05/30/2026
Chaplain's Coordinates 5-30-2026.
Good morning Marines, FMF Corpsmen, FMF Chaplains, Associate Members and family! I hope this finds you all well! The Guinn's are doing fine. During this past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, I went through a ton emotions. While most were having cookouts, family fun and just a 3 day weekend, I was thinking of those that have gone before us and their sacrifice so we could have freedom. I found myself watching old war movies like "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and just reflecting on the cost of freedom. Our freedom isn't free and most folks today have forgotten that. They think they are entitled to the liberties of freedom at no cost to them. We as Veterans carry the scares of sacrifice with no appreciation, most of the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't need or want recognition, but those that still carry those very deep scars need us to remember! Remember what? Sacrifice! Those that did not come home or came home broken. This year, we will celebrate 250 of freedom, but we need to remember the cost! Yes, let's celebrate, but we need to come together as humanity and realize that true freedom on come through sacrifice. The greatest demonstration of that was that God sent His one and Son into the world to give us true freedom! We are to love one another and help one another! May God make this freedom real to you on this 250th Birthday of the United States of America! Created as one nation under God.
Upcoming Events:
- June Gathering will be moved to the June 15 due to the Department Convention.
- June 18–21: Department of Tennessee Convention at the Knoxville Airport Hilton. Register at mcldepttn.org (http://mcldepttn.org). Please book your room by April 27 and mention the Marine Corps League for convention rates.
- August 10–14: National Convention at the Wyndham Indianapolis Hotel. Details at www.mcleaguelibrary.org (http://www.mcleaguelibrary.org).
- August 20: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- September 17: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- September 21: 11th Annual Semper Fi Golf Tournament.
- 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.
June Birthday's:
Vic Corson 3rd "Vic will turn 94!"
Gerald Sears 3rd
John Wehner 8th
Nathan "Swat" Swiatnicki 9th
Dana Jones 11th
Chris King 14th
Jerry Truelove Jr 14th
Chuck Barnett 15th
James Lee 15th
Dimple Moore 15th
Sheriff Julian Wiser 16th
Ramon Richardson 21st
Fred Benjamin 23rd
Robert Woods 27th
AB Beasley 30th
Ray Washington 30th
Marcus Foster 30th
Happy Birthday!!
Word of the Day:
"Memorial Day isn't just about honoring veterans, its honoring those who lost their lives. Veterans had the fortune of coming home. For us, that's a reminder of when we come home we still have a responsibility to serve. It's a continuation of service that honors our country and those who fell defending it." Pete Hegseth
Prayer Requests:
- Doc Lee and family: Davin "his sister" passed Thursday night peacefully. Keep them in prayer.
- Vicki Benjamin: Doc Fred Benjamin wife. Her surgery was successful. Now praying for a speedy recovery! Please lift Vicki and Fred in prayer.
- Lenore Ventimiglia: Pray for healing for her broken leg.
-Joshua and Hillary Poole: Pray for them as they travel the road to parenthood.
- Law Enforcement: Keep our law enforcement officers in your prayers, especially our own members: Chief Thom Corley, Sheriff Julian Wiser, and Marshal Tyreece Miller.
Please also continue to pray for:
Ben Baker, AB and Kay Beasley, John Woods (knee issues), Al Butler (failing health), Thomas Montgomery, Telisha Truelove, Bob Newman, Godfrey Howard, Vic and Gert Corson, Jim and Nancy Cook, and Stacey and RJ Beckwith.
We also remember those battling cancer, those grieving the loss of loved ones, and the "22 a day" dealing with mental illness 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:
Toward a Healthy Nation
That is the LORD’s blessing for those who fear him. May the LORD continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live. May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace! (Psalm 128:4–6)
May 30, 2026
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
What will life be like when the dust settles and quietness returns? What will be the rewards for beginning and cultivating a family according to God’s direction? How will it be in my empty nest?
To begin with, we will be “blessed” (Psalm 128:4). I take this to mean that we, personally, will be happy. There will be happy memories. There will also be the happiness sustained through good relationships with our adult offspring.
Furthermore, the psalmist states that “Jerusalem” will be a better place. That was the city where he lived. There will be civil blessings that come as a result of releasing into society a happy, healthy, young adult. The cities where our offspring choose to live will be better places if they emerge from a family that has prepared them for life.
