VOLUME 1, JANUARY 10, 2006
Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142
Marine Corps League
NEWS
MEMO
LEO NADEAU:
It is with a heavy heart that I find myself speaking of the
passing of Leo Nadeau to the members of the Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142
of the Marine Corps League. Leo Nadeau was a friend to all and will always
remain a member of the Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142 in the heart and
mind of its memberÕs. His service
as Sgt at Arms and his personal input at our meetings as an officer of this
Detachment was outstanding and through these efforts as Commandant of this Detachment
at that time, I awarded him the Individual Merit Commendation Award.
As my two year term of office ended and I stepped down and
passed the gavel over to our newly elected Commandant John Putnoki, so did our
Chaplain Phil Lent stepped down. This Detachment was in need of a Chaplain, and
to fill the shoes of Phil Lent would be no easy task. We were all looking at
each other and thinking, who we could get to be our Chaplain. When out of no
where this voice came, ÒI would love to be your Chaplain if you will have me.Ó
As we turned to the sound of the voice, there stood Leo Nadeau, our new
Chaplain. This was at our meeting on October 11, 2005, and on December 15, 2005
Leo Nadeau had a calling from a much higher level then this Detachment and he
excepted that calling as he did the calling of this Detachment that he loved
dearly.
As I look back to when we were struggling to put this
Detachment together, and for four months on the second Tuesday the same eight
people would gather in a small dimly lit room just of the bar at the Knights of
Columbus. We needed 20 new members who had never belonged to a Marine Corps
League organization to form a charter. At that last meeting after seeing the
same eight faces I stood up and asked, ÒDo you people want a Marine Corps
League Detachment here in Torrington?Ó And a voice that I have become to
recognize spoke out, ÒI have been trying to get a Detachment up and running for
the past ten years, you just canÕt seem to get the people in Torrington to do
anything.Ó I turned to Leo Nadeau and stated, ÒIs that so Leo, do you want a
Marine Detachment here in Torrington.Ó His reply was, ÒYes I do, but the people
here in Torrington are funny.Ó My response to him was, I want it also, and
since you want it, I am going to get it for you.Ó I than turned to Bill Cardou,
the Department of Connecticut Representative of the Marine Corps League and
stated, Òyou be here next month with the papers for the charter and I will have
the membership needed to petition for a charter.Ó
I called John Putnoki and told him what I was up to and that
I knew where most of those new members were that we needed, and could use his
help. The following month we were having a heavy snow storm, a half hour before
the meeting I was at Michael LopesÕs house getting his application. When the
applications were counted, out of the twenty needed we had twenty two, and the
Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142 was born. By the time our Charter was delivered
and our officers were sworn in we had thirty two members. When it was time to nominate
officers, Leo Nadeau nominated me as Commandant. He put his trust in me and I
told him that I would never fail him or the members of this Detachment. There
were some rough times; we had our charter in Jeopardy a couple of times. I
needed someone to give me some guidance that had a clear head, I turned to Leo
Nadeau. It turned out to be a good choice, we build a relationship, we had a
lot of discussions and we were very truthful with each other. It was always a
pleasure to go to Leo and PatriciaÕs home and visit. They were very out going
and lovable people to be with, and made a perfect couple.
Leo Nadeau was the inspiration that gave me the driving
force to get the membership to form the Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142.
This Detachment in all reality belongs to him; he is truly the Commandant of
the Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142, even though he was never elected as
such. He is in a place where he
can watch over us all, and it is our duty to protect this Detachment at all
cost, so that it will be here in this Community long after you and I have gone
to join Leo Nadeau.
We had members from Hardware City Detachment of New Britain,
Brass City Detachment of Waterbury that joined Torrington Memorial Detachment
in Marine Corps League uniform to do a prayer service at Leo NadeauÕs wake. The
following day there was a Mass held at St Francis Church, there was three pall
bearers from the Northwest Detachment 042 of Canaan, Ct. and three pall bearers
from the Torrington Memorial Detachment 1142, all were in full dress blues.
Since there was no one directly representing the Torrington Memorial Detachment
in Marine Corps League uniform and I could not carry a casket due to both of my
arms being in bad condition I choose to wear the Marine Corps League uniform
which is proper for such an occasion. I said good bye at the wake and mass to a
dear friend in a manner in which I felt was proper under said conditions.
ÒLeo Nadeau, I will miss you
dearly, you have left a warm spot in my heart and sole that I will always carry
in your memory.Ó
ÒSemper Fi, Marine.Ó
Duanne
Knowles, Editor Torrington Memorial News Memo.
Litchfield
County Commandant, Dept. of Ct., MCL.
MARINE CORPS LEAGUE
AUXILIARY:
We have had a busy Month between helping Charlie Company with Toys for Tots it has kept us busy but through it we have met new people, made new friends, and got to be with friends we have not seen a while. People impress us sometimes I called friends I have not seen since I left for Texas and some friends I have only seen once or twice since I have been back home and they came to my aid and to Charlie CompanyÕs aid as well. I want to thank all my family, my friends, MCL and MCLA members who gave of there time to help out, it is very much appreciated. We had a very nice Christmas party last month instead of a meeting which was a nice change of events. The only two things going on this month is on January 15, 2006 at Glastonbury VFW on 131 Addison Road in Glastonbury CT there we a get together with some people from that area. They will be getting Girl Scout cookies brought to them that will need to be packaged and shipped out to soldiers in Iraq. This is also scheduled for some time in February and in March is Boy Scout popcorn and DVDÕs when I get the dates for those two I will let you know. Many Marines of Charlie Company are also Marine Corps League members as well. They have adopted us as a family and we have adopted them. I know that some auxiliaries are going to be working together to make sure they get care packages and things and I am hoping my excellent auxiliary will rise to the occasion too. 1st Sgt Grainger has some MCLA memberÕs e-mails I have to give send him the rest. He is going to keep us posted and updated on things. We all know what his request is please send cookies; I swear I think he is the blue monster from Sesame Street called the Cookie Monster for the man sure does love his cookies. I will send an update of up coming events in the next couple of days. See you all at the unit meeting, it has been a fun and fulfilling month.
