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Celebrating 80 years!!

Ed Clemon- I was just looking at the site and there you are. Nice memories with you.

happy birthday, James

Joan, had a crush on you in high school, but I was too shy to talk much and you were spoken for. Does my heart good to see your picture.

Posted on: Feb 08, 2026 at 12:45 PM

In Memory of a Classmate, a Marine, and a Fire Fighter - Jimmy Boudreau

For those of us who knew him, we’ll remember walking those hallways of buildings 1, 2, and 3—with Jimmy back when life was simpler, and our biggest worries were exams or Friday night games and parties. Even then, you could see a certain grit in him. While most of us were just trying to find our way, he had already found his. Even his picture in our yearbook gave you the sense that he was a guy you could count on if things got sideways.

After high school, he took that protective spirit and turned it into a way of life.

Jimmy was the kind of man who couldn't stand by and watch someone else’s world burn. He was the one who ran toward the heat, the one who stayed calm when everyone else was panicking, and the one who offered a steady hand on a person’s worst day. He lived a life of service that most people only talk about.

But perhaps the deepest part of Jimmy’s identity was found in the United States Marine Corps. He didn't just wear the uniform; he became the uniform. He lived by a code of "God, Country, and Corps" that branded him for life. He understood that being a Marine isn't a job—it’s a transformation. He carried that "Semper Fi" spirit into every room he entered, showing us all what it looks like to be truly faithful to your friends, your family, and your community.

He left us a legacy of courage, bravery, and caring for others more than himself. He was a warrior in the truest sense, but he had the heart of a servant. We were lucky to know him as a classmate, and our country was lucky to have him as a guardian. I was lucky to share with him the title United States Marine and what it meant to be a Marine.

To our brother-in-arms:

Jimmy, your final tour is done. You’ve stood the watch on the fire line and the front line. For every life you touched and every fire you fought, we say thank you. You have deserved your place in the long green line of those who went before you.

Semper Fidelis.

"If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven’s scenes, They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines." Rest easy, Marine. We’ll take the watch from here.'

Posted on: Dec 15, 2025 at 12:01 PM

To my Jewish friends in particular, but I believe it is appropriate for all of us. It is a season of remembrance.

“Hanukkah Sameach! May the lights of the menorah bring joy, peace, and resilience to you and your family. May each candle remind us of the strength of tradition, the power of hope, and the blessings of community.”

Posted on: Oct 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM

If I am over whelming or if anyone is feeling uncomfortable with these posts, please let me know.
For me, this was challenging. Why will probably be clear if you read it. I hope you had a great October and that November will be even better.

A Marine’s promise is forever.

But what happens when the nation that sent him to fight doesn’t keep its promise in return?

This is Marine: The Broken Covenant — a reflection on loyalty, leadership, and the sacred bond between a Marine and the country he defends.

Marine: The Broken Covenant
By Roger Watson, Vietnam Veteran (E5, 0311)
Bound by Courage. Bound by Blood. Semper Fi.
________________________________________
Opening Salvo: The Promise Made
When a Marine raises his right hand, he makes a promise to serve the nation, to defend it, and if necessary, to die for it. That promise is sacred. It is not one-sided. The government, in turn, makes a promise of its own: to never forget, never abandon, and never turn its back on those who placed their lives in its hands.
This exchange is more than an oath. It is a covenant, a bond of trust sealed in blood, not ink.
It means that when the fighting stops, the obligation continues. On the battlefield, Marines leave no one behind. When a Marine returns home, he should not be left to fight his next battle alone.
Too often, that is exactly what has happened.
________________________________________
A Broken Covenant
The covenant, once forged in loyalty and sacrifice, began to crack. Those cracks widened until the bond shattered.
The same government that swore to care for its defenders exposed them to burn pits, Agent Orange, and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
Marines came home, but brought the war with them.
Marines came home to waiting lists, denied claims, and bureaucratic neglect.
No Marine should be ordered to take a hill not worth dying on.
That moral obligation, a duty of leadership and a duty of government, is part of the covenant.
It has been broken far too often.
________________________________________
The Cost of Neglect: The Silent War
For every Marine who fell in combat, four have died by suicide.*
That is not fate. It is failure.
This Silent War is a slow, relentless enemy. The government attempts to confront it with broken systems and unkept promises. The wounds are often invisible, yet they are real and devastating to those who answered the call.
________________________________________
Organizations Standing in the Gap
Where the system falters, others step forward.
Patriots and organizations like Semper Fi & America’s Fund, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and Fisher House carry the torch. They stand in the gap and lift the burden that government has dropped. They keep the covenant alive through action and honor, not words and paperwork.
A Marine’s role is clear: stand the watch, guard the gates, and be first to confront the enemy. The Marine Corps has always kept its promise.
We fight our country’s battles
In the air, on land, and sea,
First to fight for right and freedom,
And to keep our honor clean.
This is our portion of the covenant. We honor it not because we are ordered to, but because it defines who we are.
________________________________________
Final Orders: Repairing the Covenant
The government made promises to its Marines. We kept ours.
It is time for those in power to take steps to repair and honor their promises. Too often, self-interest, pet projects, overseas aid, elections and re-elections are more important than the Marines they send to fight.
The covenant must be repaired, not for pity, not for politics, but because Marines honor theirs, always.
It is time for our leaders to do the same. Because loyalty is not conditional. Because duty does not end when the gunfire stops.
The words “I’ve got your back” mean something to a Marine. In combat, if that promise is not kept, someone may die. Those words should mean something to our government, and to our nation.
The promise to “never turn its back on those who put their lives in its hands” must be honored, not when it is convenient, not temporarily, but for as long as this nation stands.
Right now, those words are not being honored. Marines are hurting. Marines are dying.
The covenant needs to be fixed, now.
Semper Fi is not just a motto. It is a covenant kept.
________________________________________
Bound by Courage. Bound by Blood. Always Faithful.
Semper Fi
Roger Watson



