The Spartan Young Marines unit from Hatboro, Montgomery County, was one of 28 Young Marines units throughout the United States that traveled to Hawaii in early December to participate in the remembrance ceremonies of the 82nd anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
The Young Marines is a national youth organization for boys and girls from age 8 through high school graduation.
Hundreds of Young Marines performed a number of community service activities while in Oahu, Hawaii. They met, greeted, and escorted World War II Veterans at various events.
Among the events in which the Spartan Young Marines participated were: community service work on the Mālama Pu’uloa Community Project at Kapapapuhi Point Park; wreath laying ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific “The Punchbowl” in memory of all the brave men and women who are interred at the site; Klipper Ceremony, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade, Honolulu.
A significant honor for all the Young Marine units was to lead the Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade, on Thursday, Dec. 7, in Honolulu. Young Marines performed a color guard and carried the banners of the 12 capital ships that were attacked.
They also assisted with many of the floats in the parade. The parade’s objective is to honor the heroes and survivors of Pearl Harbor and World War II, to pay tribute to veterans, active-duty military members and military families, to celebrate freedom, and to keep in remembrance the heinous events of Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.
“Because of the pandemic the last couple of years, we didn’t have the usual Young Marines participation in all of the remembrance events, so it is doubly meaningful that so many Young Marines are again present here this year,” said Col. William P. Davis USMC (Ret), national executive director and CEO of the Young Marines. “It is an honor and lasting memory for each Young Marine to participate in the anniversary, meet and listen to veterans tell their stories, and memorialize veterans who are no longer with us.”
The participating Young Marines units were from: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C.
All Young Marines units raised funds at the local level to supplement the costs of traveling to Hawaii. The youth members used their creativity, and applied the program’s core values – leadership, teamwork, and self-discipline – to implement unique and effective fundraising efforts to attend the educational and patriotic event.
For information on the Spartan Young Marines, visit https://youngmarines.org/unit/spartan/page For information on the Young Marines, visit https://www.YoungMarines.org.
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