June 10, 2012

National Museum of the Marine Corps

Sometime in the fall of 2011 I made a $300 donation to the National Museum of the Marine Corps and in exchange had a memorial brick inscribed for the walkway in the Memorial Park section on the grounds of the museum. Finally just a week ago I received the letter stating the brick was finished and had been set in place. I was home for a couple days from flying so we took the hour drive up to Quantico, Virginia to find it. They provided me with a map of sorts and that helped with locating the general section. There are so many laid there that I wasn't able to find it right away and did start to feel a little apprehension after a while: "Oh man! I hope it's actually here!!" But then we found it. It's right in front of a plaque marked "Meritorious Unit Commendation Navy-Marine Corps Streamer". Mike liked simple things and probably wouldn't have wanted all the fanfare at his funeral and probably wouldn't have been fine with a simple flat gravemarker. I, in fact, had a dream not long after his death where he walked into the room I was in and told me I needn't have gone to all that trouble and expense. But I think he would approve of this simple brick and the simple short message written on it. I'm glad that now something of his is at the Marine Corps Museum. He never got to visit it but I know he would have loved that museum. He would have gotten lost and spent hours in there. It's a really nice, quiet and reflective spot where it was placed. Very easy to find. Video