Past Activities of Our Unit
March 2013
On 16 March, Young Marines and Recruits from the Lt. Bonnyman Unit got to try out the Obstacle Course at the Navy/Marine Corps Reserve Center under the watchful eyes of Marine 1st Sergeant Jason Glew and other Marines assigned to “D” Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion. Later, they got some instruction in firearms safety and marksmanship from Navy Command Chief Todd Johnson, who set up the Navy’s pistol and rifle laser course for them to try out. See more photos.
December 2012
On 1 December, Young Marines and Adult Leaders from both units manned six sites around Knoxville to collect money and toys for the 2012 Toys for Tots drive. At the end of the day, we turned in almost $3,000 in cash and more than 400 toys to the Marine Toys for Tots Coordinator.
November 2012
A Young Marine Color Guard presented the colors at the annual memorial service commemorating the death of Marine Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Alexander Bonnyman during the battle for Tarawa on 22 November 1943. During the ceremony conducted at the Bonnyman Memorial at the Highland Memorial Cemetery in Knoxville, Young Marine Master Sergeant Robert McNutt assisted Marine Corps League Past TN Department Commandant David Cates in laying a wreath at the Bonnyman Memorial.
October 2012
On 13 October, the Lt. Bonnyman Unit Young Marines participated in a high ropes and teamwork program led by Topline Adventures at the Blount County Sheriff’s Office Training Academy. See more photos.
SSC Director Scott Moore explaining the program
at the end of the Day to YM and parents
On 10 July 2010, 61 Young Marines attended the demonstration/pistol shoot at the Oak Ridge Sportsman’s Association Range. Scott Moore, the Director for the new Scholastic Steel Challenge (SSC) pistol competition, flew in from Arizona to put on the demonstration and explain the SSC Program. After the demonstration, each Young Marine got to shoot two different stages of the competition. Many of the YM are excited by the prospect of being on our Unit’s SSC Team to compete in this new national pistol competition.
1-6 June 2010 – 55 of the older Young Marines and six adults participated in the unit’s summer trip to Washington, DC. Ten Young Marines and two adults left early in the unit’s van on Saturday, 29 May, to participate in the Rolling Thunder parade on Sunday, 30 May, and the Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC on 31 May. They then joined with the rest of the Young Marines when they arrived in a commercial bus on Tuesday, 1 June, and remained with them for the rest of the week. Everybody stayed at a campground of the Prince William Forest National Park outside the Marine Base at Quantico, VA and ate some of their meals at the dining hall on the base. During the trip, they were usually up by 0600 every morning until getting to their bunks about 2200. During the week, they took a tour of the US Capitol and the Pentagon. They got a briefing at Ft. McHenry, MD and got to unfurl a smaller version of the flag that flew over the fort when our national anthem was penned. They spent an afternoon at Baltimore Harbor, where they got to visit four different ships maintained in the harbor, including an old sailing ship, a submarine, and a US Coast Guard cutter. They got to meet and talk with LtCol Mike Kessler, the National Executive Director of the Young Marines, when he joined us for lunch one day. Ten of the Young Marines and two adults got to see the Friday Evening Parade at Marine Barracks, 8th & I, where they saw the Silent Drill Team and the Marine Band perform. All the Young Marines visited Arlington National Cemetery, where four of our senior Young Marines got to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They visited the Air and Space Museum and toured many of the memorials around the Mall in our nation’s capital, including the Marine War Memorial (Iwo Jima), the Vietnam War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean War Memorial. While in DC, they were able to locate the gravesite of the grandfathers of two Young Marines in Arlington National Cemetery and locate the name of another Young Marine’s grandfather on the wall of the Vietnam War Memorial. At Quantico, they toured the National Museum of the Marine Corps and got a tour at the FBI Academy, as well. On the bus on the way back from Washington on Sunday, 6 June, they had a short chapel service conducted by one of the Young Marine Chaplains in the unit. Everyone came back tired but pleased by a very successful trip.
29 May 2010 – Young Marines were split into a number of locations on this drill date. One group assisted with the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Old Knoxville High School. They presented the colors at a ceremony at the school in the morning and at another ceremony in the afternoon at the Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville. They also performed other jobs to assist the event organizers. Another group of ten Young Marines with two Adult Leaders left in the unit van for Washington, DC to participate in Memorial Day weekend ceremonies there. The remaining Young Marines attended regular drill where those going on the DC trip the following week had their gear checked. They also practiced color guard drill. Speakers were selected and other preparations were made for the two ceremonies they will participate in on Memorial Day, 31 May 2010.
Some of our Young Marines helped out at the 2010 Knoxville Law Enforcement Run on 8 May 2010 and were given a trophy by the event organizers for their assistance with the race every year since its inception three years ago.
