06/20/2026
Chaplain's Coordinates 6-19-2026
Good evening Marines, FMF Corpsmen, FMF Chaplains, Associate Members and family! I hope you all are doing well! I have several things going on tomorrow so I thought I would write the Coordinates tonight! I would like to wish all fathers out there a very Happy Father's day! I am fortunate and blessed to still have my dad and actually his 84th birthday is tomorrow! He has had a rough last few years with his health, but he is the one that taught me to never quit fighting no matter how many times you get knocked down! He is also the one who taught me to shoot, hunt and fish! He also taught me right from wrong and hard work never killed anyone! He also said if you're going to do something, do it right or don't do it at all! I am very proud to call him dad! I have worked very hard to live up to his legacy! Happy Father's Day and birthday to my dad, Jerry Guinn!
Upcoming Events:
- June 18–21: Department of Tennessee Convention at the Knoxville Airport Hilton.
- August: Every Monday night will be our Annual Steak night at Red Bones. This is a fun night for the Marines, family and the friends to come together for fellowship and still raise money for the Detachment. One dollar from every steak purchased will be donated back to our Detachment by Trent Alford the owner of Red Bones and 731 Bar and Grill.
- August 10–14: National Convention at the Wyndham Indianapolis Hotel. Details at www.mcleaguelibrary.org (http://www.mcleaguelibrary.org).
- August 20: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- September 17: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- September 21: 11th Annual Semper Fi Golf Tournament.
- October 1: 2026 Toys for Tots campaign officially begins.
- October 15: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- November 7: Marine Corps Birthday Ball.
- November 19: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- December 17: Regular Monthly Gathering.
- December 19: Toys for Tots Distribution Day.
June Birthday's:
Vic Corson 3rd "Vic will turn 94!"
Gerald Sears 3rd
John Wehner 8th
Nathan "Swat" Swiatnicki 9th
Dana Jones 11th
Chris King 14th
Jerry Truelove Jr 14th
Chuck Barnett 15th
James Lee 15th
Dimple Moore 15th
Sheriff Julian Wiser 16th
Ramon Richardson 21st
Fred Benjamin 23rd
Robert Woods 27th
AB Beasley 30th
Ray Washington 30th
Marcus Foster 30th
Happy Birthday!!
Word of the Day:
"My father used to say that it's never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, 'You never know what you can accomplish until you try.' "
Michael Jordan
Prayer Requests:
- RJ Beckwith's mom passed last week. Please lift up the family in prayer!
- Vicki Benjamin: Doc Fred Benjamin wife. Her surgery was successful. The tumor was benign. She has a follow-up on Monday and Fred said she should be released for active duty! Praise God for answered prayers!
- Lenore Ventimiglia: Pray for healing for her broken leg.
-Joshua and Hillary Poole: Pray for them as they travel the road to parenthood.
- Law Enforcement: Keep our law enforcement officers in your prayers, especially our own members: Chief Thom Corley, Sheriff Julian Wiser, and Marshal Tyreece Miller.
Please also continue to pray for:
Ben Baker, AB and Kay Beasley, John Woods (knee issues), Al Butler (failing health), Telisha Truelove, Bob Newman, Godfrey Howard, Vic and Gert Corson, Jim and Nancy Cook, and Stacey and RJ Beckwith.
We also remember those battling cancer, those grieving the loss of loved ones, and the "22 a day" dealing with mental illness and head trauma. If you are struggling, please call 988 (Press 1) or text 838255. Help is available 24/7.
Please let me know if you have any other prayer requests.
"May the Lord bless thee, and keep thee. May the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace." — Numbers 6:24-26
Devotional: Dr. Tony Evans
Too Busy to Pray
“Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
Luke 5:16
An old gospel song says, “If you’re too busy to pray, brother, you’re too busy.” Most Christians would say amen to that, I think, because we know how important prayer is. But unfortunately, a lot of our prayers never get spoken at all, or we pray in such a way as to try and manipulate God rather than seek and obey His will and His kingdom agenda for us and the world. Therefore, we don’t see prayer’s power or results in our lives.
But if our understanding of Scripture is correct, prayer is foundational both to the individual Christian life and to the life and ministry of the church. You know what a foundation does. It solidifies the whole building and gives it something sturdy to sit on. All else builds on the foundation. It’s no wonder, then, that Satan works overtime to keep us off our knees, keeping us busy and distracted so we lose our regular in-depth communication with the Father.
But there was one Person whom Satan could not get anywhere with when it came to trying to disrupt His prayer life. The Savior is our perfect model for a life of prayer. He began and ended His public ministry in prayer. We see Him on one of the busiest days of His life in Mark 1, getting up way before daylight to pray. Luke said He did this often. It was Jesus’ habit to pray. In the Garden of Gethsemane, of course, He prayed with an agony of prayer we will never know.
