February 2015 - Friendship Christian School

gyromagnetic compass: a directional gyroscope whose azimuth
scale is maintained in alignment
Military Terms, Abbreviations, and Acronyms
1
A Veteran’s Day Interview (Part 2)
2
Here’s Why: USMC Mascot
2, 3
Military Discounts for Valentine’s Day
2, 3
Veteran’s Choice Program
3
This Month in Military History
4
with the magnetic meridian by a
magnetic detector unit
half-residence time: time required for the amount of weapon
debris deposited in a particular part
of the atmosphere to decrease to
half of its initial value.
handover: the transfer of isolated
personnel between two recovery
forces
My memory may fade, after long years,
But through misty eyes, the you and the tears,
Of that glorious day, to end all sorrows,
And the many who fought, for all our tomorrows.
The memories of Dunkirk, on that infamous beach,
When the small boats of mercy
seemed out of our reach,
The Battle of Britain, an attempt to subdue,
And the debt we owe, to those silent few.
The opening lines of ”Dunkirk -- A Tribute,” written by
George Smith, reflects the honored thoughts of thousands of soldiers, seamen and civilians who worked to
avert a wartime tragedy.
World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Britain, France and Belgium
honored their treaties with Poland and came to the aid
of their neighbor. In the months leading up to the
attack, Germany had assured the world that it was not
violating the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War
I. Its intention was to bring the German-speaking
peoples together in what was seen as a controversial
but limited annexation of territory. However, the invasion of Poland showed that the German plan was one
of conquest and had to be confronted.
Germany had rolled through Poland with considerable
ease using “blitzkrieg“ (lightning war) tactics never
before seen in war. This revolutionary method of warfare used a dense concentration of armor and motorized or mechanized infantry backed up by close air
support. These powerful attacks were meant to quickly dislocate the enemy by speed and surprise, to ultimately encircle them. Confronting the German army
was a force of 400,000 troops consisting of the British
Expeditionary Force, the French 1st Army, and the
Belgian Army.
Following World War I, the French constructed a series
of concrete underground fortifications, obstacles, and
weapons installations that ran across the whole span
of their border with Germany and Luxembourg.
Known as the ”Maginot Line,” the defensive emplacements were put into place to give the French time to
mobilize their army should war break out again with
Germany as it had in the first World War. The border
with Switzerland was not covered by this defensive line
and it did not extend to the English Channel so that
Belgian neutrality would not be compromised. Considered by the French to be a ”work of genius,” it did
not take into account the changes in equipment and
tactics during the twenty year
period between the two
great wars. Germany
loosed its blitzkrieg
through Belgium, bypassing the Maginot Line,
thus causing the French
army to surrender.
France was conquered in
about six weeks.
The German buildup to
war left the British, French
and Belgian forces at a decided disadvantage. With a two-toone advantage in troops and equipment, the deadly
efficiency of the Germany army bore down upon the
Allied forces that caused them to retreat in the face of
overwhelming numbers. The Allied armies retreated to
the port town of Dunkirk hoping to be evacuated. By
May 26, 1940, the German army had the Allied army
pinned in on three sides. With the English Channel at
their backs, the Allied army had nowhere to further
retreat. (Dunkirk WWII memorial pictured above,
right.)
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Page 2
Editor’s Note: Have you ever
wondered why the English Bulldog
is the mascot of the USMC?
The English Bulldog, also known
as "Teufel-hunden,” or "Devil
Dog,” is the official mascot that
symbolizes the ethos of the Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines.
The U.S. Marine Corps earned
this mascot during World War I,
when many German reports
called the attacking Marines
”teufel-hunden," meaning DevilDogs. Teufel-hunden were the
vicious, wild and ferocious mountain dogs of German Bavarian
folklore.
As a result, in 1922, U.S. Marine
Major General Smedley Butler introduced the first Marine
mascot, named "Pvt.Jiggs," who
lived at Marine Barracks, Quantico. He quickly rose in the ranks
to Sergeant Major. He was the
first in a series of bulldog mascots. During the 1930s, 1940s,
and early 1950s they were all
named Smedley, a tribute to
General Butler.
THE PATRIOT NEWS
Editor’s Note: We pick up Colonel
Martin’s interview of Major Don King
during the special 2013 Veteran’s
Day chapel service at Friendship
Christian School. In this installment,
the questions begin.
Martin: Don, we welcome you today. It is certainly an honor to be
here and call you my
friend, as well as my
brother in Christ. We
will be going through
some questions we
discussed that will give
you some background
before we begin our
conversation. Why did
you join the Army and
how did you come
about picking the Army
as a branch of service?
