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| Post 372, Martin Ave. at Marlboro, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 (856)665-3889 | |
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POST GETS RARE MILITARY MAP AS A MEMBERSHIP ‘THANK YOU!’ A very rare and historical military map outlining the planned actions of U.S. Forces for the World War II invasion of Iwo Jima, a desolate but stronghold island in Japan later overtaken by the Navy and Marines in 1944, has been presented to Post #372. The map was a gift from 10-year Legion member Phil Atkinson, a gangling former Marine Master Sergeant who retired earlier this year after serving 24 years of around-the-world duty. It was presented to Post Commander Charles Macukewicz as a ‘thank you” gesture by Atkinson during a Post Executive Board meeting last month. “I just wanted to thank the Post for carrying me on the membership roles for the years I served on active duty,” he told the board acknowledging the longtime Post practice of picking up the dues for members while on Active Duty. Atkinson said his former Commander and buddy of the Marine 31st Expeditionary Unit had originally given the map to him in a similar gesture of friendly gratitude. The beautiful framed, multi-colored map now adorns the honors wall of the Post lounge amid other legion memorabilia and collectable items. Crossed out but clearly visibly are the words: “TOP SECRET.” Atkinson, a 1973 graduate of Cherry Hill West, spent two years—2000 to 2002—living aboard the USS Essex, docked offshore of Iwo Jima and miles from his permanent barracks on Okinawa, Japan. On frequent shuttle trips to Iwo Jima from the Essex, Atkinson and buddies would tour the barren (but hallowed) island and on a few occasions climb the fabled Mount Surabachi, where the famous photograph of the “raising of the flag” by the Marines was captured for posterity. “At the top of the Mount”, Atkinson recalls, “there’s an elaborate Memorial to the fallen Americans and it’s just filled with military dog tags and personal items from relatives whose 7000 sons, brothers and others had died on the island,” he remarks vividly. He says the Island is now deemed “hallow ground” by the Japanese where 21,000 Japanese soldiers died during the Invasion. The inscription on the framed map reads:
TO AMERICAN LEGION POST 372 FROM U.S.MARINE CORPS MSGT PHILLIP J. ATKINSON SEMPER FIDELIS
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