No wonder the disciples looked at Jesus’ prayer life and asked Him to teach them to pray. Ask Peter what he thought of Jesus’ prayer life, and he will tell you it kept him from wiping out completely (see Luke 22:31-32).
And lest you say, “Well, that’s Peter for you,” let me remind you that the only reason we don’t crash and burn is because Jesus is interceding for us today (John 17:20; Hebrews 7:25). The application is pretty clear. If Jesus needed to pray, what does that say about you and me? We all need to improve our prayer lives. It serves as the foundation for all we are and become in Christ.
This Week in Marine Corps History
June 14 1847 – Commodore Matthew Perry launches amphibious river operations by Sailors and Marines on Tabasco River, Mexico.
June 14 1898 – Two companies of Marines defeated the Spanish near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
June 14 1945 – On Okinawa, mopping up operations proceed on the Oroku peninsula. The troops of the US 3rd Amphibious Corps and the US 24th Corps continue to eliminate fortified caves held by Japanese forces on Kunishi Ridge and on Mount Yuza and Mount Yaegu. An American regiment of the US 96th Division reaches the summit of Mount Yaegu, while the US th Division extends its control of Hills 153 and 115.
June 14 1969 – The U.S. announces that three combat units will be withdrawn from Vietnam. They were the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the U.S. Army 9th Infantry Division and Regimental Landing Team 9 of the 3rd Marine Division–a total of about 13,000 to 14,000 men. These troops were part of the first U.S. troop withdrawal, which had been announced on June 8 by President Richard Nixon at the Midway conference with South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. Nixon had promised that 25,000 troops would be withdrawn by the end of the year, and more support troops were later sent home in addition to the aforementioned combat forces in order to meet that number.
June 14 1999 – About 15,000 NATO peacekeepers spread out across Kosovo, including a convoy of about 1200 US Marines.
June 15 1862 – James River Flotilla, including U.S.S. Monitor, Galena, Aroostook, Port Royal, and Naugatuck, under Commander J – Rodgers encountered obstructions sunk across the river and at close range hotly engaged sharpshooters and strong Confederate batteries, manned in part by sailors and Marines, at Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia. For his part in the ensuing action, Corporal John B. Mackie, a member of Galena’s Marine Guard, was cited for gallantry in a letter to Secretary of the Navy Welles; in Department of the Navy General Order 17, issued on 10 July 1863, Mackie was awarded the first Medal of Honor authorized a member of the Marine Corps. In the bombardment, Galena was heavily damaged but, unsupported, Rodgers penetrated the James River to within eight miles of Richmond before falling back. Rodgers stated at this time that troops were needed to take Drewry’ s Bluff in the rear. Had this been done, Richmond might well have fallen.
June 15 1898 – US Marines attacked the Spanish off Guantanamo, Cuba.
June 15 1944 – American forces began their successful invasion of Saipan during World War II. Meanwhile, B-29 Superfortresses made their first raids on Japan. Coast Guard-manned transports that took part in the invasion included the USSs Cambria, Arthur Middleton, Callaway, Leonard Wood, LST-19, LST-23, LST-166 and LST-169. Preceded by naval gunfire and carrier air strikes, the V Amphibious Corps assaulted the west coast of Saipan, Marianas Islands. By nightfall, the 2d and 4th Marine Divisions, moving against heavy opposition, had established a beachhead 10,000 yards wide and 1,500 yards deep.
June 15 1944 – Admiral Clark leads two groups of US carrier forces raiding Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima and Haha Jima. The Japanese carriers are sighted by US patrols heading through the San Bernardino Strait while some of the Japanese battleships are seen east of Mindanao.
June 15 1945 – On Okinawa, Marines suffer heavy casualties and are unable to advance on Kunishi Ridge. The US 1st Division, already short of troops, is attached to the US 2nd Marine Division. Forces of the US 24th Corps continue operations to eliminate Japanese positions on Mount Yaeju and Mount Yuza.
June 15 1946 – 10th Marines help police in Black Market Riot – Nagasaki.