King: Well, it was a
different time back
then; the draft was still
in effect. I had graduated from high school, had thought
about college, and as you read, had
held pretty menial jobs (whatever I
could get). There really weren’t
many jobs available at that time for
those who didn’t have their draft or
military service behind him. And so I
determined that to get the experience, … I would go ahead and enlist,
get my military service behind me,
and at the same time learn a profession (which the Army is very good at
teaching). So when I got out after
three years, I’d be able to find some
kind of job with computers. The
Army offered that particular job and
I wanted it.
In the late 1950s, the Marine
Barracks in Washington (the oldest post in the Corps) became
the new home for the Corps'
mascot. Renamed Chesty to honor the legendary Lt. Gen. Lewis
B. "Chesty" Puller Jr. (pictured
below), the mascot made his first
Martin: Can you tell us a little bit
formal public appearance at the
about boot camp, what it was like,
Evening Parade on 5 July 1957.
According to Marion F. Sturkey,
author of the Warrior Culture
of the U.S. Marines, "In his
canine Dress Blues, Chesty became an immediate media darling, a smash hit!"
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Valentine’s Day is that special time
of year to remind your loved ones
how much you care. But saying ”I
love you” in creative and romantic
ways can get costly. So this Valentine’s Day take advantage of some
military discounts to help Cupid cut
costs. (And
remember: not
all military
discounts are
advertised, so
make sure
you ask wherever
you go.)
your first military experience there?
King: That was a long time ago. I
went to basic training at Fort Ord
California, which no longer exists.
The main thing I remembered was
that the food was absolutely fantastic! (laughter in the background)
I’ve listened to people gripe about
Army chow for 21 years
– I never did understand that; I always
thought it was great.
The other thing I remembered is that it
was extremely cold.
The Monterrey peninsula of California was
constantly cold, with
cold winds blowing off
the Pacific.
that I was supposed to have a testimony. That’s what I mean by the
“great deal of regret.” The Lord was
there with me; He pulled me out of a
whole bunch of tight spots. I prayed
a lot to Him; it was just a matter of
an ongoing conversation, because I
had not been schooled; I wasn’t
discipled in how to pray, read my
Bible, all that sort of thing – nobody
ever told me that. So I really didn’t
have a Christian testimony other
than the fact that I knew the Lord
was with me, and that out of all
those … tough situations, He brought
Martin: We saw from
the biography that you me through, and I recognized Him
had become a Christian for it. It was sort of between Him
and me.
early in life. Can you
tell us a little bit about
being a Christian and maintaining
your Christian testimony while in
military service?
King: I talk about that with a great
deal of regret. I was saved in that
little Nazarene church, but they didn’t have any sort of discipleship program at all. It was one of those
churches where they’d say, “We got
one more saved!” and put a mark on
the chalkboard, then go after the
next one. So when I walked out of
the church as a saved Christian, I
felt different; I sensed the Holy Spirit
in me, but I couldn’t identify this as
being the Holy Spirit, since nobody
explained to me that this is what it
was. So I went through a number of
years without really understanding
Flowers
Flowers may be cliché and predictable, but they’re still one of the most
popular gifts for Valentine’s Day.
However, sending flowers to your
Valentine isn’t cheap. Luckily,
ProFlowers and 1-800-Flowers can
help you out with military discounts
on their beautiful flower arrangements and other gifts.
Gift Baskets and Sweet Treats
Chocolate and other sweets are also
standard Valentine’s Day gifts. And
you can use military discounts to
Below: Don King speaking,
2011 Veteran’s Day Chapel
NEXT MONTH: PART THREE
help you think outside the box of
simple candy hearts. At Edible Arrangements, choose from a variety
of gifts, including yummy chocolate
covered strawberries and fruit arrangements, and get 10% off your
purchase.
Shari’s Berries offers a 25% military
discount with a purchase of $39.99.
From chocolate covered strawberries
and fortune cookies to Love Bug
cake pops, you can find the perfect
treat for your Valentine.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Page 3
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 2
Sending sweets to a servicemember
overseas? Send cookies and other
gift baskets filled with treats from
Cheryl’s Cookies, who offers free
shipping on gifts sent to anyone serving on APO/FPO
military bases.
Hickory Farms also offers free
shipping to APO/FPO addresses.
They may not have chocolate, but
there are all sorts of other gift baskets and goodies to choose from.
Jewelry
You can’t go wrong with jewelry on
Valentine’s Day. Check out Helzberg
Diamonds and Samuels Jewelers,
both of which offer a 10% military
discount off their collection of beautiful jewelry.
Homemade Gifts
Are you the crafty type? Want to get
the kids involved? Homemade cards
and crafts are fun Valentine’s gifts
that add that extra personal touch.
Stock up on craft supplies
at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft
stores.
Massages
Give your Valentine the gift of
relaxation with a professional
massage. Massage Envy offers
a military discount of $5 off
their monthly membership. When
you call to book an appointment, ask
if they offer couples’ massages too.