Rhonda
L. Knowles, President Torrington Memorial Unit
Marine
Corps League Auxiliary
TOYÕS FOR TOTÕS:
As you may or may not know, the ToyÕs for TotÕs program is a
Marine Corps Reservist program and it is nation wide, which takes place once a
year during November and December. This years ToyÕs for TotÕs program had a
different twist than normal. The Marine Reservist stationed at Plainville, Ct.
were activated and spent November and December at Fort DevonÕs Mass. preparing
for deployment and was given Christmas leave prior to final deployment. The
call went out from the Reserve Center for help.
As the saying goes, ÒAsk and you shall receive.Ó And so it
did. There were volunteers from all over the state. If you have never been
involved in sorting or packing toys for over thousands of orders, than you have
to see this to really understand what it involves. And those that volunteered, not to
many had done it, especially with out the work force from the Marines.
The Marine Corps League Detachments from all over the state
put out the word. The Torrington Memorial Detachment and its Auxiliary had over
50 people that volunteered. And most of them were from the President of our
Auxiliary Rhonda Knowles phone list of friends all over the state that she
knows. And she only got through a quarter of the list.
Rhonda had been involved with this program when the Reserve
Center was located in Hartford and I was a Staff Sgt. there. It did not take
her long to get organized, and when she did, things begin to move. 1st
Sgt. Grainger turned the operations over to her and told his Marines to watch
and learn how she is doing this and obey all of her orders as though it was him
giving them, if she tells you to get down and do push ups you better be down
there doing them.
It never got to the push ups, but they did move some toys.
Rhonda was there every day from mid November to December 23.
I spent three to four days packing and the rest of my time picking up toys in
the Torrington Area and dropping Rhonda off and picking her up from the Reserve
Center. There was no mistaking it , Rhonda was on a mission, she has that
Marine Corps blood in her just like her dad, love that girl. When the doors
were closed and all the orders were filled, and no child knowingly with out a
toy, they had processed over 85,000 toys.
Duanne
Knowles, Editor
DEPLOYMENT ONE OF OUR OWN:
On January 3, 2006 after spending Christmas leave with their
families, Charlie Company, 1st Bn. 25th Marines at 2330
hours departed from the Reserve Center in Plainville, Ct. for more training in
the desert at 29 Palms, Ca. prior to deployment to the Sand Box (Iraq).
Prior to leaving the Reserve Center, there was an open house
for family, friends and special invitations to veterans and volunteers for ToyÕ
for TotÕs.
There were wives with children, brothers, sisters, mothers,
fathers, grand parents and friends in general. As they gathered in their family
groups there were very few moments of sadness and bewilderment by the family
members. It was more we love you and back you on what you are doing and
assuring them that their love will get them through this.
When they were called into formation you could see the transformation
from civilian to Marine taking place. They held a promotion ceremony after
which 1st Sgt. Grainger passed out small folded flags with card and
told them to put it in their right breast pocket and when they forget why they
are doing what they are doing to break out that folded flag and remember what
it stands for, because that flag is what this country is all about. Then 1st
Sgt Grainger awarded John Clark of Hardware City Detachment Veteran of the Year
from Charlie Company for his efforts with Toys for Tots. He also awarded Rhonda
Knowles of Torrington Memorial Auxiliary Unit, Auxiliary Woman of the Year from
Charlie Company for her efforts for Toys for Tots. The high light of the
evening was when Dept. Commandant Richard Wearne called Charlie Company to
attention and requested that we all sing our beloved Marines Hymn. If you could
have seen the expressions on the faces of those young Marines as they sang and
the veterans standing at attention singing with them as their families stood
there in awe was enough to bring the house done as it echoed through the halls
of the Reserve Center, a memory to be remembered for all the days of all the
lives of all the people there.
As they left to board the buses and to say fair well one
more time it brought back memories and all that I could think of was how many
times I had left this Reserve Center on buses for deployment. And leaving my
family behind, how many birthdays or graduations had I missed. And standing
there watching these Marines board these buses I found myself on the other side
of the spectrum and rather dumb founded. It was not a comfortable feeling. I
found myself wanting to get on the bus with them. I can remember saying good
bye to my family and the second I was on the bus it was OK Marines we have a
job to do lets get with the program.
ÒOnce a Marine,
Always a Marine.Ó
Duanne
Knowles, Editor
TAPS
BRANCH
DATE
LEO NADEAU
USMC
12/15/05
ÒSome
people spend an entire lifetime ÒYou served your Country
Wondering if theyÕve made a
With Pride an Honor
Difference
to this WorldÉ.. Do the same
for your
Marines
donÕt have that Problem.Ó Community.Ó
Torrington
Memorial Detachment 1142
Semper Fi