Tuesday 13 February 2018 Quantico Marine Corps Museum

Yesterday, Monday 12 February, we as a group traveled to Quantico Marine Corps Museum. I know I say this all the time but I really liked this museum. Good history, good scenes, good guide (he is a volunteer at the museum and a temple worker), good people and feel good feelings. I took several pictures and as I display them I'll try to indicate what was happening. Again this is one place I would like to take the family that is coming out, but alas, I doubt it happens. Anyway here are some pictures:

Entering in, and no that's not Elder Mortensen holding hands with Elder Barney

just the camera angle 😟 

↑Harrier Jet 

There are several scenes around the museum,

this one is a armored track vehicle.   

This one is set up for the Viet Nam war, helo's dropping off soldiers in the rice paddies.  

This is our group 

Recruiting poster for May 1886, a whopping $16 for a PFC per month

In this scene, it was told that this really happened, just a different time than what it shows.

The models we designed after real marines. What is happening is a wounded marine is being tended to in a truck bed, by another marine, not a medic. 

Old field cannon 

Marine dressed in a gas mask for WWI 

 Old personal carrier or freight hauler. 

I liked it because of the diesel engine.

This one is good, it is a corpsman  (again helping a wounded comrade)

Notice the rifle bayonet stuck in the ground with a IV bag hanging from his rifle stock

In WWII the Japanese soldiers used to carry a small flag,

usually signed by family members, or they would write words of encouragement on them.

In this picture⇩ a marine holds a flag, without writing so he decorated it himself, by having his fellow marines sign it, as seen above ⇧notice the picture on the Red Sun, look familiar?

Right, Iwo Jima.

Iwo Jima, ok here's the what and why I wanted these next 4 pictures 

This is THE FLAG ( the 2nd flag that is) 

From Wikipedia

Two flag-raisings[edit]

There were two American flags raised on top of Mount Suribachi, on February 23, 1945. The photograph Rosenthal took was actually of the second flag-raising in which a larger replacement flag was raised by Marines who did not raise the first flag.

Raising the first flag[edit]

A U.S. flag was first raised atop Mount Suribachi soon after the mountaintop was captured at around 10:20 on February 23, 1945.

Raising the First Flag on Iwo Jima by SSgt. Louis R. Lowery, USMC, is the most widely circulated photograph of the first flag flown on Mt. Suribachi (after the flag raising).
Left to right: 1st Lt. Harold Schrier^[8](kneeling behind radioman's legs), Pfc. Raymond Jacobs (radioman reassigned from F Company), Sgt. Henry "Hank" Hansen wearing cap, holding flagstaff with left hand), Platoon Sgt. Ernest "Boots" Thomas (seated), Pvt. Phil Ward (holding lower flagstaff with both hands), PhM2c. John Bradley, USN (holding flagstaff with right hand above Ward), Pfc. James Michels (holding M1 Carbine), and Cpl. Charles W. Lindberg(standing above Michels).

Lieutenant Colonel Chandler Johnson, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division, ordered Marine Captain Dave Severance, commander of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines, to send a platoon to seize and occupy the crest of Mount Suribachi.^[9] First Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, executive officer of Easy Company, who had replaced the wounded Third Platoon commander, John Keith Wells,^[10]volunteered to lead a 40-man combat patrol up the mountain. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson (or 1st Lieutenant George G. Wells, the battalion adjutant, whose job it was to carry the flag) had taken the 54-by-28-inch/140-by-71-centimeter flag from the battalion's transport ship, USS Missoula, and handed the flag to Schrier.^[11][12] Johnson said to Schrier, "If you get to the top, put it up." Schrier assembled the patrol at 8 AM to begin the climb up the mountain.