June 15 1965 – U.S. planes bomb targets in North Vietnam, but refrain from bombing Hanoi and the Soviet missile sites that surround the city. On June 17, two U.S. Navy jets downed two communist MiGs, and destroyed another enemy aircraft three days later. U.S. planes also dropped almost 3 million leaflets urging the North Vietnamese to get their leaders to end the war. These missions were part of Operation Rolling Thunder, launched in March 1965, after President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a sustained bombing campaign of North Vietnam. The operation was designed to interdict North Vietnamese transportation routes in the southern part of the North Vietnam and to slow infiltration of personnel and supplies into South Vietnam. During the early months of this campaign, there were restrictions against striking targets in or near Hanoi and Haiphong, but in July 1966, Rolling Thunder was expanded to include the bombing of North Vietnamese ammunition dumps and oil storage facilities. In the spring of 1967, it was further expanded to include power plants, factories, and airfields in the Hanoi and Haiphong areas. The White House closely controlled Operation Rolling Thunder and at times President Johnson personally selected the targets. From 1965 to 1968, about 643,000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam. The operation continued, with occasional suspensions, until President Johnson halted it entirely on October 31, 1968, under increasing domestic political pressure.
June 16 1941 – The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade was activated for duty in Iceland.
June 16 1943 – US fighters from Henderson Field claim to have shot down 93 Japanese aircraft from a force attacking shipping assembled for operations against New Georgia Island.
June 16 1951 – The 1st Marine Division reached its objective — a line running northeast from the Hwachon Reservoir through the Punch Bowl, a gigantic volcanic crater.
June 16 1965 – Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces that 21,000 more U.S. troops are to be sent to Vietnam. He also claimed that it was now known that North Vietnamese regular troops had begun to infiltrate South Vietnam. The new U.S. troops were to join the U.S. Marines and paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade that had arrived earlier to secure U.S. airbases and facilities. These forces would soon transition from defensive missions to direct combat operations. As the war escalated, more and more U.S. combat troops were sent to South Vietnam. By 1969, there were over 540,000 American troops in Vietnam.
June 16 1999 – US Marines in Kosovo disarmed 116 members of the KLA.
June 16 2007 – Operation Phantom Thunder began when Multi-National Force-Iraq launched major offensive operations against al-Qaeda and other extremist terrorists operating throughout Iraq. Operation Phantom Thunder was a corps level operation, including Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Diyala Province, Operation Marne Torch and Operation Commando Eagle in Babil Province, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon in Baghdad, Operation Alljah in Anbar Province, and continuing special forces actions against the Mahdi Army in southern Iraq and against Al-Qaeda leadership throughout the country. The operation was one of the biggest military operations in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. On 14 August, it was announced that the operation ended. Coalition and Iraqi security forces pushed into areas previously not under their control, and they also ejected insurgent groups from their strongholds in Northern Babil, eastern Anbar and Diyala provinces and on the southern outskirts of Baghdad. During the operation, Iraqi and Coalition forces conducted intelligence raids against al Qaeda in Iraq and the Iranian-backed cells nationwide, with a heavy emphasis on cells in Baghdad, Diyala, and central and northern Iraq. Operation Arrowhead Ripper continued for another five days until 19 August with more intense street fighting in Baquba. The operations continued into operation Phantom Strike.
June 16 2007 – Operation Marne Torch began in the Arab Jabour and Salman Pak area, conducted by the new Multinational Division Central. Arab Jabour, being only 20 kilometers southeast from Baghdad, is a major transit point for insurgent forces in and out of Baghdad. By 14 August, 2,500 Coalition and Iraqi forces had detained more than five dozen suspected extremists, destroyed 51 boats, killed 88 terrorists and discovered and destroyed 51 weapons caches.
June 16 2007 – Operation Alljah was being conducted by Multi-National Forces West. In the western Al Anbar province operations attacked insurgent supply lines and weapons caches, targeting the regions of Fallujah, Karma and Thar Thar. Commanders of the operation expressed belief that Fallujah would be cleared by August and that the regions of Karma and Thar Thar would be cleared by July. On 17 June, a raid near Karma killed a known Libyan Al-Qaeda fighter and six of his aides and on 21 June six al-Qaeda members were killed and five were detained during early-morning raids also near Karma. Also on 23 June, a U.S. airstrike killed five suspects and destroyed their car bomb near Fallujah. Insurgents also struck back in Fallujah with two su***de bombings and an attack on an off-duty policeman that left four policemen dead on 22 June. On 29 June, U.S. forces killed a senior al-Qaeda leader east of Fallujah. Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Masri, an Egyptian, was a veteran of both battles of Fallujah. On 6 July a raid west of Fallujah resulted in the killing of an Al-Qaeda in Iraq battalion commander and two of his men and the captured of two more insurgents.
June 17 1913 – U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico.
June 17 1945 – On Okinawa, reinforced American units advance in the Kuishi Ridge area which has been stubbornly defended by forces of the Japanese 32nd Army. Along the line of the US 24th Corps, the last Japanese defensive line is broken. The US 7th Division completes the capture of Hills 153 and 115. The commander of the Japanese naval base on Okinawa, Admiral Minoru Ota, is found dead, having committed su***de.
