,000 soldiers conducted several nighttime frontal assaults on the U.S. defenses. The main Japanese assault occurred around Lunga ridge south of Henderson Field, manned by troops from several U.S. Marine Corps units, primarily troops from the 1st Raider and 1st Parachute Battalions under U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson. Although the Marine defenses were almost overrun, Kawaguchi’s attack was ultimately defeated, with heavy losses for the Japanese. Because of the key participation by Edson’s unit in defending the ridge, the ridge was commonly referred to as “Edson’s” ridge in historical accounts of the battle in Western sources. After Edson’s Ridge, the Japanese continued to send troops to Guadalcanal for further attempts to retake Henderson Field, affecting Japanese offensive operations in other areas of the South Pacific.
September 12 1960 – Marine Corps Museum opened at Quantico.
September 12 1967 – Operation Coronado V began in Mekong Delta.
September 12 2001 – Pres. Bush called Tuesday’s terrorist attacks “acts of war.” Stunned rescue workers continued to search for bodies in the World Trade Center’s smoking rubble a day after a terrorist attack that shut down the financial capital, badly damaged the Pentagon and left thousands dead. The US began building a broad int’l. coalition for a possible military retaliation against those responsible for the terrorist attacks on Sep 11. Federal authorities said followers of Osama bin Laden were responsible for airline hijackings directed at NYC and the Pentagon. The US air system remained grounded and financial markets closed.
September 12 2011 – The 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City opens to the public. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial and 9/11 Memorial Museum) is the principal memorial and museum commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the World Trade Center bombing of 1993, which killed six. The memorial is located at the World Trade Center site, on the former location of the Twin Towers, which were destroyed during the attacks. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation was renamed the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center in 2007. The winner of the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was Israeli architect Michael Arad of Handel Architects, a New York- and San Francisco-based firm. Arad worked with landscape architecture firm Peter Walker and Partners on the design which calls for a forest of trees with two square pools in the center, where the Twin Towers once stood.
Have a safe weekend!
Semper Fidelis and God Bless!
Chaplain Keith Guinn
Marine Corps League
Capt. Jack Holland Detachment #735
