Welcome to
Marine Corps League
Detachment #708

We are a non-profit organization made
up solely of volunteers.

The purpose of our Detachment is
to preserve the history and traditions of the Marine Corps; to promote the interests
of the Marine Corps;
band together in fellowship
active duty Marines and those who have honorably served in the Marine Corps;
provide charitable assistance to
our community; to promote the ideals
of American Freedom and Democracy;
to affirm true allegiance to the
American Institution and to
commemorate those cherished
happenings that we revere.

We are located in Spring Hill, Florida
which is about an hour north of Tampa
on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

We have a great organization built on the traditions of our heritage. Never a stranger has walked thru our doors, You are always welcome here to enjoy fellowship with fellow Marines.

We have an active calender and on any given day you can find fun and laughter here at the detachment.

Check out the Leatherneck Lounge and Gunny's Galley pages! We hope you will find our hospitality second to none


Marion Kelley, Commandant

Click below for John Wayne's Pledge

8405 Sunshine Grove Road
Spring Hill, Florida 34613
Click above for directions

352-597-7979
mcl708admin@tampabay.rr.com

Chartered January 23, 1990

Membership Meeting
Every 3rd Thursday of the Month
The Jude Hall
Marine corps league #708


TODAY IS

THE HISTORY OF OORAH

Right after Korea in 1953 the 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, FMFPAC can be credited with the birth of "OORAH" in the Corps.

Specifically, where it came from was when Recon Marines were aboard the Submarine USS PERCH, ASSP-313. The Perch was an old WWII diesel boat retrofitted to carry UDT and Amphibian Recon Marines. If you remember the old war movies, whenever the boat was to dive, you heard on the PA system, "DIVE,DIVE", and you heard the horn sound "AARUGHA", like an old Model "A" horn.

Sometime in 1953 or 1954, 1st Amphibian Recon Marines, while on a conditioning run on land singing chants, someone imitated the "Dive" horn sound "AARUGHA", and it naturally became a Recon Warrior chant or mantra while on runs. It is sort of like the martial arts yell and adds a positive inference to the action. And this became part of Recon lexicon.

Former SgtMaj of the Marine Corps, John Massaro, was the company gunny of 1st Force in the late 50s and when he transferred to MCRDSD as an instructor at DI school he took "AARUGHA" with him and passed it on to the DI students and they , in turn, passed it on to recruits.

Just as "Gung Ho" became symbolic of the WWII Raiders, so did "AARUGHA" become part of the new "running Marine Corps."

Over time, "AARUGHA" EVENTUALLY CHANGED TO "OORAH". The official Marine Corps Training Reference Manual on the history of Marine Recon is titled "AARUGHA", giving credence on the orgination of the 'POSITIVE RESPONSE' accenting anything that is meant to be good and uniquely Marine Corps.

It is part of Marine Corps language, like "Pogey Bait", "SOS", etc.

Semper Fi & Gung Ho,

NEWSLETTER
The 708 MAIL CALL
The Marine Corps Detachment
#708 Newsletter
Current MCL708 Newsletter
Click HERE to View

THE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE

THE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE - is the organization for all Marines and Navy Corpsmen who served with Marines. It takes great pride in crediting its founding in 1923 to World War I hero, then 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General Commandant John A. Lejune. It's Federal Charter, approved by An Act of the Seventy-Fifth Congress of the United States of America was signed and approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 4, 1937. Since its earliest days, the Marine Corps League has enjoyed the support and encouragement of the active duty and Reserve establishments of the U.S. Marine Corps.

PURPOSES - The purposes of the Marine Corps League as prescribed in it's Federal Charter are

to preserve the traditions and to promote the interests of the United States

• to band those who are now serving in the United States Marine Corps and those who have been honorably discharged from that service together in fellowship that they may effectively promote the ideals of American Freedom and democracy;
• to fit its members for the duties of citizenship and to encourage them to serve as ably as citizens as they have served the Nation under arms;
• to hold sacred the history and memory of the men who have given their lives to the Nation;
• to foster love for the principles which they have supported by blood and valor since the founding of the Republic;
• to maintain true allegiance to American Institutions;
• to create a bond of comradeship between those in the service and those who have returned to civil life;
• to aid voluntarily and to render assistance to all Marines and former Marines as well as to their widows and orphans;
• to perpetuate the history of the United States Marine Corps and by fitting acts to observe the anniversaries of historical occasions of peculiar interest to Marines.

                                                              THE MARINE CORPS LEAGUE…

                                                                      THE ORGANIZATION FOR ALL MARINES

                                                               AND CORPSMEN WHO SERVED WITH MARINES

        Active Duty/Reserve/Former/Retired/Officer Enlisted United States Marine