Finally, “Peace be upon Israel!” Ultimately, the nation will be blessed of God. It is automatic. Healthy, well-disciplined, loving homes produce people who make a nation peaceful and strong. As the family goes, so goes the nation. When you boil it down to the basics, the pulse of an entire civilization is determined by the heartbeat of its homes.
When it comes to rearing children, every society is only 20 years away from barbarism. Twenty years is all we have to accomplish the task of civilizing the infants who are born into our midst each year. These savages know nothing of our language, our culture, our religion, our values, our customs of interpersonal relations. The infant is totally ignorant about communism, fascism, democracy, civil liberties, the rights of the minority as contrasted with the prerogative of the majority, respect, decency, honesty, customs, conventions and manners. The barbarian must be tamed if civilization is to survive.
This Week in Marine Corps History
May 24 1900 – Marines landed at Taku, China, to establish Legation Guard at Peking.
May 25 1945 – On Okinawa, the US 4th Marine Regiment eliminates the Japanese casemates and underground positions on Machishi Hill. The US 29th Regiment secures Naha.
May 25 1951 – Eighteen U.S. Marines and one U.S. Army infantryman captured during the Chosin/Changjin Reservoir campaign were returned to U.N. control.
May 25 1967 – Fighting resumes in the southeastern section of the DMZ when two Marine battalions assault a North Vietnamese position on Hill 117, three miles west of the base at Conthien. They withdraw after blowing up enemy bunkers there on the 27th.
May 25 1968 – The communists launch their third major assault of the year on Saigon. The heaviest fighting occurred during the first three days of June, and again centered on Cholon, the Chinese section of Saigon, where U.S. and South Vietnamese forces used helicopters, fighter-bombers, and tanks to dislodge deeply entrenched Viet Cong infiltrators. A captured enemy directive, which the U.S. command made public on May 28, indicated that the Viet Cong saw the offensive as a means of influencing the Paris peace talks in their favor.
May 26 1853 – Major Jacob Zeilin (in charge of Marines) arrived with Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s squadron at Okinawa.
May 26 1864 – A joint Army-Navy expedition advanced up the Ashepoo and South Edisto Rivers, South Carolina, with the object of cutting the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. Union naval forces, under Lieutenant Commander Edward F. Stone, included converted ferryboat U.S.S. Commodore McDonough, and wooden steamers E.B. Hale, Dai Ching, and Vixen and a detachment of Marines. The Navy pushed up the South Edisto, while Army transports moved up the Ashepoo convoyed by Dai Ching. Stone landed the Marines and howitzers and on the morning of the 26th opened fire on Willstown, South Carolina. The naval commander, unable to make contact with General Birney to coordinate a further assault, withdrew next morning. Transport Boston ran aground in the Ashepoo and was destroyed to prevent her capture.
May 26 1969 – Operation Pipestone Canyon began when the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines and 3d Battalion, 5th Marines began sweeps in the Dodge City/Go Noi areas southwest of Da Nang. It terminated at the end of June with 610 enemy killed in action at a cost of 34 Marines killed.
May 26 1981 – An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68), killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
May 27 1863 – Confederate defenders turned back a major assault on Port Hudson, inflicting severe losses on the Union Army. General Banks’ troops fell back into siege position and appealed to Rear Admiral Farragut to continue the mortar and ship bombardment night and day, and requested naval officers and Marines to man a heavy naval battery ashore. A week later, Farragut reported the situation to Welles: “General Banks still has Port Hudson closely invested and is now putting up a battery of four IX-inch guns and four 24 pounders. The first will be superintended by Lieutenant [Commander] Terry, of the Richmond, and worked by four of her gun crews and to be used as a breaching battery. We continue to shell the enemy every night from three to five hours, and at times during the day when they open fire on our troops. . . . I have the Hartford and two or three gunboats above Port Hudson; the Richmond, Genesee, Essex, and this vessel [Monongahela], together with the mortar boats below, ready to aid the army in any way in our power.
May 27 1945 – On Okinawa, American forces attacking southward, continue to encounter heavy Japanese resistance. Japanese aircraft begin a two-day series of strikes against the Allied naval forces around the island. The US destroyer Drexler is sunk.