Despite the large numbers of Japanese troops in the immediate vicinity, Schrier's patrol made it to the rim of the crater at about 10:15 am, having come under little or no enemy fire, as the Japanese were being bombarded at the time.^[13] The flag was attached by Schrier and two Marines to a Japanese iron water pipe found on top, and the flagstaff was raised and planted by Schrier, assisted by Platoon Sergeant Ernest Thomas and Sergeant Oliver Hansen at about 10:30 am^[8] (on February 25, during a CBS press interview aboard the flagship USS Eldorado about the flag-raising, Thomas stated that he, Schrier, and Hansen (platoon guide) had actually raised the flag).^[14] The raising of the national colors immediately caused a loud cheering reaction from the Marines, sailors, and coast guardsmen on the beach below and from the men on the ships near the beach. The loud noise made by the servicemen and blasts of the ship horns alerted the Japanese, who up to this point had stayed in their cave bunkers. Schrier and his men near the flagstaff then came under fire from Japanese troops, but the Marines quickly eliminated the threat.^{[citation needed]} Schrier was later awarded the Navy Cross for volunteering to take the patrol up Mount Suribachi and raising the American flag, and a Silver Star Medal for a heroic action in March while in command of D Company, 2/28 Marines on Iwo Jima.

Photographs of the first flag flown on Mount Suribachi were taken by Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery of Leatherneck magazine, who accompanied the patrol up the mountain, and other photographers.^[15][16] Others involved with the first flag-raising include Corporal Charles W. Lindberg, Privates First Class James Michels and Raymond Jacobs, Private Phil Ward, and Navy corpsman John Bradley^[17][18] This flag was too small, however, to be easily seen from the northern side of Mount Suribachi, where heavy fighting would go on for several more days.

Raising the second flag[edit]

The photograph taken by Rosenthal was the second flag-raising on top of Mount Suribachi, on February 23, 1945.

Sgt. Genaust's film shot of the second flag-raising excerpted from the 1945 "Carriers Hit Tokyo" newsreel

On orders from Colonel Chandler Johnson—passed on by Easy Company's commander, Captain Dave Severance—Sergeant Michael Strank, one of Second Platoon's squad leaders, was to take three members of his rifle squad (Corporal Harlon H. Block and Privates First Class Franklin R. Sousley and Ira H. Hayes) and climb up Mount Suribachi to raise a replacement flag on top; the three took supplies or laid telephone wire on the way up to the top. Severance also dispatched Private First Class Rene A. Gagnon, the battalion runner (messenger) for Easy Company, to the command post for fresh SCR-300 walkie-talkie batteries to take to the top.^[22]

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Albert Theodore Tuttle^[21] under Johnson's orders, had found a large (96-by-56–inch) flag in nearby Tank Landing Ship USS LST-779. He made his way back to the command post and gave it to Johnson. Johnson, in turn, gave it to Rene Gagnon, with orders to take it up to Schrier on Mount Suribachi and raise it.^[23] The official Marine Corps history of the event is that Tuttle received the flag from Navy Ensign Alan Wood of USS LST-779, who in turn had received the flag from a supply depot in Pearl Harbor.^[24][25][26] Severance had confirmed that the second larger flag was in fact provided by Alan Wood even though Wood could not recognize any of the pictures of the 2nd flag raisers as Gagnon.^[27] The flag was sewn by Mabel Sauvageau, a worker at the "flag loft" of the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.^[28]

First Lieutenant George Greeley Wells, who had been the Second Battalion, 28th Marines adjutant officially in charge of the two American flags flown on Mount Suribachi, stated in the New York Times in 1991, that Lieutenant Colonel Johnson ordered him (Wells) to get the second flag, and that he (Wells) sent Rene Gagnon his battalion runner, to the ships on shore for the flag, and that Gagnon returned with a flag and gave it to him (Wells), and that Gagnon took this flag up Mt. Suribachi with a message for Schrier to raise it and send the other flag down with Gagnon. Wells stated that he received the first flag back from Gagnon and secured it at the Marine headquarters command post. Wells also stated that he had handed the first flag to Lieutenant Schrier to take up Mount Suribachi.^[11]

The Coast Guard Historian's Office recognizes the claims made by former U.S. Coast Guardsman Quartermaster Robert Resnick, who served aboard the USS Duval County at Iwo Jima. "Before he died in November 2004, Resnick said Gagnon came aboard LST-758^[29] the morning of February 23 looking for a flag.^[30] Resnick said he grabbed a flag from a bunting box and asked permission from his ship's commanding officer Lt. Felix Molenda to donate it.^[31] Resnick kept quiet about his participation until 2001."^[32][33]

