Each year, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation presents a series of awards to both Marines and civilian community members, recognizing their exemplary work in advancing and preserving Marine Corps history. The honorees this year include Marine Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota Meyer and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West; Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Phillips; and retired United States Marine Corps Combat Artist Michael Fay. Special recognition awards will also be presented to Rick Stephens, senior vice president (Ret) for The Boeing Company; Navy Cross and Purple Heart recipient LtGen Ron Christmas, USMC (Ret), former President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation; and former President and CEO of Wachovia Corporation Leslie M. (Bud) Baker, Jr.

The awards will be presented during a special ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps on April 20, 2013.

The award winners this year include:
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The John A. Lejeune Recognition for Exemplary Leadership � 2013 Recipient: Rick Stephens, senior vice president, Human Resources and Administration (Ret) for The Boeing Company. This recognition, which was provided by Founder Patrick Brent, is in the form of a statuette of General Lejeune. The Chairman and the Executive Committee, when appropriate, consider nominees provided by the President & CEO. The qualifications for being afforded this recognition are: "Demonstrated leadership in their chosen profession, appointed, or elected position that is clearly exemplary and worthy of emulation. The recipient must epitomize the core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment; and practice the leadership traits and principles ascribed to by the United States Marine Corps."

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The Heritage Award � 2013 Recipient: Former President and CEO of Wachovia Corporation Leslie M. (Bud) Baker, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C., in recognition of the unique and significant service he has provided in support of the Heritage Foundation�s mission. This award is given in recognition of those who have provided unique and significant service to the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation in the fulfillment of its mission.

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The Distinguished Service Award � 2013 Recipient: Former President and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation and Navy Cross and Purple Heart recipient Lieutenant General Ron Christmas, USMC, (Ret), Stafford, Va., in recognition of his extraordinary contributions over an extended period of time to the work of the Foundation and to Marine Corps history. This award is given in recognition of extraordinary contributions over an extended period to the work of the Foundation and to Marine Corps history.

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The Colonel Joseph Alexander Award � 2013 Recipient: Author Gail Shisler, Fairfax, Va., For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith. The Colonel Joseph Alexander Award is given for a distinguished work of biographical or autobiographical literature about a Marine.

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The Bill Broyles Drama Award � 2013 Recipient: Writer/producer Bruce McKenna, Santa Fe, N.M., for “Episode 7 ‘The Pacific - Peleliu Hills,’” from HBO‘s ten part miniseries. The Drama Award is given for a distinguished play or screenplay by a playwright or screenwriter, dealing with U.S. Marine Corps heritage or Marine Corps life.

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The Sergeant Major Dan Daly Award � 2013 Recipient: Marine Corporal Reece Lodder, Marine Corps Base, Hawaii, for “America’s Battalion in Afghanistan,” a series of images collected during his 2012 deployment to Afghanistan. � The Sergeant Major Dan Daly Award was established in memory of the legendary recipient of two Medals of Honor and given for a distinguished example of still photography by an individual, consisting of a collection of black and white or color photographs capturing U.S. Marines or Marine Corps life. Click on photos to view all 18 photographs in a slideshow

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The Robert A. Gannon Award � 2013 Recipient: FBI Supervisory Special Agent Paul Shannon, McLean, Va., for Songs of Iraq: a Year Long Deployment, the 2007 to 2008 experiences of a forward deployed FBI agent in the Iraqi combat theater. The Robert A. Gannon Award, named after the noted poet, is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by a poet dealing with Marine Corps life.

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The General Roy S. Geiger Award � 2013 Recipient: Airline Captain Craig Thorson, Fort Worth, Texas, for “Marine Chopper Salvage,” Aviation History Magazine, May 2012. The article chronicles the Marine Corps’ first helicopter transport squadron during the Korean War. Download PDF (1.75MB) The General Roy S. Geiger Award was established by Colonel G.F. Robert Hanke, USMCR, in memory of his father, Wing Commander Ralph Hanke, Royal Air Force. It is named for General Geiger, the fifth designated naval aviator in Marine Corps history, who commanded both air and ground units during World War II. This award is given to the author of the best aviation article published during the 2012 calendar year.

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The Sergeant William Genaust Award � 2013 Recipient: Marine Private First Class Jacob M. Lagoze, Camp Lejeune, N.C., for “Patrol Base Georgetown Attack,” documenting a 2011 Marine response to Taliban fire in Afghanistan. Click to view video The Sergeant William Genaust Award is named for the motion picture cameraman who filmed the 1945 flag raising on Mount Suribachi shortly before he was killed in action on Iwo Jima. It is given for a documentary and short subject (15 minutes or less) dealing creatively with U.S. Marine Corps heritage or Marine Corps life.

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The General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award � 2013 Recipient: Medal of Honor recipient Sergeant Dakota Meyer, Campbellsville, Ky., and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Bing West, for Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War. The General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award is named for the 23rd Commandant of the Marine Corps, who during his distinguished Marine Corps career gave stature to the historical program, as we know it today. He is a founding member of the Heritage Foundation. This award is given to the author of distinguished non-fiction dealing with U.S. Marines or Marine Corps life.

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The Colonel Julia E. Hamblet Award � 2013 Recipients: This year’s recipients are: Colonel Ruth Broe, Emma Holmes, Sue Sousa, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Eileen Scanlon, Colonel Sara Phoenix, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jo-Ann Lovell, Denise Jackson, Sandra Jarrells, Staff Sergeant David Olliff and Maria Palustre. The Colonel Julia E. Hamblet Award is named for the longest serving Director of Women Marines. The award is funded by a bequest from the estate of Lotus Mort and judged by the Women Marines Association. It is given to the individual or team who has done the most to further the recognition of the history of women who have earned the title Marine.

