We at Hammock Inc. have a profound respect for great creative work, and especially for work that relates to our clients—in this case, The Marine Corps League. On Jan. 16, the U.S. Marine Corps began airing a stunning new TV recruitment commercial featuring the Corps’ legendary Silent Drill Platoon.
The Marines traveled to 15 locations in 10 states to shoot footage, from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to Times Square in New York, even to Columbia, TN. The video folks shot loads of scenes, probably enough to make a dozen commercials – in fact, they made an exciting teaser preview. Meanwhile, a still photographer and writer documented each location, including moving stories from veteran Marines, from parents and siblings and friends of Marines who came out to watch the taping.
The results are posted at the website, ourmarines.com, along with an extended version of the TV spot (click the video sidebar to view).
One incident is worth noting because it has another Hammock tie-in. Rex Hammock happened to be in New York City at the same time as the Drill Platoon. After filming from about 2 a.m. to sunrise, the Marines went live on Fox and Friends, then boarded a bus to CBS’ Early Show, 11 blocks away. When the bus became mired in mid-Manhattan gridlock, the Marines debarked and marched to the CBS studios. As Rex was leaving his hotel to head out for JFK Airport and an early-morning flight, the Marines were heading back to their bus. “I’ve seen lots of unique things in New York City over the years,” recalls Rex, “But nothing can compare with how impressive — and surreal — it is to chance upon the Marine Drill Team at six a.m. in Times Square.”
From all accounts the platoon took Manhattan without firing a shot.
During the recent Marine West Expo aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., I joined several members of the Marine Corps League including Lt. Gen. Olmstead, former commanding general of the base, on a visit to the Wounded Warrior Battalion West. Around 29 Marines now comprise the WWBW; they have room for 36 and hope to build a facility for more than 100. The formation of the regiment last year gave formal structure, recognition and place among the Marine Corps’ various units, all of which are important not only to the individual Marines who deeply miss their previous units, but also for the Corps and veterans services to be able to focus on helping these brave men and women. All want to remain in the Corps; not all will make it, and for those, the Corps is working hard to help them transition successfully back to civilian life. (Note: If you want someone who will work hard, take any task and get it done better than you could imagine, these are the people to hire.)
Before I left for the Expo, we pulled together 30 or so books from review copies sent to Hammock Inc. for our various magazines. Most were on military or Marine history, a few were novels and one, “The Sandbox,” was a collection from U.S. military bloggers. Most of the Wounded Warriors were touring the Expo when we arrived, so we talked to the major in charge of the battalion, one of his sergeants, and a Corporal Ricco, whom Lt. Gen. Olmstead had been asked to look up for a mutual friend.
When we go to Camp Lejeune in April for Marine South, we’ll take some books there, as well. The Marines also love video games, in part because they grew up playing them but also because they help re-establish manual and in some cases, mental, dexterity.
Very few people will ever go to a trade show where the major selling points for most of the products offered are either how lethal they are or how good they are at preventing the user from becoming a casualty. The Marine Military Expos are just that kind of show, and I am at the 2008 Marine West Expo, sponsored in part by our client the Marine Corps League, aboard the US Marine Corps Base at Camp Pendleton, CA.
With palm trees dotting the dry landscape and many of the housing units built in the classic Southern California Spanish style, large parts of Camp Pendleton, CA, look like most other small California coast towns. There are shopping centers, McDonalds restaurants, Starbucks, a paintball range, fire stations, signs for dances and other events at the Staff Non-Commissioned Officer Club, little kids with moms in tow walking on the sidewalks to playgrounds.
But there is a sense of purpose and intensity here you don’t find in most small towns. Most of the Marines here have either done at least one tour of a Middle Eastern combat zone, or are training for their first deployment, or getting ready for their next. All of them want to take the best gear they can into the fight, to do unto the enemy and keep the enemy from doing unto them.
That’s the purpose of these expos, to bring the people who make military gear – from socks to rockets – face to face with the Marines who use the products – more than use them, whose lives depend on them. The Marines are not shy about expressing their approval or complaints, nor about offering suggestions to improve the item. And the vendors are eager to hear – many of the representatives here are retired Marines or veterans of other services. Their knowledge helps their companies, and meeting their fellow warriors keeps that knowledge fresh.