Rosenthal's photograph[edit]

A diagram of the photograph indicating the six Marines who raised the second flag. Left to right: Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz, Michael Strank (†), Franklin Sousley (†), Rene Gagnon, and Harlon Block (†).
"†" = killed in Iwo Jima

Strank with his three Marines, and Gagnon, reached the top of the mountain around noon without being fired upon. Rosenthal, along with Marine photographers Sergeant Bill Genaust (who was killed in action after the flag-raising) and Private First Class Bob Campbell^[34] were climbing Suribachi at this time. On the way up, the trio met Lowery, who had photographed the first flag-raising, coming down. They considered turning around, but Lowery told them that the summit was an excellent vantage point from which to take photographs.^[35] The three photographers reached the summit as the Marines were attaching the flag to an old Japanese water pipe.

Rosenthal put his Speed Graphic camera on the ground (set to 1/400 sec shutter speed, with the f-stop between 8 and 11 and Agfa film^[36][37]) so he could pile rocks to stand on for a better vantage point. In doing so, he nearly missed the shot. The Marines began raising the flag. Realizing he was about to miss the action, Rosenthal quickly swung his camera up and snapped the photograph without using the viewfinder.^[38] Ten years after the flag-raising, Rosenthal wrote:

Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know.^{[37]  (bold print added by me).}

Sergeant Genaust, who was standing almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Rosenthal about three feet away,^[37] was shooting motion-picture film during the second flag-raising. His film captures the second event at an almost-identical angle to Rosenthal's shot. Of the six flag-raisers in the picture – Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz (identified in June 2016), Michael Strank, Franklin Sousley, Rene Gagnon, and Harlon Block – only Hayes, Gagnon, and Schultz (Navy corpsman John Bradley was incorrectly identified in the Rosenthal flag-raising photo) survived the battle.^[2] Strank and Block were killed on March 1, six days after the flag-raising, Strank by a shell, possibly fired from an offshore American destroyer and Block a few hours later by a mortar round. Sousley was shot and killed by a Japanese sniper on March 21, a few days before the island was declared secure.^[39]

There is so much more to tell, for another time.

 This picture ⇩ is hard to see, what you are looking at is the wall with a pin for all the Marine/Navy deaths at Iwo Jima. Look closely at the wall, and you see Iwo Jima Island. You can hardly see it standing and looking at it, but the camera lens brings it out.

A Marine dressed as warmly as possible in the Korean War. As the story goes this was the best they had for the time, it was sub-zero temps and everything was frozen. Including the C-rations which was  their food. They literally couldn't eat because it was frozen solid. 

Here is what "Bing" says about the story:

In November of 1950, the Allied forces were fighting Chinese troops at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. American marines fought alongside British troops and South Korean police officers against communist forces. Chairman Mao ordered these troops annihilated and sent 120,000 of his troops to do so.

A cold front moved in, leading to the region’s coldest recorded winter. Everything seemed to be freezing: food rations, fuel lines, their weapons… Some of the men were getting frostbite and the morphine syrettes they were using had to be thawed in a corpsman’s mouth before they could be injected.

The Allied forces used mortar fire to break apart the waves of Chinese soldiers attacking them from the mountain ridges. They quickly ran out of shells and had to call for a resupply in order to keep fighting. The only way they could get the ammunition, however, was by air drop. Commanding officers called in for “tootsie rolls,” their code word for 60mm mortar rounds, but the radio operator on the other end didn’t have a code sheet in front of him. Instead of crucial ammo falling from the sky, tootsie roll candies floated down to the soldiers, shipped from a nearby base in Japan. (bold print added by me).

Although shocked at first, the resilient troops quickly found uses for them. They began warming the candies in their mouths and armpits and using them as a sealant. They mended fuel lines and plugged up bullet holes. The chocolatey goo then froze in the cold air, successfully repairing their equipment. As they marched and fought their way through Korea, they survived by eating the candies. One Veteran, Stanley Kot, explained, “I survived for two weeks on Tootsie Rolls.” 