May 27 1958 – The F-4 Phantom II makes its first flight. The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor aircraft/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was also adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Air Force, and by the mid-1960s had become a major part of their respective air wings. The Phantom is a large fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds (8,400 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and various bombs. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon. Later models incorporated a M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for in-flight performance, including an absolute speed record, and an absolute altitude record. During the Vietnam War, the F-4 was used extensively; it served as the principal air superiority fighter for both the Navy and Air Force, and became important in the ground-attack and aerial reconnaissance roles late in the war. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U.S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. During the Vietnam War, the USAF had one pilot and two weapon systems officers (WSOs), and the US Navy one pilot and one radar intercept officer (RIO), achieve five aerial kills against other enemy fighter aircraft and become aces in air-to-air combat. The F-4 continued to form a major part of U.S. military air power throughout the 1970s and 1980s, being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft such as the F-15 Eagle and F-16 in the U.S. Air Force, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in the U.S. Navy, and the F/A-18 Hornet in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U.S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. It was also the only aircraft used by both U.S. flight demonstration teams: the USAF Thunderbirds (F-4E) and the US Navy Blue Angels (F-4J). The F-4 was also operated by the armed forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its large fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with seven countries, and in use as an Target drone in the U.S. Air Force. Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft.
May 27 1968 – Last Monday of the month. Memorial Day, which began in 1868 as Decoration Day, was set aside to remember those who have died in the service of their country. Celebrated on May 30 for the first 100 years, Memorial Day was officially changed to the last Monday in May in 1968.
May 28 1965 – A five day running battle begins in Quangngai Province. Vietcong forces ambush a battalion of ARVN troops near Bagia and reinforcements are called for. The US Marine battalion fails to arrive in time and other ARVN reinforcements are also ambushed. Only 3 US advisors and about 60 ARVN troops manage to get away. The battle instills a sense of urgency in US military leaders, as it reveals how vulnerable the South Vietnamese military remains facing a sizable and flexible Communist force.
May 29 1940 – The first flight of the Vought F4U Corsair. The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought’s manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–53). The Corsair was designed as a carrier-based aircraft. However its difficult carrier landing performance rendered the Corsair unsuitable for Navy use until the carrier landing issues were overcome when used by the British Fleet Air Arm. The Corsair thus came to and retained prominence in its area of greatest deployment: land based use by the U.S. Marines. The role of the dominant U.S. carrier based fighter in the second part of the war was thus filled by the Grumman F6F Hellcat, powered by the same Double Wasp engine first flown on the Corsair’s first prototype in 1940. The Corsair served to a lesser degree in the U.S. Navy. As well as the U.S. and British use the Corsair was also used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the French Navy Aéronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s. Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II, and the U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair. After the carrier landing issues had been tackled it quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II. The Corsair served almost exclusively as a fighter-bomber throughout the Korean War and during the French colonial wars in Indochina and Algeria.
May 29 1991 – Elements of a joint task force that included the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade departed the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Bangladesh after nearly two weeks of disaster relief operations following a devastating cyclone. The joint task force delivered tons of relief supplies using helicopters, C-130s, and landing craft in Operation Sea Angel.
May 30 1813 – Marines aboard the USS President helped capture the HMS brig Shannon.
May 30 1863 – A detachment of the Marine Brigade, assigned to Rear Admiral Porter’s Mississippi Squadron, captured three Confederate paymasters at Bolivar, Mississippi. The paymasters, escorted by 35 troops who were also taken prisoner, were carrying $2,200,000 in Confederate currency to pay their soldiers at Little Rock. “This,” Porter commented, “will not improve the dissatisfaction now existing in Price’s army, and the next news we hear will be that General Steele has posses-sion of Little Rock.”
May 30 1945 – American and British forces land in the Tokyo area. The US 11th Airborne Division flies in to Atsugi airfield, while the US 4th Marine Regiment of the US 6th Marine Division lands in the naval base at Yokosuka. Meanwhile, the American cruiser USS San Juan starts to evacuate Allied prisoners of war detained in the Japanese home islands.
Have a great weekend!
Semper Fidelis and God Bless!
Chaplain Keith Guinn
Marine Corps League
Capt. Jack Holland Detachment #735
