Marines


Toys for Tots

MFR SEAL - FLAT - 2022
Information about the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program
Please join us in bringing a message of hope to less fortunate children
About

In 1947, Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks was preparing for the holidays with his family in Los Angeles, CA. His wife, Diane, was an altruistic mother with nimble fingers and a knack for handcrafting. She handmade a few dolls during the holidays that year and asked her husband to donate them to an agency that supported children in need. The agency he sought didn’t exist - not yet.

Hendricks returned to his wife with the disheartening news, but instead of fretting, she inspired him to “start one!” He proceeded to round up the Marines in his unit to create a way to donate the dolls to children in need. They collected and distributed 5,000 toys that year.

Seeing the impact it created, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen Clifton B. Cates, directed all Reserve units to implement a Toys for Tots campaign in 1948, making the Program national.

Hendricks’ civilian job was as Director of Public Relations for Warner Brothers Studios, he used his connections to support the Program to expand its reach. As a favor to his friend Bill, Walt Disney created the first Toys for Tots poster that was adopted as the official logo.

More than seventy-five years later, Toys for Tots now distributes an average of 18 million toys and books to over 7 million less fortunate children across the Nation. 

Marine earns Silver Star for Vietnam heroics
Marine Sgt. Gary L. Hill was awarded the Silver Star medal at the Tuscaloosa Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center here June 7, 2013. Hill received the nation’s third highest award for combat heroism for actions as a fire team leader while he deployed to Vietnam in 1967. Retired Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak presented Hill with the distinction. When his platoon commander was shot and killed, then-Lance Cpl. Hill rallied his fire team to locate and kill an enemy. He then single-handedly bounded to an enemy trench line and killed three North Vietnamese Army soldiers. Hill then ordered his fire team to provide suppressive fires as he maneuvered to locate an NVA sniper. Once the sniper was exposed, Hill and his team killed the sniper and evacuated wounded comrades to safety. His actions saved the lives of eight Marines.

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Photo by: Sgt. Raymond Lott |  VIRIN: 130607-M-MS727-171.JPG