The group, who had taken to calling themselves the Tootsie Roll Marines, suffered 3,000 casualties out of their 15,000 troops. But they eventually made it to the sea, back to safety. Although the candies are small, they truly meant something to those soldiers who fought their way from the Chosin Reservoir. So next time you see a tootsie roll on Halloween, Easter, or at a parade for our military, remember that they’re more than just a candy, they’re a part of our nation’s history.

⇧ A Tootsie Roll wrapper

Another chopper picture.

After we left Quantico, we headed to a church (called Pohick church) which was said to have the oldest baptismal "font" in the US. I used "' because it is not a font as we use, but a "dip your finger in the water and splash on font.

⇧A.D. 1773, I can't argue with that. 

Beautiful organ, someone playing while we were there. 

The Pulpit 

And as usual a church graveyard

We'll see what's next, but until then keep the faith

Sunday 11 February 2018 Another ASL temple day

Yesterday was our ASL branch temple day, the last one before the temple closes. Next week we will still have an ASL endowment session, but not a branch temple day in the DC temple till the temple reopens. We started at about 11:30 am doing initiatory work, then went to lunch downstairs. After lunch I was assigned to the baptistry. We had 5 youth and 5 adults in our group. John Van Den Graaf, who is a priest was able to do most of the baptizing. I tried to arrange, at the request of one of the deaf coordinators,  to have the deaf temple workers do as much of the ordinances as possible. I thought it went very well. The other group of deaf patrons and workers went to the sealing rooms to do sealings. Brother Sanders, one of the missionaries here and knows some signs, was the sealer. I really enjoyed working in the initiatory, I think it was the most practical time I had performing the ordinances in ASL. I really feel the studying is paying off, as I seemed to be able to perform most of the work by memory. Anyway it was a great day for me and the branch itself. Just a short note, Sister Sanders, who I have mentioned has a deaf sister, was in the baptistry with Patty and I. She had mentioned to me her story about her sister being deaf and at that time era, they were all instructed NOT to learn sign language. Something she has regretted for years. This story rings true, as with my father, I was told many times by my nana that she and granddad were also told not to learn sign language, which she regretted her whole life. I think at the time the idea was that the deaf would be better served to learn to be "oral". However that didn't work out as they planned, I believe. So as with sister Sanders, Dad's family, except Uncle Darwin and Aunt Dorene, never were able to communicate with dad. This situation caused much grief to the family. Even now as I look back at rising my children I should have been more diligent in helping them learn sign language, even I need to improve greatly. With the use of ASL I am way behind the curve. I see kids and grandkids who are way ahead of me. Whats funny is I am accepted in the deaf culture because I am a CODA ( child of a deaf adult) I found this on the web, it is interesting and some of it applied to me, however I didn't feel a lot of pressure.

COMMUNICATION & PARENTING ISSUES IN FAMILIES WITH DEAF PARENTS AND HEARING CHILDREN

Kerri Clark
April 24, 2003

“Mother father deaf” is a phrase commonly used in the deaf community to identify a hearing child of deaf parents. Statistics show that over 90% of all deaf parents have hearing children, referred to as CODA’s (children of deaf adults.) These are families that bridge the divide between the hearing and deaf worlds, thus facing unique communication and parenting challenges. Although there is much research about deaf children of hearing parents, little research exists about communication and parenting issues in coda families. The following is a summary of some of those issues.

Language is an important part of one’s cultural identity. Although not all deaf persons use ASL, it is considered the single most important element that binds the deaf community together (Filer and Filer.) Many deaf persons attend state residential schools for the deaf, because it is there that ASL and important cultural traditions of the deaf community are learned. The deaf often have negative experiences with the hearing world, and many deaf associate only on a very limited basis with the hearing. Coda’s often serve as interpreters for their parents, thus becoming the communication link between their parents and the hearing world. There are several concerns surrounding children that serve as interpreters for their parents. One concern is that children are expected to interpret in situations that are considered inappropriate, whether its subject or age appropriateness, placing them in confusing and vulnerable situations. This creates for some hearing children an unwanted pressure and burden that they are too young to resist or negotiate (Singleton & Tittle.) It is quite interesting to note that most of these situations are ‘encouraged’ by members of the hearing world. On the other hand, coda’s also enjoy the richness associated with the knowledge of language and cultures of two worlds and report that maintaining this ‘special’ role in the family structure helped them gain responsibility, maturity and the ability to empathize with others (Preston, 1994.)

