Foundation to recognize excellence in advancing, preserving Marine Corps history at Annual Awards Ceremony
Triangle, Va. (April 5, 2013) – The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation is pleased to announce the 20 award recipients of the 2013 Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Annual Awards. The recipients will be honored for their outstanding, creative work in preserving and sharing the Marine Corps’ history, traditions and culture at the Annual Awards Ceremony, April 20, 2013 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va. Marine Corps Heritage Foundation President and CEO Lieutenant General Robert R. Blackman, Jr., USMC (Ret) will present the awards. Commandant of the Marine Corps General James F. Amos will deliver the keynote address.
The Foundation recognizes superior achievement in literature, art, journalism, photography, videography and museum exhibits. From Active Duty and retired Marines to civilians, the Awards Program draws entries from a broad spectrum of individuals nationwide interested in portraying or recognizing some aspect of Marine Corps life, culture, history, or work.
Among this year’s honorees are Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Dakota Meyer and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West; Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Phillips; and retired United States Marine Corps Combat Artist Michael Fay. Special recognition awards will also be presented to Mr. Rick Stephens, Senior Vice President (Ret) for The Boeing Company; Navy Cross and Purple Heart recipient Lieutenant General Ron Christmas, USMC (Ret), former president and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation; and former President and CEO of Wachovia Corporation Leslie M. (Bud) Baker, Jr.
Recipients include:
- The John A. Lejeune Recognition for Exemplary Leadership
Rick Stephens, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration (Retired), The Boeing Company, for his demonstrated leadership in his chosen profession that is clearly exemplary and worthy of emulation. He epitomizes the core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment; and practices the leadership traits and principles ascribed to by the United States Marine Corps.
- The Heritage Award
Former President and CEO of Wachovia Corporation Leslie M. (Bud) Baker, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C., in recognition of the unique and significant service he has provided to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation to fulfill its mission.
- The Distinguished Service Award
Former President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and Navy Cross and Purple Heart recipient Lieutenant General Ron Christmas, USMC, (Ret), Stafford, Va., in recognition of his extraordinary contributions over an extended period of time to the work of the Foundation and to Marine Corps history.
- The Colonel Joseph Alexander Award (biography or autobiography)
Author Gail Shisler, Fairfax, Va., For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith.
- The Bill Broyles Award, (play or screenplay)
Writer/producer Bruce McKenna, Santa Fe, N.M., for “Episode 7 ‘The Pacific – Peleliu Hills,’” from HBO’s ten part miniseries.
- The Sergeant Major Dan Daly Award (photography)
Marine Corporal Reece Lodder, Marine Corps Base, Hawaii, for “America’s Battalion in Afghanistan,” a series of images collected during his 2012 deployment to Afghanistan.
- The Robert A. Gannon Award (poetry)
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Paul Shannon, McLean, Va., for Songs of Iraq: a Year Long Deployment, the 2007 to 2008 experiences of a forward deployed FBI agent in the Iraqi combat theater.
- The General Roy S. Geiger Award (published article)
Airline Captain Craig Thorson, Fort Worth, Texas, for “Marine Chopper Salvage,” Aviation History Magazine, May 2012. The article chronicles the Marine Corps’ first helicopter transport squadron during the Korean War.
- The Sergeant William Genaust Award (documentary)
Marine Private First Class Jacob M. Lagoze, Camp Lejeune, N.C., for “Patrol Base Georgetown Attack,” documenting a 2011 Marine response to Taliban fire in Afghanistan.
- The General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award (non-fiction writing)
Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Dakota Meyer, Campbellsville, Ky., and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West, for Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War.
- The Colonel Julia E. Hamblet Award (for furthering the recognition of the history of women Marines)
This year’s recipients are: Colonel Ruth Broe, Emma Holmes, Sue Sousa, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Eileen Scanlon, Colonel Sara Phoenix, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jo-Ann Lovell, Denise Jackson, Sandra Jarrells, Staff Sergeant David Olliff and Maria Palustre.
- The Major Norman Hatch Award (feature documentary)
Marine Reservists Major Brian Iglesias (director), Keansburg, N.J. and
Captain Anton Sattler (producer), Elmhurst, N.Y., for “Chosin,” the first feature-length documentary about the Chosin Reservoir Campaign of the Korean War.
- The Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr. Award (feature writing)
Retired United States Marine Corps combat artist Michael D. Fay, Fredericksburg, Va., for the three-part series “Still in the Fight,” The New York Times, March 2011, documenting the experiences of Marines recovering from battle-wounds at a Va. medical center .
- The Sergeant Major Bradley Kasal Award (photography)
Marine Lance Corporal Ian Bush, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., for “Daddy’s Little Girl,” a photo of a Chief Warrant Officer retiring from active duty and his daughter.
- The Colonel John H. Magruder Award (exhibits or displays)
Liberty Bell Memorial Museum, Melbourne, Fla. The curators and volunteers created exhibits with items from all of the wars to honor Marine Corps veterans and educate the public on Marine Corps history.
- The Major Megan McClung Award (reporting on Marines abroad)
Wall Street Journal reporter Michael M. Phillips, Washington, D.C., for “Under Attack,” The Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2012, detailing Phillips’ account of a suicide attack in Afghanistan.
- The Brigadier General Edwin Simmons-Henry I. Shaw Award (superior historical scholarship)
U.S. Marine Band historian/librarian Master Gunnery Sergeant Mike Ressler, Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., for “Historical Perspective on the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band, Playing America’s Music since 1798,” Marine Corps Historical Division.
- The General Oliver P. Smith Award (local news reporting)
Stanford University journalist graduate student Xandra Clark, Palo Alto, Calif. and San Francisco State University Master of fine arts graduate, Natacha Ruck, San Francisco, Calif., for their production of the Stanford Storytelling radio show “Returning Home,“ played on KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM, storytelling.stanford.edu and KALW San Francisco. The hour long radio documentary tells the story of six Iraq war veterans who are students and recent Stanford University alumni.
- The Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr. Award (artwork)
College student, combat veteran and freelance war artist Robert William Bates, Concord, N.C., for his contributions to the Joe Bonham Project, an exhibit documenting the experience of wounded service members, and his 2012 work from Afghanistan, “Covering the Drawdown.”
- The James Webb Award (fiction writing)
Writer Terry L. Gould, Nashville, Tenn., for “How Can You Mend This Purple Heart?” The book is loosely based on his experience recovering in a military hospital, sharing ward space with combat-wounded Marines from the Vietnam era.
To view details on each of the awards and the winning submissions, go to:
http://www.marineheritage.org/Awards.asp
About the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation
Dedicated to the preservation and promulgation of Marine Corps history, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation was established in 1979 as a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization. The Foundation supports the historical programs of the Marine Corps in ways not possible through government funds, providing grants and fellowships for research and the renovation, restoration and commissioning of historical Marine Corps artifacts and landmarks. Securing the necessary funding for the complete construction of the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center is the Foundation’s current primary mission while continuing to provide program support for the Corps’ historical, museum and educational activities.
To speak with a Foundation representative or award recipient, please contact Victoria Shapiro at vshapiro@susandavis.com, or 202-414-0774. For more information on the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, visit www.MarineHeritage.org.