When you are 231 years old like the U.S. Marine Corps, youﾕve got a lot of history, memories, traditions, legends and keepsakes that youﾕd like to shareﾑbut where to put them all? Sometimes, you need a bigger home. On Nov. 10, the USMC opened its breathtaking new homeﾑthe National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico, Va., where the Corps invites visitors to ﾒEnter and Experience What It Means to Be a Marine.ﾓ
The November-December 2006 issue of Semper Fi, the Magazine of the Marine Corps League, which we publish for the League, previews just a few features of the Corpsﾕ new ﾒhome.ﾓ From storied weaponry to beloved aircraft to quiet paths where visitors can reflect on valor, courage and sacrifice, the new museum helps the non-Marine begin to understand Semper Fi: Always Faithful.
The museumﾕs design echoes the immortal photo of five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raising a flag over Iwo Jima in World War II. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal passed away this summer, and Semper Fi remembers him and the world-famous moment he captured atop Mount Suribachi.
Elsewhere in this issue, which coincides with the Corps’ 231st birthday on Nov. 10, we include a number of League membersﾕ memories of holidays spent in the service of their country. We also report on the Leagueﾕs annual Modern Day Marine Expo trade show at Quantico, where Marines and those who supply them come together to review the latest gear and, more important, learn how to make it better. Future issues of Semper Fi will examine some of these materials in more detail, and how Marines put them into use.