Protection is another issue that coda’s face within the family unit. The hearing child may not interpret for their parents the insensitive remarks or comments made by a hearing person who assumed everyone in the family was deaf because they were all signing. Often times coda’s experience isolation and rejection from peers because they do not feel comfortable or want to associate with the deaf family members, thus creating a situation in which the coda cannot openly discuss emotions and feelings of rejection with their parents for fear of hurting their feelings. Children also may become hyper vigilant, listening for things that their parents could not hear such as ‘monsters’, burglars, smoke alarms, and cracking sounds of the ceiling collapsing (Filer & Filer.) Many feel that this could be considered as ‘role reversal’ and could later cause problems for the parent in later years when teenage trials and power struggles take place. 

Another issue, which is perhaps the most critical, in my opinion, is the issue of communication between the deaf parent and the hearing child. Studies show that most deaf parents “have no particular problem” accepting their child’s ability to hear, but are “acutely aware” that parenthood forces them to address things “they have no knowledge about.” (Sell) The family power structure is greatly influenced by the flow of information. The flow of information in a hearing family is open within the family system and outside the family system to the larger community, but the flow of information changes drastically with the addition of a deaf member; moreover, it can be severely restricted when families with deaf and hearing members do not have a mutual communication system (Rienzi.) Although ASL is a legitimate language for family interaction, it is important to note that different dyads within a deaf-parented family could be using different communication systems, some ASL and other not. Deaf parents may use ASL between themselves but use a mixed mode of communication with their hearing children. Furthermore, communication between a deaf parent and a hearing child may not always be effective. The deaf parent may use fragmented speech to the child, but expect the child to sign back to them. This causes an obvious problem as to how the child is to learn sign when the parent is not signing to him/her. Thus, it is not unusual for the child to understand what the parent expresses, but not vice versa. (Rienzi) Parents may have a misguided notion that they should not sign with their child simply because the child is hearing, and some parents have reported not signing with their child in order to prevent the over reliance on their child to serve as their interpreter. Such parents elect to speak to their child with reduced speech clarity and probable ungrammatical form. The end result of this situation may be that the hearing child cannot sign and the parent-child relationship becomes restricted and asymmetrical. (Rienzi)

In summary, research and parenting literature generally find that deaf parents are competent and caring and have excellent relationships with their hearing children. Although there are some specific issues involving communication, it does not appear that deaf parents are at a greater risk for serious family dysfunction than hearing parents of hearing children. (Rienzi) Today, there are many resources available that can help protect coda’s and their parents from many of the issues discussed. First, professional interpreters should be used whenever possible for situations that might be inappropriate for the coda to interpret such as adult conversation, legal issues and school matters. Second, deaf parents should make sure that they tap into resources to help them achieve a sense of independence and the ability to be the ‘protector’ in the household. Parents should have open and frank discussions regarding discrimination and give ‘what to do’ suggestions to their children when those situations arise. Thirdly, and most important, deaf parents should make sure that they teach their hearing child the form of communication that is predominately used by them. It is critical for the hearing child to be able to communicate his/her feelings with the parent and not just serve as an interpreter of the parent’s feelings and decisions.  

