[Vision2020] 'Gyrenes' Honor Chairman at University Gala in Florida

Tom Hansen thansen at moscow.com
Sun Feb 25 10:54:17 PST 2007


>From the American Forces Press Service -

My primary reason for posting this to Vision 2020 is not only to pay tribute
to the United States Marine corps, but to divulge the history of the term
"Gyrene", a term that I have been curious about for a considerable length of
time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

'Gyrenes' Honor Chairman at University Gala in Florida
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

NAPLES, Fla., Feb. 25, 2007 - More than 350 former and retired Marines
turned out here last night to honor Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Ave Maria University Gyrene Gala.

The Gyrene Gala raises scholarship funds for young men and women who serve
or have served in the United States Armed Forces to attend Ave Maria
University. 

The term "gyrene" goes back to around 1900, according to Mariion F. Sturkey
in her 2001 book, "Warrior Culture of the U.S. Marines." Sailors began using
the term as a jocular derogatory reference to Marines. Instead of being
insulted, the Marines loved it. The term became common by World War I and
has been extensively used ever since.

Retired Marine Gen. Charles C. Krulak, 31st commandant of the Marine Corps,
introduced the chairman, noting that he has watched Pace's career grow and
flourish over the years. Krulak said Pace cut his teeth as a lieutenant in
Vietnam and followed that up with a difficult fight in Somalia as a
brigadier general.

"From that tour as a one-star general, Pete began his remarkable rise to
become the highest ranking officer in the United States armed forces,"
Krulak said. "Pete personifies, in every aspect of his service, the type of
Marine who fought on Iwo Jima so many years ago."

The chairman is "a superb leader, a great thinker, a true warrior, a solid
family man," Krulak continued. "Pete epitomizes today, what I would call,
the modern soldier statesman."

Taking the podium, Pace thanked Krulak, who was his first commandant and his
boss multiple times during his 40-year career.

"If I stand before you as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it's
because I truly stand on the shoulders of some giants of our corps," Pace
said. "It didn't just happen that all of a sudden a United States Marine
could be chairman."

Recapping history, Pace recalled Marine Gen. Luis H. Wilson Jr., who fought
in the mid 1970s to become a full-fledged member of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and the Goldwater Nichols Act of 1986 which allowed Marines to
compete to be regional combatant commanders.

He noted the "incredible performance" of Marines like Gen. Paul X. Kelley,
28th commandant, Gen. Anthony Zinni, who led Central Command, Gen. John J.
Sheehan, who commanded what was then the Atlantic Command, and Gen. Charles
Wilhelm, who led Southern Command.

"It was their performance in leading joint troops that gave our civilian
leaders confidence to pick a Marine to be chairman," Pace said. "Throughout
my career in the Corps, I have been surrounded by incredible leaders. All I
had to do was keep my feet moving and emulate them to be successful.

"Tonight you honor me in a way that I know for sure, I do not deserve," the
chairman said. "But I will accept this on behalf of so many Marines who have
taught me so many wonderful things, and today, as the representative of 2.4
million American men and women, active, guard and reserve, who serve this
nation to the very best of their ability with great honor and distinction."

During the event, university supporters inducted Pace to their Gallery of
Gyrene Greats. He received a plaque in his likeness which will be mounted on
the wall of a campus building.

The university created the Gallery of Gyrene Greats to publicly recognize
individuals who have achieved success through their embodiment of the Marine
Corps ethos. The gallery presents them as positive role models for our
students, underscoring the Marine Corps' and the university's shared values
of honor, courage and commitment.

Current Gyrene Greats include Krulak, Retired Gen. Carl E. Mundy, Jr., 30th
Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Jim Lehrer, Host of The NewsHour with
Jim Lehrer.

Pace was one of five men inducted at the gala. Thomas S. Monaghan, a former
Marine who went on to start Domino's Pizza and who now serves as chancellor
at Ave Maria University was inducted, as were three civilian honorees who
are founders of the the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. They are Arthur L.
Allen, president and CEO, Allen Systems Group; Mr. William J. Schoen,
chairman, Health Management Associates and Carlton O. Tronvold, retired.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.





More information about the Vision2020 mailing list