Labor Day Weekend 2016 will be a chance for some special Marines to reconnect with their brothers in arms, to commemorate their historic battles.
According to a Semper Fi Fund media alert, they will partner with a planning committee of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines brothers, to host a reunion event and take care of all the arrangements, including travel.
It goes on to say: “This is no luxury hotel experience. We’re going old school….we’ll meet on a ranch-style property, have some great [daytime] recreational activities.. [and enjoy] entertainment and revelry in the evenings while sharing stories around the bonfire at night..”
The reunion will take place at the Pali Retreat, a 74-acre mountain retreat in the San Bernardino Mountains of California.
The reunion is for those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan from 2005-2008. For many of these Marines – this will be the first time they will be seeing each other since returning home from that tour.
In April, the CW6 reported that funerals were starting to become dreaded reunions for these Marines. The 2/7 Bn out of Twentynine Palms has lost more men to suicide than to combat, the local report said. At least 25 men have taken their own lives since 2009.
One mother said the system failed her son and there’s an alarming number of Marines with stories just like his. Although they all served at different times and in different places, many of them suffer with the same struggles –including finding purpose in their lives after returning home from war.
The Warrior Research Foundation says it’s crucial for them to talk about the struggles to become civilians again and to maintain those friendships and connections.
Labor Day will be a perfect weekend for them to do that. If you’d like to financially contribute to the reunion, you can donate here.
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We have guys that did the deployment prior to 05 are they still invited?
It’s just the years listed in the announcement, because of the heavy combat they saw in Afghanistan. S/F