WAIKOLOA — In a corner next to the entrance of a room at Mai Grille by Chef Allen Hess stood a square table, topped with a single place setting, a rose and the flags of the United States and U.S. Marine Corps.
Amidst the lively conversation and dinner during the Marine Corps Ball here, the “Table for Missing Comrades,” said Robert E. Strickland, president of the Camp Tarawa Foundation and president of the West Hawaii Veterans Council, is a solemn reminder “for all those who never came home.”
“So they never get lost,” said Strickland, whose father was a prisoner of war for 28 months in Germany during World War II.“Their memories are there forever.”
It’s one of several traditions that are observed by Marines the world over at Marine Corps Balls, the annual events that mark the Marine Corps’ birthday on Nov. 10.
This year marks the 243rd birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps with balls planned throughout the world, bringing together Marines young and old everywhere in a spirit of camaraderie. Through a resolution on Nov. 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the first two battalions of American Marines.
“It’s something that all Marines — everywhere in the world, wherever they are — will step up on this day and celebrate the Marine Corps’ birthday,” said Dale Ross, commandant of the Marine Corps League Camp Tarawa Detachment No. 1255. “It doesn’t matter — from Afghanistan, Korea, Okinawa or wherever. They’re going to celebrate this day.”
Clay Bollman, reading a letter from Gen. Robert B. Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, referenced several other milestones this year represents for the Marine Corps, including a century since the Battle of Belleau Wood in France during World War I as well as a half-century since the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.
“For 243 years, Marines have fought and won whenever and wherever the nation calls,” wrote Neller in the letter Bollman read to the audience. “In the harshest conditions, over the most brutal terrain and against the most formidable enemies, Marines defend the ideals of freedom with grit and tenacity.”
Traditions like the Table for Missing Comrades are a critical part of the celebration and are seen as a way to connect the newest Marines with those who came before them.
“It’s part of the tradition of the Corps to pass along to the new Marines the traditions of the older Marines,” Ross said, noting that many of the traditions date back to shortly after World War I.
It’s an idea clearly illustrated in the tradition of serving the first slice of cake to the oldest Marine present at the ball and then to the youngest.
“It reminds us,” said Strickland, “of the bonds that link us to the Marines who have served our nation since 1775 and to the Marines who will fight the battles of tomorrow.”
That sort of camaraderie, Strickland said, is the kind any Marine can find at any Marine Ball in the world.
“Once a Marine, always a Marine; it’s true,” he said. “I mean, anywhere I go and I meet a Marine, it’s like we’ve been brothers forever.”
He recalled a time he went deer hunting in California by Lake Tahoe. He went to a Harrah’s, he said, and learned the Marine Corps Ball there would be that Saturday. On introducing himself, he said, he was welcomed immediately.
“That’s all it took,” he said.
Bollman said the camaraderie cultivated through groups like the Marine Corps League are important for both older Marines as well as younger Marines returning from war as an opportunity to “talk to guys who’ve been through what you’ve been through.”
And the traditions at the ball, he added, can help bridge together generations of Marines.
“You want to bridge that gap between the youngest and the oldest,” he said. “That’s important, so that the older people don’t feel left out and the younger people feel welcome.”
And after the toasts to country, the Marine Corps, Navy Corpsmen and kitchen staff came one more reminder of the Marines that had come before those gathered Saturday evening.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the final toast of our evening,” said Ross, raising his champagne flute, “to our fallen comrades.”
“To our fallen comrades,” the crowd replied.