June 17 1979 – Colonel Valeria Hilgart became the first woman Marine to assume duty as chief of staff of a major command (Albany, Georgia).
June 17 1983 – National Narcotics Border Interdiction System (NNBIS) began operations under the direction of Vice President George Bush and the executive board consisting of Secretaries of State, Transportation and Defense, the Attorney General, the Counselor to the President, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Director of the White House Drug Abuse Policy Office. “U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps airborne and seaborne craft, intelligence, technology, surveillance, and manpower now are used to augment operations by the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs Service, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Border Patrol, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The system provides a coordinated national and international interagency network for prioritizing interdiction targets, identifying resources, recommending the most effective action, and coordinating joint special actions.”
June 17 2006 – The Second Battle of Ramadi was fought for control of the capital of the Al Anbar Governorate in western Iraq. A combined force of U.S. Soldiers, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy SEALs, and Iraqi Security Forces fought insurgents for control of key locations in Ramadi, including the Government Center and the General Hospital. Coalition strategy relied on establishing a number of patrol bases called Combat Operation Posts throughout the city. U.S. military officers believe that insurgent actions during the battle led to the formation of the Anbar Awakening. In August, insurgents executed a tribal sheik who was encouraging his kinsmen to join the Iraqi police and prevented his body from being buried in accordance with Islamic laws. In response, Sunni sheiks banded together to drive insurgents from Ramadi. In September 2006, Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha formed the Anbar Salvation Council, an alliance of approximately 40 Sunni tribes. The battle also marked the first use of chlorine bombs by insurgents during the war. On October 21, 2006, insurgents detonated a car-bomb with two 100-pound chlorine tanks, injuring three Iraqi policemen and a civilian in Ramadi.
June 18 1944 – On Saipan, elements of the US 5th Amphibious Corps continue to make progress. The 4th Marine Division reaches the west side of the island at Magicienne Bay. This advance divides the Japanese garrison. Elements of the 27th Division capture Aslito airfield. Japanese air strikes sink 1 American destroyers and 2 tankers as well as damaging the es**rt carrier Fanshaw Bay. Most of the American air and naval support has withdrawn to meet the approaching Japanese fleet.
June 18 1945 – On Okinawa, the remnants of the Japanese 32nd Army continue to offer determined resistance to attacks of the US 3rd Amphibious Corps and the US 24th Corps. Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, commanding US 10th Army, is killed by Japanese artillery fire while he is on a visit to the front line, inspecting troops of the US 8th Marine Division. He is temporarily replaced by General Geiger, commanding the US 3rd Amphibious Corps.
June 19 1888 – Marines landed in Korea and marched 25 miles to protect the Seoul Legation.
June 19 1985 – In El Salvador four off-duty US Marines and 9 others were killed at sidewalk restaurants in the Zona Rosa section of San Salvador. Pedro Antonio Andrade Martinez (aka Mario Gonzalez), a Marxist guerrilla, was one of the reputed masterminds of the attack.
June 20 1866 – 50 Marines and Sailors landed at new Chwang, China, to assure punishment for those who attacked an American official.
June 20 1900 – German minister murdered; Chinese begin siege of foreigners in Beijing. Military delegations in the “Foreign Quarter” including the US Marine delegation band together to defend their charges.
June 20 1944 – The US 5th Amphibious Corps continues operations on Saipan. The US 27th Division clears the south of the island while the US 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions advance northward.
June 20 1945 – On Okinawa, Japanese resistance along the center of the line, held by the US 24th Corps, continues to be strong. The US 32nd Infantry Regiment (US 7th Division) reaches Height 89, near Mabuni, where the Japanese headquarters have been identified. On the flanks, the American Marines on the right and the infantry on the left advance virtually unopposed, capturing over 1000 Japanese and reaching the southern coast of the island at several points. The scale of surrenders is unprecedented for the forces of the Imperial Army.
June 20 1972 – US Marine unit HMA-369 begins flying armed helicopter strikes with the new AH-1J Sea Cobra from the decks of USS Constellation, off the coast of South Vietnam, Flying from the USS Coral Sea, A-6 Intruders of Marine unit VMA (AW)-224 make most of their missions into Laos and North Vietnam.
Have a great weekend!
Semper Fidelis and God Bless!
Chaplain Keith Guinn
Marine Corps League
Capt. Jack Holland Detachment #735
Active, reserve, retired, and veteran Marines continue the faithful tradition of looking out for the Marines to their left and right. Providing mentorship, career counseling, Veteran Service Officer VA support, assisting with transitions, and providing opportunities for family. We are the Marine Cor...