What, you may wonder, do socks bring to a military operation? Ask any ground-pounding infantryman – feet are subject to a world of woes. A seamless-toed sock that wicks moisture away from the feet, cushions sensitive areas and even fights foot odor can make a difference in how effective a grunt is, how fast he or she can move, and thus, in whether they come home ok. Don’t even get me started on boots …
And Pendleton’s Marines know about pounding ground. Now in its 66th year as a Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, CA, sprawls over hundreds of thousands of acres of what would otherwise be prime, overly developed California coastline. Originally part of a gigantic ranch when Spain controlled California, Camp Pendleton became US Marine turf in the early days of WWII. After training in its sere, rugged hills and surf-whitened beaches, tens of thousands of Marines embarked for battles that are part of Corps legend – Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Today it trains Marines for battles in the Middle East, and for missions around the world, including humanitarian efforts such as the aid to Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr tore through that nation.
The two-day show will be attended by an estimated 3,000 Marines, from privates to generals. The local newspaper, the North County Times, covers Camp Pendleton closely and has an interesting article about the show. As one general said today, his peers don’t buy much – they wait to hear from their corporals, sergeants, master sergeants and gunny sergeants about what’s worthwhile and what’s not. If the Marines want it, I want one, too.
I was privileged to speak today (Jan. 10) to the Old Glory DAR Chapter in Franklin, Tenn., which had invited me to talk about American Spirit Magazine, which we produce for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
Although it’s been over 3 years since I was the editor, they invited me because the chapter’s program chair is the sister of a DAR member in my hometown, who had asked me to speak to her chapter a couple years ago. Small world, small towns.
Membership dues for DAR don’t include a subscription to the magazine, so the Society exhorts its chapters to encourage members to subscribe. Circulation is climbing, and, we discovered after my first speech, making a presentation to a chapter can spur members to sign up.
Part of my presentation appears in our case study on American Spirit. I also gave considerable props to the Hammock design and production folks who work magic turning words into images, and naturally to American Spirit’s editor, Jamie Roberts, for making each issue a jewel.
About 35 members and several prospective members attended the meeting at the Williamson County Public Library’s main branch. It was a stormy day – rain and thunderstorms punctuated my talk. Then, just as I was about to leave, sirens started to wail. The librarians announced there was a tornado warning—a funnel cloud in the area—and herded us all into a hallway away from windows and outside doors. So we had a chance to chat for about 20 minutes until the all-clear sounded. There wasn’t any panic, but everyone was subdued – we know tornados can hit any time of the year. (In fact. Clarksville, Tenn., got slammed almost exactly 9 years ago.
It was a memorable ending to this American Spirit road trip. Pictured here with me are Susan Walker, Old Glory Chapter Regent; Dee Smothers, Old Glory Chapter Program Chairman; and Ann Blevins, Old Glory Chapter Magazine Chairman..
The January-February 2008 issue of Semper Fi: The Magazine of the Marine Corps League is headed for the presses this week, and will be arriving in the homes of some 70,000 Marine Corps League members in early January.
This issue is chock-full of reports on how the League played a leading role in celebrating the 232nd birthday of the Marine Corps on Nov. 10 and then in hosting the National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11.
The issue also reports on the League’s 27th annual Modern Day Marine Expo held aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. in early October. The Expo, and its cousins held in January at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and in April at Camp Lejeune, N.C., bring military suppliers together with Marines who use their equipment. More than just a show and tell for the vendors, the Expos allow the Marines to speak with the suppliers about what works and what doesn’t. And when you are talking about something that can literally save your life and those of your fellow Marines, the talk is direct and to the point.
Over the weekend of 9-11 November, five members of our production team for Semper Fi, The Magazine of the Marine Corps League, went to Washington, DC, to participate in celebrating the U.S. Marine Corps 232 Birthday and also the annual remembrance ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
Our group – John Lavey, Patrick Burns, Kerri Davis, Carrie Wakeford and Bill Hudgins – first went to the Marine War Memorial in Arlington, often called the Iwo Jima Memorial because it commemorates the raising of an American flag on Mt. Suribachi during the desperate struggle for the tiny island.
