Bringing the Corps’ message to the Windy City, U.S. Marines swept into Chicago in mid-May for the first-ever Marine Week, a citywide series of events designed to better acquaint Chicagoans with the Corps. Our client, the Marine Corps League, partnered with the Corps to plan and carry out the demonstrations, speeches, concerts and receptions, and the story of Marine Week makes the cover of the July-August issue of Semper Fi, the League’s member magazine produced by Hammock Inc.

From the official opening at Daley Plaza to visits to high schools to helping build Habitat for Humanity homes to a mock raid on Arlington Park, the city was alight with dress blues, alphas, camo and Marine Corps League scarlet jackets and covers (that’s hats and caps in Marine-speak). At the end of the week, the Marines appeared to have captured the city’s hearts.
The Corps captured the heart of PBS newsman Jim Lehrer nearly 7 decades ago. A proud Marine veteran who spoke at the opening of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in 2007, Lehrer tells Semper Fi about his tour of duty, its worst moments as well as its best, and how it has shaped his life and career.
Marines are trained to run toward the sound of guns, and insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan have capitalized on that bulldog tenacity to use improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to attack patrols. Our feature on defeating IEDs details a services-wide effort has helped Coalition forces locate and neutralize many of these fiendish devices — as well as find the bomb makers.
Some of the technology used to defeat IEDs was on display at the Marine South Expo in April aboard Camp Lejeune, NC, co-sponsored by the Marine Corps League. The League has three expos a year, with the next upcoming at Quantico, VA, in September.