3 comments
On November 10th, United States Marines celebrated the 249th birthday of their Corps. Everyone is familiar with the motto of the Marines, in Latin, Semper Fidelis, Always Faithful. You may not be as familiar with another motto of the Marines in Latin, Semper Familia, Always Family.
As families in Pasadena gather on Thanksgiving, and throughout the holiday season, some members of our Pasadena family will not be with theirs. They have been called up to active duty and will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific region. They are the hard charging Devil Dogs of the Second Battalion, Twenty-Third Marine Regiment, the Marshall Battalion. Some of these men and women serve our community as First Responders in their civilian careers as law enforcement officers and firefighters. All of them have left their jobs, careers, and families, as citizen-Marines, prepared and professional, standing ready to answer our nation’s call both at home and abroad.
Why are our Pasadena Marines known as the Marshall Battalion? To answer the question, we must turn back the clock to July of 1942 when the 23rd Marine Regiment was activated.
The Japanese had conquered the Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Guam and Wake Island had fallen. The Japanese had even bombed Dutch Harbor in Alaska, occupied Kiska, and Attu in the Aleutians, and fired shells from submarines along the California coastline.
Our Pasadena Marines are known as the Marshall Battalion because their battle history began in January of 1944 at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. They fought in other fierce campaigns in World War II: Saipan, Tinian, and the Battle of Iwo Jima where it was famously said that “Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue.”
There is a large Yellow Ribbon now in Pasadena City Council Chambers, in a place of honor beside the American flag, where it will remain until our Pasadena Marines return home. It symbolizes the Semper Familia, Always Family, tribute to Pasadena’s adopted sons and daughters of the Marshall Battalion and their families who will be left behind while they are deployed overseas.
This is not the first time our Pasadena Marines have been deployed overseas, nor will it be the last. But while they are, the citizens of Pasadena will hold them, and their families, in our hearts and hope for their safe return home.
Remember them as you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family and throughout the holiday season. Semper Familia.
Former Pasadena Mayor William Paparian served on active duty during the Vietnam Era in the Marine Corps. He continues to serve the County of Los Angeles as a Deputy District Attorney and the State of California as a Captain (CA) with the Military Department, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate.
Get our daily Pasadena newspaper in your email box. Free.
Get all the latest Pasadena news, more than 10 fresh stories daily, 7 days a week at 7 a.m.