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The Major Norman Hatch Award � 2013 Recipients: Marine Reservists Major Brian Iglesias (director), Keansburg, N.J. and Captain Anton Sattler (producer), Elmhurst, N.Y., for “Chosin,” the first feature-length documentary about the Chosin Reservoir Campaign of the Korean War. For a documentary feature (motion pictures with a running time of more than 15 minutes) dealing creatively with U.S. Marine Corps heritage or Marine Corps life. An eligible documentary film is defined as a non-fiction motion picture photographed in actual occurrence. The subject may also employ stock footage, stills, interviews, animation or other techniques, with emphasis on fact, not on fiction.

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The Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr. Award � 2013 Recipient: Retired United States Marine Corps combat artist Michael D. Fay, Fredericksburg, Va., for the three-part series “Still in the Fight,” The New York Times, March 2011, documenting the experiences of Marines recovering from battle-wounds at a Va. medical center. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/michael-d-fay/ Michael Fay, “Still in the Fight,“ The New York Times The Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr. Award is given in memory of the distinguished Marine Corps officer, journalist, and historian. He was a founder of the Heritage Foundation and author of Soldiers of the Sea. The award is given for a distinguished example of feature writing by an individual dealing with U.S. Marine Corps history or Marine Corps life, giving prime consideration for high literary quality and originality.

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The Sergeant Major Bradley Kasal Award � 2013 Recipient: Marine Lance Corporal Ian Bush, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., for “Daddy’s Little Girl,“ a photo of a Chief Warrant Officer retiring from active duty and his daughter. The Sergeant Major Bradley Kasal Award is named for the Sergeant Major who received the Navy Cross for actions in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004. A photo taken of the wounded Sergeant Major by Lucian Read became one of the iconic images of that battle. The award is given for a distinguished example of still photography by an individual, in black and white or color, which consists of a single photograph or sequence capturing the character of the individual Marine and the core values of the U.S. Marine Corps.

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The Colonel John H. Magruder Award � 2013 Recipient: Liberty Bell Memorial Museum, Melbourne, Fla. The curators and volunteers created exhibits with items from all of the wars to honor Marine Corps veterans and educate the public on Marine Corps history. The Colonel John H. Magruder Award is named for the first director of the Marine Corps Museum. It is given to an individual or an organization for excellence in depicting Marine Corps history in exhibits or displays in a museum or similar setting. Click on photos to view all photographs in a slideshow � The Major Megan McClung Award � 2013 Recipient: Wall Street Journal reporter Michael M. Phillips, Washington, D.C., for “Under Attack,” The Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2012, detailing Phillips’ account of a suicide attack in Afghanistan. Download PDF (2.8MB) The Major Megan McClung Award is named for the first female Marine Corps officer killed in combat in the Iraq War, where she was serving as a public affairs officer in the Al Anbar Province. The award is given for a distinguished example of reporting by an individual covering U.S. Marines abroad. � The Brigadier General Edwin Simmons-Henry I. Shaw Award � 2013 Recipient: U.S. Marine Band historian/librarian Master Gunnery Sergeant Mike Ressler, Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., for “Historical Perspective on the President’s Own U.S. Marine Band, Playing America’s Music since 1798,” Marine Corps Historical Division. The Brigadier General Edwin Simmons-Henry I. Shaw Award is named for two of the pre-eminent Marine Corps historians who were the earliest officers of the Marine Corps Historical Foundation, predecessor of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. It is given for superior historical scholarship by a public historian. � The General Oliver P. Smith Award � 2013 Recipient: Stanford University journalist graduate student Xandra Clark, Palo Alto, Calif. and San Francisco State University Master of fine arts graduate, Natacha Ruck, San Francisco, Calif., for their production of the Stanford Storytelling radio show “Returning Home,” played on KZSU Stanford 90.1 FM, storytelling.stanford.edu and KALW San Francisco. The hour long radio documentary tells the story of six Iraq war veterans who are students and recent Stanford University alumni. Listen to radio show The General Oliver P. Smith Award is named for the Commanding General of the First Marine Division in Korea who, through his steadfast leadership in the field, created the circumstances for future viability and growth of the Marine Corps. It is given for a distinguished example of local news reporting by an individual that illuminates the U.S. Marine Corps’ relationship with local communities. � The Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr. Award � 2013 Recipient: College student, combat veteran and freelance war artist Robert William Bates, Concord, N.C., for his contributions to the Joe Bonham Project, an exhibit documenting the experience of wounded service members, and his 2012 work from Afghanistan, “Covering the Drawdown.” � The Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr. Award was established in memory of this decorated combat officer, known for his artwork illustrating Marines in World War I, China, and Latin America. The award is given to an individual artist for a distinguished work depicting some aspect of Marine Corps life. Click on photos to view all photographs in a slideshow � The James Webb Award � 2013 Recipient: Writer Terry L. Gould, Nashville, Tenn., for “How Can You Mend This Purple Heart?” The book is loosely based on his experience recovering in a military hospital, sharing ward space with combat-wounded Marines from the Vietnam era. The James Webb Award is named for the Senator, author and Navy Cross recipient. It is given for distinguished fiction dealing with U.S. Marines or Marine Corps life.

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