Bound by Courage. Bound by Blood. Semper Fi.

— Roger Watson, Vietnam Veteran (E5, 0311)

Posted on: Oct 20, 2025 at 7:03 AM

I recognize that this post and the previous one are not for everyone. I hope you're okay with that. I have at least another one, perhaps two. The Marine Corps' birthday is November 10th. It is the 250th year of the Marine Corps. I wanted to do something special for it. These articles are it.

I know you're not 250, and no, I am not going to write articles about you on your birthday. That doesn't minimize the importance you have had in my life. You're likely not my best friend. I didn't have many in high school. You probably didn't share a class with me (count yourself lucky), we may have passed each other by on our way to class. As big as our high school class was, we may not have even seen each other. But we shared a pretty big event in both of our lives. I want to thank you for being there with me. I also want to wish you a Happy Birthday. Now, if you are turning 250, don't fret, I will write one or two articles about you. Have a great rest of your life.

Marine – Death Before Dishonor
A Foxhole View of the Marine Corps at 250

Opening Salvo: The Ash Beneath Their Boots
February 19, 1945. The volcanic sands of Iwo Jima were black as death and hot as hell. Thirty thousand Marines landed into a storm of steel—no cover, no mercy, no retreat. The beach offered nothing but chaos. The only way forward was through.

The Marine wasn't famous. He didn't earn any medals. He didn't make any speeches. He was simply a rifleman from Anywhere USA. He may have quit his job, left school, lied about his age; he did what he had to do to become a Marine. He hit the beach with a pack too heavy and a heart too full. Around him, the world exploded. He crawled, he fired, he prayed. And when the order came to move, he moved. He didn't raise the flag. He didn't make the papers. But he made the difference.

This is the Marine Corps at 250—not just the legends, but the legions. Not just the names we remember, but the names we never knew. The ones who held the line, who charged the hill, who whispered "Semper Fi" with their last breath.
The Creed in Action: Death Before Dishonor

They landed expecting resistance. What they found was silence. The volcanic ash swallowed their boots, the airfields loomed ahead, the enemy waited—not broken, but buried. Then the mountains erupted.
The Marines didn't retreat. They adapted. They advanced. They fought not for glory, but for each other. In the chaos of Iwo Jima, Death Before Dishonor wasn't a slogan—it was a decision made a thousand times a day.
Some held positions for hours under relentless fire. Others dragged wounded brothers through ash and blood. Many never made it off the beach. Few were named. Fewer were remembered. But all were Marines.
"He didn't fight for a medal. He fought for the man beside him."
This was the creed in action. No speeches. No ceremony. Just grit, loyalty, and the refusal to break.

The Cost of Courage
Courage isn't free. It's paid in blood, in silence, in the weight carried long after the battle ends. On Iwo Jima, over 6,800 Americans—most of them Marines—never came home. Thousands more were wounded, physically and emotionally, in ways that would never fully heal.