Party at Home
Want to include all your friends in
the Valentine’s Day celebration?
Throw a party! Select Party City
locations offer a 10% military discount, so head there for all your
party supplies.
Date Night
Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse
to head out for a date night. Celebrate with dinner and a movie or get
some ideas about local events from
your ITT office on base. Need to
Effective November 5, 2014, the new  You need to travel by plane or
Choice Program began covering nonboat to the VA medical facility closVA care. Veterans are eligible if any
est to your home
of these situations apply to you:
 Enrolled in VA Healthcare
 You have been told by your local
 You face a geographic challenge,
such as extensive distances around
water or other geologic formations,
such as mountains, which presents
a significant travel hardship
VA medical facility that you will
need to wait more than 30 days
from your preferred date or the
To get started, you’ll need to pick a
date medically determined by your non-VA provider, gather some info
physician
and give us a call in order to set up
 Your current residence is more
than 40 miles from the closest VA
health care facility
With Dunkirk in sight, German Dictator Adolf Hitler ordered his armored
units to halt their advance. The
order to halt is a decision that has
been debated by historians in the
years since the war. It is believed
that Hitler either wanted to give his
troops a rest after two straight
weeks of battle or that he was trying
to convince the British and their new
Prime Minister Winston Churchill to
negotiate for peace. The truth will
never be known. However the delay
gave the Allied force a very brief
window of opportunity to escape.
Capture and imprisonment of these
an appointment. We will work with
you to ensure you are approved for
care in your community and schedule
you with a local care provider of your
book a baby-sitter to make date
night possible? A company called
Sittercity.com can help you find
babysitters, and thanks to the Department of Defense, military families
can sign up for free Sittercity memberships.
According to military.com, General Puller earned five Navy
crosses during the course of his
career and spent all but ten of
his 37 active-duty years serving
at sea or overseas, even volunRomantic Getaway
teering n Vietnam when he was
Want to go all out and plan a roman73. When he passed away in
tic Valentine’s getaway? Make sure
1971, Puller, the most decorated
to use military discounts along the
way. Whether you want to stay close Marine of all time, said his final
to home or venture on a road trip,
wish was to ”… see the face of
you can find all sorts of military disevery Marine I served with one
counts on lodging for a night or two
last time.”
away. If you plan a trip near a miliThe current official mascot is the
tary base, you can use installation
lodging. If not, many hotels
14th (Chesty XIII retired August
like Marriott, Best Western, Hilton
28, 2013), and came from five
Hotels, and Choice Hotels offer miligenerations of championship
tary travel discounts.
bulldogs bred by a motherdaughter team in Virginia, acFor more info, visit
cording to the Military Times.
www.military.com
This dog (pictured below in official pose) lives at the Marine
Barracks in Washington, DC,
where he appears in weekly
choosing.
parades.
Steps to Getting an AppointIndividual Marine units across
ment
the Corps have their own mas Decide which non-VA health care cots, usually bulldogs, the most
provider you would like to use.
famous of which represent the
Search the list of approved care
enlisted training installations. An
providers in your community.
English bulldog named Legend
 Make sure you have information
represents Marine Corps Recruit
on hand about any other health
Depot Parris Island and LCpl.
insurance coverage you may have. Belleau Wood represents Marine
 Call 1-866-606-8198 to make sure Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
you qualify and schedule an apSemper Fido, Chesty!!
pointment.
suited for the strong currents and
heavy seas of the English Channel,
answered the call. These "little
boats" gathered at the Thames EsThe docks at Dunkirk had been
tuary and in the town of Dover to
heavily damaged by German bombbe led across the channel by the
ing and could not be used for evacuBritish navy. Being able to maneuation. However, the East and West
ver much closer in the beachfront
Moles (sea walls protecting the harshallows than larger craft, the "little
bor entrance) were intact. British
boats" acted as shuttles to and from
naval vessels could not maneuver
the larger crafts, lifting troops who
close enough to the Moles for evacuwere queuing in the water, many
ation. A call went out through the
waiting shoulder-deep in water for
whole of England for any available
hours.
fishing boats, pleasure cruisers and
commercial ferries. Hundreds of
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
small craft, many of which were not
troops would have been a tremendous blow, particularly to the British
war effort.
