Marine Corps League - Black Hills Detachment 484

06/15/2026

06/15/2026

The Black Hills Detachment was proud to host the Marine Corps League - South Dakota Department for their annual meeting and installation of officers.

06/06/2026

06/06/2026

After more than 55 years of service, the legendary AV-8B Harrier II has flown its last mission.

On Wednesday morning, five of the Marine Corps' final Harriers thundered over Cherry Point in North Carolina, passed under a water cannon salute, and parked on the flightline for the last time. More than 5,000 Marines, veterans, and their families came out to watch them go.

The pilots flying that final formation belonged to Marine Attack Squadron 223, the "Bulldogs," the last operational Harrier squadron in the entire Corps. They had just returned from the type's final combat deployment aboard the USS Iwo Jima as part of Operation Absolute Resolve. Their jets went straight from the fight to the Sundown Ceremony.

The Harrier was always a Marine's airplane. It didn't need a long runway. It could land vertically on the deck of an amphibious assault ship, take off from a beach, or operate from a stretch of road if it had to. When Marines on the ground called for close air support, it was the Harrier that showed up fast and low.

It served in Desert Storm. The Balkans. Iraq. Afghanistan. And in countless smaller fights the public never heard about.

"To execute it and do it right, then shut down the engines and know that we did a good job for the community and made everybody proud, that feeling means a lot," said Lt. Col. John Cumbie, VMA-223's commanding officer, who has flown the Harrier for 16 years.

"Just being over there with my squadron and the families, looking back, seeing them fight back tears, me fighting back tears, man. It's been phenomenal," added Sgt. Maj. Derek Carlson.

The F-35B Lightning II will take over the Harrier's role going forward. It's faster, stealthier, and more capable. But it isn't the Harrier.

For the Marines who flew it, fixed it, and went to war with it, that name is going to mean something for the rest of their lives.

06/02/2026

June 1, 1918, officially started the battle of Bellau Woods. The Marines would have 1,087 casualties, but would earn the historic name teufel hunden

Semper Fidelis Devil Dogs

05/30/2026