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Detachment History
The Central Missouri Detachment of the
Marine Corps League has had a long and rich history. The detachment was
chartered in early 1941. During World War II the detachment became inactive,
but was reorganized by Phil Dallmeyer in 1946, after the war. The project of
the detachment at that time was to run a gymnasium on High Street in Jefferson City, MO,
which lasted until the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. Many of the
league members were activated with the Reserves during that time. After the
Korean War, the detachment was reactivated in 1956 and was active and thrived
for almost twenty years after that. They were involved in many community
service projects during that time which included "Teen Town"
for the area youths and sponsored a local racetrack. during this time period,
they also formed the Cole County Sheriff's Patrol which augmented the
Sheriff's department. The first commander during this time period was
Commandant Elmer Frank. The detachment would become inactive again in 1970.
In 1987 the Marines of Central Missouri applied for a new charter and
received the charter under the leadership of Commandant Wm. "Skip"
Rich. The charter application was mailed in December of 1987 with 48 Marines
listed. By the sixth month, the detachment was 116 strong. In May of 1988 the
Detachment held it's first Bar-B-Que which was attended by over 50 people.
The Bar-B-Que has become an annual event which drew over 1500 people in
2001.Upon activation of the detachment, it was a goal to make sure that no
Marine was ever laid to rest without proper honors. An annual raffle was
begun to raise money to fund different charities and to promote the work that
the detachment was doing. Some of the money raised went to pay expenses for a
uniformed firing detail. The detachment also paid for some scholarships for
Marines and their dependents. Our team has provided military honors for
veterans of all the services and has participated in many other events. Our
color guard performed at a Cardinal's baseball game in St.
Louis, and at a Veteran's Day celebration with the Tony Orlando
show in Branson, Missouri. In addition to these big events,
they participate in many uniformed functions throughout the central Missouri area yearly.
Toys for Tots is a large annual event that we are proud to participate in.
Upon reactivation of the detachment, a fund was created for the eventual
purchase of a building or land for the detachment to meet. In 1993 the
detachment secured a loan and purchased a building on the outskirts of Jefferson City. The
building was remodeled, and in May of 1994 our first meeting was held in our
new home. Unfortunately, later that same month there was a fire which
destroyed the building. In 1995 we began construction on what is now our
current meeting hall. Our very own "Tun Tavern" was dedicated on
November 11, 1995. We began repayment of the debt of our new barracks. In May
of 1999 we burned our mortgage.
The
Central Missouri Detachment has had a long and rich past, and we plan on
continuing that tradition for a long time to come. If you are a Marine or
former Marine, we invite you to attend the monthly detachment meeting and
become a member. Our meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at
1900 hours.
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