This is the 21st year the USO has honored Service Members of the Year, nominated by their command leadership “for performing extraordinary acts of bravery that exemplify the values of the Armed Forces and the USO,” according to the organization.
Editor’s note: The Journal’s Unsung Heroes series spotlights a local veteran each Monday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. If you would like to nominate an Unsung Hero, email news@journal-news.net.
Graduation day for first women to attend Marine boot camp in San Diego stripes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stripes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SAN DIEGO
There was excitement in the air as family and friends of new Marines made their way to the grandstands on the parade deck of Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego Thursday morning. At the end of the parade grounds, 397 freshly-minted Marines stood at parade rest in formation. Passing family members stole glances trying to find their Marines among the uniformed mass.
While the San Diego depot graduates about 40 companies of new Marines each year, Thursday’s ceremony was special. It was only the third graduation open to family and friends since they were suspended in March 2020 due to the coronavirus. And in one of the six graduating platoons were 53 women the first women to graduate from Marine Corps’ San Diego boot camp in its 100-year history.