6th Marine Division Official Web Site. WWII U.S. Marines.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS ROAD MAP

We had a great out pouring of support from over 30 Sons and Daughters at the 2004 Division reunion in Nashville. Several of these individuals deserve special mention.

As most of you know, one of our own SDs, Susan Parham, was co-chairman of the reunion. Along with Team TN, she pulled off a smashing success. The SDs, too, were generous with their time and support during the reunion. A special thanks to Lori Clemenger, Carol Cross, and Leo and Cecilia Gattoni for a big assistance with the memorial service and other events as well. To Howard Terry's wonderful offspring-Melissa and Jack, David and Mary, and Anita-many thanks for brightening the reunion with your presence and cheerfully pitching in with events: Big thanks for steering the banquet seating, too! Richard Gehrke and Gary Smith: We were so fortunate to have you back this year, volunteering to help with leadership, databases, a new directory, and anything else that we can pile on you. Those irreplaceable Walker Brothers (reinforced this year with brother Luke/wife Angie and the lone Walker sister!) were everywhere, and along with David and Glen Stoel, added greatly to SD event/tour support. If we gave a prize for best new members it would go to the three Benedetti sisters who showed up to honor their Dad and join the SDG. They are absolutely the SDG's only active sister trio to date!

We can never fully thank Dan Accrocco for again bringing his memorabilia tribute display to the reunion-a poignant honor to his father and all veterans and a history lesson for the offspring. To Linda Spangler, supported by husband Paul: Truly you are the example for every SD to emulate. All eyes are upon you as you lead the SDG's first moneymaking/historical project for the Division, the Striking Sixth Cookbook.

Heartfelt thanks to a very special, poised lady, Martha Monnett, for providing sterling support to Joe Singleton's quest capturing stories and photos for the newsletter. We were lucky and very grateful to have Claud Wilkin's daughter Ann and her patient husband serving up brews/stocking the bar in our hospitality room.

Finally, my enduring thanks to those Fathers and Mothers who somehow managed to twist arms, get their kids to sign up, and, in essence, truly launch the Division's SDG.

We held two formal SDG meetings at the reunion. We discussed current projects, emphasized the value of the Division website and our good luck in having dedicated SD webmasters supporting an engaged Division webmaster, encouraged all SDs to visit the greatly expanded SD button on the Division site, and delegated immediate tasks to support the reunion. We settled on the following business plan for the upcoming year:

1. SDG volunteer officer slate. Susan Parham graciously agreed to continue as SDG Operations Officer and Co-Reunion Chairman. What a gal. However, we do need a new executive director. I loved starting the SDG and guiding it through the first two years but it is time for another SD to leave a mark. Although there were no volunteers from the floor, we do need a leader so please contact me if interested. I can be as engaged as you need me to be as you learn the ropes.
Most importantly, we immediately need one or more SDs to train as a supporting editor for the Striking Sixth newsletter. This volunteer will learn how to craft and publish the newsletter under the tutelage of the current editor, Joe Singleton, who is also an editor by trade. This is a valuable skill to have and it looks good on any resume! Joe came out of retirement to again start up the newsletter for his Marines; however, he specifically asked for SD support. The Striking Sixth is the Division's lifeblood. Supporting its editorship is the most critical role SDs can play. Please contact Joe or me for details.

2. The Cookbook project. Take a look at Linda Spangler's cookbook project. Linda emphasizes that we must help our parents in capturing their recipes and memories/photos in order to make this project a success. Remember, two SDG goals are to increase the Division coffers and preserve history. This project should be a gold mine on both accounts. Any SD also can send in recipes, associated memories/photos, so let's all "get-out-the recipe" in honor of our Vets and submit them to Linda by 31 Jan 05.

3. Reunion support. Despite email entreaties and postings on our website, relatively few SDs signed up in advance to support Susan with the reunion. For any major event, the planning and coordination in advance is the most critical and time consuming. Please contact Susan soon to offer support for the 2005 reunion committees. Several committees are already detailed on the SDG button-www.sixthmarinedivision.com/sdindex.htm and will be updated routinely with additional information. Let's ease Susan's burden in 2005! I can provide you written plans of action for any of these committees. Moreover, Susan can add her own personal experiences and unique requirements based on her baptism-under-fire in 2004! We are delighted to share with you: You won't have to reinvent the wheel; rather, you will be helping a worthy team effort. And you can help remotely, in advance, even if you can't attend the 2005 Las Vegas Reunion.

4. Standard Operating Procedures/support for elected officers. Unfortunately, the SDG has made little headway on this goal to date. Here was the plan: Volunteer SD action officers would ride sidesaddle with current elected officials in the Division and pick their brains for all implicit, implied, and additional tasks that each performs. Action officers would draft SOPs relative to their selected official's responsibilities and help the official with his duties during the year. We'd still like volunteers for this goal; check out the website/ SD Button/Special projects for details.

SD MEMBERSHIP

39 fully registered SDs: SDs officially signed up as both SD members and Division associate members. Note, this doesn't count spouses, per se, so "39" is a loose figure. In many cases, both husband and wife are supporting, regardless of which is the blood relative.
35 partially registered SDs: SDs signed up as either Division associate member or a SD-- but not both! Note, several in this group reportedly plan to transition to the fully registered group.
46 SD contacts. Parents or offspring provided contact data, but the SD has yet to join either the Division or SDG. I have made follow-up contact with each of these SDs and hope for the best.
So we have 120+ in our database-yet there are thousands of offspring out there in the pool! We continue to encourage all parents to spread the word to their children. In turn, we hope the SDs will choose to honor the Vets, join our ranks, and support the Sixth Marine Division.

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