I had a good time in Cleveland, Ohio during Marine Week. On Friday, I went to a free noon concert by the Quantico Marine Band, which played a bunch of great rousing marches. Their performance of Sousa’s “Semper Fidelis” was led by a former band member who’d retired in 1966; he was obviously very proud and moved to be picking up the baton again. On Saturday, I went to Burke Lakefront Airport to see the Silent Drill Squad perform (impressive, as always; I last saw them in Washington in the summer of '87) and to hear another band concert (mostly different songs than on Friday). An explosives-sniffing dog went through its paces, and there were Marines dressed in uniforms from several different eras incl. the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War II, etc.
I also had the chance to go aboard a tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey (very impressive but also extremely expensive, I’ve read) and an MH-53 cargo helicopter, both on the ground. One of the crewmembers on the Osprey said he’s heard Ospreys will be adapted in the next year or so to serve as Marine One, flying the President around.
Among all the armor on display, I noticed one of the M-1 Abrams tank had a bar-coded UPS shipping label on one armored flank… I’d hate to be short on postage for one of those babies!
For someone interested in military matters, it was a very good weekend.
We were there, too, on Sunday 6/17 in Cleveland. I was in St. Louis earlier and just missed the Marine Week they had there. I think they only have Marine Weeks there and in Boston.
The Silent Drill Platoon was awesome. I hadn’t seen them in 32 years, and it was a first for my wife. We got there early and waited, and had front row, center viewing spots at the bullpen where they performed - it was a perfect spot. My wife used to play in her high school marching band and she really liked the US Marine Band. John Philip Sousa was the 17th director of USMB.
Very motivating performances.
Cleveland Marines (25th Marines, of 3/25, a highly distinguished battalion) were hit hard and suffered many casualties a few years back. I’m sure family members attended the week.
