MY YM UNIT By YM/SgtMaj Lauren Loria Col. Wesley Fox (VA) Young Marines I had the honor of attending a recruit graduation held in Newark, Delaware for the New Castle County (DE) Young Marines. The unit, on the very outskirts of Division 2,has been active since 1994 under the leadership of John Ricevuto and Dale Meyer. It was an honor to be able to speak at the graduation since today’s recruits are tomorrow’s leaders. The Young Marines program thrives with new mem- bers to keep it going. Good job Young Marines, keep up the good work! New Castle County: Today’s Recruits, Tomorrow’s Young Marines Leaders By YM/PFC Isabel Zack Young Marines of Pensacola (FL) Last April, our unit did something new. We hosted a Mess Night/Dining In for the Young Marines and the Marine Corps League. When we were first told it would be a semi-formal dinner with a kangaroo court, it sounded like fun, maybe? A kangaroo court is hard to explain, so we were a little confused.A kangaroo court is when you bring someone up on charges and then the President of the Mess (acting as Judge) fines them.We received a list of rules prior to the event. One of the rules was that we could not have the rules with us during the mess. Most of the rules were funny like,“Thou shall not pick your ears or nose.” Some of the rules were common sense rules like, “Thou shall not have elbows on the table.” Charges could be brought against an individual by anyone based on broken rules. They could also be made up charges as long as they were done in fun and good taste. One of the Marine Corps League members brought charges against their whole table for eating so fast that he got heartburn! Another guest charged the whole room with enjoying a great meal. Fines were determined by the President. Some paid money (my mom was fined with doing the chicken dance!). After dinner and kangaroo court, the floor was opened for toasting.We toasted the Pres- ident of the United States,every branch of the military, our fallen soldiers, The Young Ma- rines National Director,The Young Marines, as well as a few personal toasts. We had a great evening. We really had a chance to get to know some of the Marine Corps League members during social hour. Our Guest of Honor brought mili- tary memorabilia for everyone to enjoy. Dinner was great, kangaroo court was a lot of fun, and we honored our military and our veterans. We also had the opportunity to receive awards, graduate a recruit, and pres- ent promotions. If your unit has never done a Mess Night, you should give it a try. I hope we do it again! Pensacola: Fun at Our “Mess Night” 8 Young Marines Esprit ONLINE