Sources: http://
www.usmcpress.com/heritage/
marine_corps_mascot.htm,
http://
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/
02/20/marine-mascotservice_n_2727053.html
CHURCH CONTACT
INFORMATION
THIS MONTH IN MILITARY HISTORY
Page 4
Friendship Baptist Church
1 Feb 1819 - Birth of Henry Law14 Feb 1891 - Death of William
rence Eustis, US Army Brigadier Gen- Tecumseh Sherman, Major General,
eral during the Civil War
US, Civil War, later General-in-Chief
19 Feb 1934 - US Army Air Corps
begins air mail deliveries (for six
months)
Phone: (919) 876-0585
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.fbcweb.net
1 Feb 1958 - Army rocket launches
Explorer I, the first US satellite
16 Feb 1804 - Stephen Decatur
retakes and burns the USS Philadelphia, which had been captured by
10 Feb 1807 - Congress establishes
the Dey of Tripoli
the US Coast Survey
23 Feb 1915 - Birth of Paul W.
Tibbets, USAF Brigadier General and
pilot of the Enola Gay (the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the
history of warfare) in WWII
Between May 26 and June 4, 1940,
338,226 men were rescued to fight
another day.
my stay.”
5510 Falls of Neuse Road
Raleigh, NC 27609
COLONEL STEVE AND
DEBORAH MARTIN
Phone: (919) 571-4378
[email protected]
Editor-in-Chief:
Joe Perez ([email protected])
Contributing Author:
Don King ([email protected])
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS:
 Robert Carver - 3
 Rose Wilson - 6
 Vickie Salerno - 14
 Andrew Folz - 27
FEBRUARY
ANNIVERSARIES:
 Albert & Becky Watkins - 14
The solidarity of the British people
during the difficult years of the war
became known as the ”Dunkirk Spirit.” It was this spirit that helped
through difficult times, dangerous
events, and hopeless situations.
Even the weather participated in the
evacuation. One noted weather
expert noted, ”By a twist of fate, or
better yet a meander of the jet
stream…the one set of conditions
that most favored the Allied evacuation persisted for days.” Heavy
cloud cover and rain
also kept German aircraft from strafing and
bombing during the
heaviest evacuation
periods. Many considered that God answered the prayers of
a nation during this
critical period.
The Hilfanor (one of the original
“little boats” restored in 1990)
If you are a child of
God, you may be confronted “with” a hopeless situation, but you are not
“in” a hopeless situation.
Numerous times in the Bible
we can see situations that looked
hopeless until our God stepped in Noah, Moses, Gideon, and David just
to mention a few faced situations
that seemed impossible. The story
of Dunkirk certainly has several parallels to the situation Moses faced at
the Red Sea. Exodus 14:13 tells us
“And Moses said unto the people,
Hopeless situations will happen to us
all. When you seem surrounded, all
alone, and no answers are in sight that is your cue to take the situation
out of your own hands and lay the
problem at our Lord’s feet and trust
Him for the outcome. A hopeless
situation allows us to see God more
Fear ye not, stand still, and see the
clearly and reminds us of our ultisalvation of the Lord, which He will
mate hope. The following from Dr.
show to you today.” A little later, we
Ronnie Floyd illustrates the reason
see that God’s deliverance of the
for hopeless situations in our life:
children of Israel at the Red Sea
”When we are victorious over the
served as a source of faith and inspibattles of life, we are relieved. As
ration. Exodus 15:21 tells us, ”And
we recall God’s faithfulness, there is
Miriam answered them, Sing ye to
a spiritual bond between us and
the Lord, for He hath triumphed
God. An intimacy is established and
gloriously: the horse and his rider
deepened that only victory can crehath He thrown into the sea.” Folate. Nothing gives relief like victory.
lowing his deliverance from all of his
When we walk through the battles of
enemies, including Saul, David also
life, God teaches us about Himself.
used a song as his rally cry recorded
We discover who He is. We learn as
in Psalm 18 (vv. 6, 17-18): “In my
David learned of His sovereign power
distress I called upon the Lord, and
and protection in our lives. When
cried unto my God: He heard my
deliverance comes, not only is relief
voice out of His temple, and my cry
felt, but praise to God alone comes
came before Him, even into His
from the depths of our hearts.”
ears… He delivered me from my
strong enemy, and from them which
hated me: for they were too strong
for me. They prevented me in the
day of my calamity: but the Lord was
When you are faced “with” a hopeless situation, remember, you are
not “in” a hopeless situation. Praise
the Lord, help is on the way!
“In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”
(Psalm 56:11)
We do not have any of our church family
or extended family currently deployed.
I am looking to schedule an outdoor event
for the Yellow Ribbon Ministry in the late
Please continue to pray for the leaders April or early May timeframe. If anyone is
of our nation to have wisdom in how interested in helping to plan for this event,
please contact me. Thanks!
to deploy our troops. Pray that our
~ Colonel Martin
leaders humble themselves and turn
their hearts toward the Lord. Also, Coming Up Next Month:
please continue to keep Brian and
 Military Aircraft Trivia
Ivey Palmer in your prayers as
they minister to our service
 The “Lady of the Lake” Mystery
members in Fort Greely, Alaska.
THE PATRIOT NEWS
VOLUME 7, ISSUE 2