Thanks for reading, until next time 

2 February 2018 It's time to get back to writing business

Boy sometimes I could just smack myself, something will happen in the temple or church or wherever and I'll say I need to write that down for the blog. However lately I have been just forgetting to write it down and thus forgetting the incident. So with that in mind I'm going to keep this page open and write things as they happen (hopefully)! I think what I'm going to do now though is write things as I remember them, not in chronological order.
1. One thing is I've been asked to teach the youth Sunday School class, it ranges from ages 12 up to 17. There are a couple of the kids that are deaf, but most are kids of deaf parents, such as I. Now here is the problem, age or maybe generation gap. Understand it's not that I'm to old to teach the youth today, not at all. I taught seminary very effectively, it is the language barrier. I speak PSE, (pidgin signed english) pidgin is sign language that's between Signed Exact English ( SEE) and American Sign Language (ASL). Kids now speak more ALS, which does not translate well into spoken english, where PSE does more or less. Anyway I find it more difficult to teach because I can't talk and sign at the same time (it doesn't translate). Adding this piece today (Monday 5 Feb 2018). Taught my lesson to the youth at the branch, it went really better, why? Because I spoke pidgin and was able to voice and sign. It just worked better.
2. Sometimes the shift coordinators send out a file with our shift line for a particular shift, Friday's coordinator sent a note out mentioning that the time is drawing near and he asked if there was anything we might want to learn/work in the next few weeks. I mentioned I wanted to learn more about the Own Endowment Directors job. I had a little training, but wanted to learn and perform in that capacity, last night (Friday) I had the opportunity to work with the OED with a young missionary taking out his own endowment. I really enjoyed it and have a better understanding of the process involved.
3. Two weeks ago Kenna Brown, my niece, invited Patty and I over for Sunday dinner. We had a wonderful visit and went to see the National Cathedral. She lives close to the cathedral, here are some pictures:

 It's quite a building

Kenna and Patty 

 

Inside

There are services given regularly 

Shaking hands with A. Lincoln 

I took this picture because I have a photograph of a silhouette of Abraham Lincoln and it is signed

A. Lincoln. I didn't know at the time that he signed most things that way. Picture was given to me by a Sister (Sister Klier) who attended the 1st Deaf Branch, back when Dad was the Branch President and I was his 2nd counselor. The story is that it was given to her by her [I think] grandfather, who received it from US Grant, because her grandfather was a double for president Grant when he was unable to attend some events. Sister Klier was pushing 80 back in the late 70's. 

4. Monday 29 February, The missionaries were assigned a service project to help take down some of the Christmas lights at the temple and visitor's center. We worked about 2 1/2 hrs. and took down several hundred strands of lights. 

Later that day Elder and Sister Weight and I went to see Lincoln's Cottage. This is a place right out of DC where President Lincoln would go for a little retreat with his family. Its was a really nice tour, very informative and more interactive. I would recommend going if you can. Here are some pictures:

Front of the cottage 

This is the old veteran dorm, meaning old building not old vet.  

I just thought this was a cool tree 

Back of the cottage, looks more like the front. President Lincoln would sit on the porch,

 looking toward the White house and Capital Building.

Sunday 4 February 2018, Break the Fast, we all ( our building) met on the second floor for our monthly break the fast. As always lots of good food and entertaining conversation, I mentioned at the table that when "we" (railroaders) would be away from home, we would get together and play cards go to dinner or whatever we would always talk railroad. It was our life, and so it was at dinner, our conversation was about temple experiences. Here we were all temple workers and talking about temple experiences. It was fun and definitely interesting, most stories were our own actual experiences, but sometimes we went off on "Mormon folklore". Not saying it's not true, but it is like I heard this or did you know that, sort of stuff. Anyway surely enjoyed the evening, here are some pictures from Brother Bishop's camera. He air dropped them,

That's Patty to the right cut off, so Brother Bishop took another one below.

Pictured from me to my left:

 Elder Steve Hockett, Sister Karen Hockett, Sister Patty Slade

Sister Renee Coombs, Elder Steve Coombs isn't in the picture "he had to got down stairs to his apt for something" like to watch the Super Bowl. Sister LaNae Mortensen, Elder Gordon Mortensen 

Pictured at the front and moving right:

Brother Earl Sanders, Sister Margaret Sanders, Sister Jane Coons, Elder John Coons, and the next two I believe is their son in law and daughter.    

Just as a note Sister Sanders's sister (Sister Sutton) is deaf and her nephew Rich Sutton works for the temple department. He is responsible for most of the temple ordinances translated into ASL.

 Pictured from the front:

Sister Sandy Bishop to her left is Elder Gary Weight, Sister Jayne Weight, Sister Vickie Snelson,

Elder Tom Snelson.

Brother Bishop air dropped this picture also, so I added it. I believe I have more pictures of the DC temple than any other, including the Salt Lake temple.