We spent part of Saturday afternoon at the year-old National Museum of the Marine Corps, discovering that the riches it holds take far longer than a couple of hours to see, even for the fleetest footed visitor.
Saturday night, we joined our client, the Marine Corps League, at its 2nd annual Birthday Ball. At both the museum and at the ball, Marine tradition was observed as a Marine sliced the birthday cake with a Marmeluke saber and handed the first piece to the oldest Marine present. That Marine took a bite, then handed to the youngestﾑthe passing of tradition and duty from old to new.
Sunday morning, crisp, clear and mild, we joined thousands at Arlington National Cemetery to honor the 48 million American veterans who, starting with the American Revolution, offered all, including their lives, to protect the nation. More than 310,000 of those veterans are buried at Arlington. The Marine Corps League was this year’s host veterans’ group for the national observance, and its commandant, Jack Ryan, was joined at the dais by Vice President Cheney after the vice president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
We’ve all been so busy, that Hammock Publishing’s official 16th Birthday on October 1 snuck right by us. Time to fire up 16 candles.
At last, we can legally drive the company car. Next year, we can
do magic.
Revenge could have been the keyword for The 14th Annual Nashville Area Literacy Council’s Spelling Bee on Sept. 27. After a rousing, come-from-behind, catch-the-ball-as-it-caressed-the-grass win in 2005, Hammock’s torrid spelling team got the bird on Kookaburra last year. So the pressure was on the litigious team from Waller Lansden law firm as they came back this year to defend their title. A new challenger, from McNeely Pigott Fox & Atkinson PR had cast a personal challenge at Hammock.
So Team Hammock — Captain Jamie “Depp-adidoo” Roberts, Megan “I wasn’t THAT good!” Goodchild, and Bill “AARPman” Hudgins — had a lot riding on them.
The pirate theme for the evening played into a number of the word choices. Cap’n Jamie saved our soy bacon by knowing that “zucchini” had 2 C’s. Bosun Bill thought it had one C and 2 Ns, which would have squashed us. The field of 10 was quickly whittled to 4 –Hammock, MPF&A, American Legal Services, and Waller. The latter two quickly fell, leaving the one-time champ and the new kids in a spell down.
The first word went to Hammock and nearly scuttled us — pronounced as “key,” the word “quay” meaning a structure in a harbor was familiar to all of us as “cay” from Caribbean forays. A lucky guess turned out right. Then the spinmeisters tripped over annihilate, which Hammock handled with ease, as we did the next word, “braggadocio.” Which we were filled with as it won the contest.
The fallen foes will long remember the event as the day they almost beat Cap’n Jamie and her merry crew!
For the fifth consecutive year, American Spirit, the magazine we publish for the Daughters of the American Revolution, has been honored with a Grand Award of Excellence from the APEX Awards organization. In making the award, the judges commented: ﾒSpectacular photo spreads, beautifully written, compelling stories, and appealing use of spot color, sidebars and functional captionsﾑall contribute to an enjoyable, absorbing read. Stuck in an elevator? This is the one you want.ﾓ We, of course, recommend reading American Spirit anywhere, especially in locations more comfortable than an elevator; still, the judges’ comments definitely “lifted” our spirits. Seriously, it has been a distinct honor to be afforded the chance to work with DAR and help carry out its programs of preservation, patriotism and education, and we look forward to each issue with great enthusiasm.
Among the intense debate over the war in Iraq, one salient point is agreed upon by nearly all sides: Troops need more protection from roadside explosive devices. Help is on the way, in the shape of heavily armored, specially constructed MRAP – Mine Resistant Ambush Protected – vehicles, which will replace many of the Humvees now in use for patrol. The Marine Corps is selecting several companies to rush-produce MRAPs and get them into the field to protect the troops. This issue of Semper Fi, the Magazine of the Marine Corps League, which we publish for the Marine Corps League, reports on the vehicles under consideration and how they work.
Also in this issue, Semper Fi commemorates Camp Pendleton’s 65th anniversary as a Marine Corps base by looking at its colorful history as a Spanish-owned rancho that covered more than a quarter-million acres. As in every issue, Semper Fi also reports on the activities of the Marine Corps League in supporting the elite fighting force and its veterans.