But the cost wasn't just in lives lost. It was in lives changed. The Marine who returned with scars beneath his uniform. The one who couldn't sleep without hearing mortars. The one who never spoke of what he saw, but carried it in his eyes.
"He survived the war, but the war never left him." This is the price of valor. Not just the moment of heroism, but the lifetime that follows. And yet, they bore it. Quietly. Faithfully. Because that's what Marines do.

Legacy Carried Forward
From the Marine Corps' first battle in Nassau, Bahamas, the battle cry Death Before Dishonor was heard — not as a slogan, but as a way of life. It has echoed through every generation of Marines since. And nowhere was it more loudly proclaimed, more fiercely lived, than on the volcanic sands of Iwo Jima. Wherever Marines have fought — Belleau Wood, Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sanh, Fallujah — that cry has been their creed.

From Nassau to Iwo Jima, and every battlefield in between, Death Before Dishonor has been more than a motto — it has been the Marines' measure. It is the quiet promise made in the foxhole, the last breath on the battlefield, the unspoken bond between brothers. It lives not in words, but in action. And it will live on — in every Marine who steps forward when others step back.

In spirit and in deed, they may wear different gear. Fought in various wars. But the creed is unchanged. Courage is inherited. The legacy is alive. "Every Marine carries the weight of those who came before — and the hope of those who will follow."

This is how the Corps endures. One Marine at a time.

Bound by courage. Bound by blood.

Semper Fi

I'm so sorry to tell you that Arthur Shaffman passed away on September 13th. Art bravely battled Parkinson's for years and even "ran" a 1K fundraiser for his hometown Meals on Wheels about two months before he died. He was extraordinarily brave, creative and a constant friend.

Posted on: Sep 29, 2025 at 12:37 PM

Roger's intent was to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Marine Corps. He certainly did that with sincerity and skill. More importantly to you, our classmates, this is a description of Roger. Combine these paragraphs with his unflagging devotion to his Christian faith, and we have an exceptional classmate whom we would all be the better for knowing. Roger is a trip worth taking.No, not a trip, a journey. He is a formidable and sincere person of exceptional integrity.

Posted on: Sep 28, 2025 at 10:12 AM

Marine: A 250-Year Legacy

Bound by Courage, Bound by Blood

We are not born Marines. We become them. Since 1775, more than two million men and women have earned the title United States Marine. Each has given something of themselves to our country and our Corps that can never be returned. We call that sacrifice.

The Marine Corps was born in a time of necessity. It has grown forged in tradition, tempered by duty, and bound by a legacy that began in 1775 and echoes still. That legacy has grown one Marine at a time.

There are no heroes in the Marine Corps. Yes, many Marines have received medals, but like all Marines, they were just doing their jobs. Marines support each other. A rifleman in a foxhole is supplied by another Marine with bullets and rations. A pilot provides cover or evacuates the wounded. Cooks, clerks, and mechanics keep the machine running. Marines taking care of their own.

The Marine Corps, 250 years after its beginning, is what it is because of two million men and women—not heroes, but Marines just doing their jobs.

Marines are those who go first, who stand last, who never ask for or seek glory. We carry the burden of our country, of our citizens, and of each other. Rank or ribbons do not define a Marine. We are defined by sacrifice. By the moments no one sees—the letter home never sent, the brother lost in battle, the weight of command when lives hang in the balance.

We are the memory keepers of Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sanh, and Fallujah. We carry the names of the fallen not on paper, but in our hearts. We are one Corps. We are one Marine in our soul. We honor them all, for without them, we are incomplete.

We are the past, the present, and the promise of every Marine yet to earn the title. Of every family who waits. Of every citizen who sleeps in peace because we stood the watch.

We are not heroes.
We are Marines.
And that is enough

Semper Fi

Both R I ch and I were saddened to hear of Gails passing. Her beautiful smile will be remembered by all. She certainly lit up a room when she enterred. RIP dear Gail...

Posted on: Jun 13, 2025 at 1:36 PM

Mike, nothing will replace Gail or your sense of loss. I don't know the last words you spoke to her, but I bet those words you wrote for her birthday, she took with her. I want you to know that you and Gail gave us a life lesson in what it means to love someone.

She was special.

Hi Gail. Happy birthday.
Thanks for introducing yourself to me in home room where you sat behind me.
Thanks for visiting me at the hospital after you saw me break my leg at the gymnastic meet.
Thanks for talking with me on my way home after I left Fort Devens after returning from Vietnam.
Thanks for sailing with me on my sailboat to visit my sister in New Hampshire.
Thanks for getting me a job where you worked for a job at a Norwegian company in Bedford which led me to further jobs I loved.
Thanks for being my wife.
Thanks,I love you.