During this time-honored tradition, officers and staff noncommissioned officers from various commands throughout the base, took part in a formal dinner held at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albanys Town and Country Grand Ballroom, recently. He returned home an unabashed Anglophile, earning the sobriquet British Bob among friends and fellow officers. Lieutenant Colonel Merrill L. Bartlett, the author of this monograph, earned his undergraduate degree at Washington State University and was commissioned via the Platoon Leaders Class program in 1963. 1805: the commanding officer of the regiment arrives. Finally, Colonel Heinl recalled mention of affairs vaguely similar to a mess night at the turn of this century in the personal papers of senior officers, maintained at the Marine Corps Research Center. The Vice President of the Mess sees to the liquid refreshments for both the guest of honor and the President of the Mess. The President of the Mess pours the guest of honor on his right and passes the decanter to his left; the decanter continues to the end of the head table as each diner pours for himself. Perhaps the most strictly controlled of all wines, government officials mandate the location of the vines and its maturation. The committee considered the number of foreign officers likely to attend as it planned the traditional toasts, the presence of spouses (of both sexes), and the increasing concern for alcohol abuse and driving while intoxicated. Exchanges such as recalled by General Shepherd continued as the 4th Marines served in China. General Shepherd remembered an impressive evening. Purpose a. MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA -- The Mess Night is a Marine Corps tradition designed to bring a unit together at the dinner table with an odd conglomerate of stern ceremony and light . Used to such affairs, most of the Leathernecks who participated remained nonplussed if not bemused by the lack of post-dinner high jinks and the heavy weight of so many senior officers. Meanwhile, carafes are being passed, counterclockwise, around the other tables as everyone fills a punch glass. You can substitute pineapple juice for the water. The adjutant, proud of his distinguished regiment, summoned the young officers to the mess one afternoon. The United States Marine Corps refers to it as mess night. Traditional Grog Recipe: How to Make a Grog Drink - Thrillist The only time lieutenants were allowed to open their mouths [at dinner] was to put food in. No stranger in the quest for hedonistic pleasureshe discarded his first wife for a younger model, an act that affronted genteel naval circles of the erait was Karmany who supposedly muttered, There may be a few good men who dont drink, but theyve got to prove it!. The President of the Mess pours for the guest of honor, and then passes the decanter to the left. Smith, Holland M. with Percy Finch, Coral and Brass (New York: Scribners 1949), p. 34. To the accompaniment of a fife and drum, a steward brings a plate with a token piece of the main course to the President of the Mess who pronounces I proclaim this meal fit for human consumption or I commend this meal to the enjoyment of the mess. The steward retreats from the dining room to an additional musical accompaniment. Naval Institute Proceedings55 (1929): 11-16. This study of a popular and time-honored military and naval social custom is long overdue. Stewards: serve a dessert of French pastry and Camembert. This course reminds diners of Marine Corps deployments to the Caribbean between the Spanish-American War and World War Two. While the rum ration (later changed to whiskey in 1806) had been a tradition of the Age of Sail, the practice ended in the American Navy in 1862. While the Navy conducts mealtimes in the wardroom with far more rigidity and ceremony than the other services, nothing I witnessed during that tour even remotely resembled a mess night or a formal dinner. Members of the mess: The 6th Marines followed by a sip of punch. 2ndLt Earl H. Pete Ellis recalled a farewell dinner for a group of officers departing Cavite during his first tour in the Philippines in 1902. Instructing his captive and bemused audience to take notes, the impeccable adjutant ate and drank his way through a token dinner. Bassler, R. E. Splice the Main Brace, U.S. Those officers and guests remaining quaffed their brandy or diet soda and departed. Interviews A gentleman lived as comfortably as circumstances allowed, and the most comfortable way to live in the field was to establish an officers messa view that survived well into World War II. This traditional beverage was supposedly served to potential Marine Corps recruits at Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, during the American Revolution, according to Marine Corps History Division website, https://www.mcu.usmc.mil/historydivision/Pages/Customs_Traditions/Mess_Night.aspx. Stewards remove the port glasses and decanters. Unlike Americans, Britains responded to each toast by draining their glasses and sometimes throwing them over the left shoulder so that no lesser toast might be drunk. Toasts were always drunk with Port wine, and in bumbers. This unusual name for a wine glass had its origins from the continental custom of always toasting the Pope first,au bon Pere, which in its convoluted form became simply bumper. In the Book of Navy Songs (Naval Institute Press, 1955), a doggerel proclaims most proudly: Make it a bumper, comrades, Officers pass the carafes around the table counterclockwise. Reminds diners of the Marine Corps service in France during World War I. (March 1957): 39-41. only small amounts of alcohol. Toasting or the raising of glasses in tribute to someone or an institution as a measure of respect, is a social custom more than a millennium old. On the morning of the dining in, the committee met at the officers club to review final preparations. He estimated that more than 50 officers from boththe sea services attended, captured Chinese banners taken during the Boxer Rebellion decorated the dining room and a Filipino orchestra played a mixture of Spanish love songs and American ragtime melodies. The appellation to toast came about through the English custom of flavoring wines with spiced toast, as apparently wines transported from the continent often spoiled enroute to the British Isles. Get a printable version by clicking here. The committee asked the menu adhere rigidly to custom and tradition. Top with a sprinkle of nutmeg and a dash of Angostura Bitters. President of the Mess: Chaplain, please say grace.. Tennessee Top. During the tenure of Secretary John D. Long (1897-1902), the Department of the Navy even prohibited the sale of alcohol to enlisted men at stations ashore. Doubtless the new martial music added an appropriate and enjoyable accompaniment to any mess night hosted by the Marines. After dinner, some members of the mess night engage in games such as cock fighting or Moriarity, where are you? More likely, the officers played bridge or billiards as on any other night. The mess committee elected to forego the ritual cigar because the facility is a no smoking building, and because of the presence of the ladies. What a Mess Night > Marine Corps Air Station Yuma > Unit Home Some officers, if they could afford it, might have a glass of Port or a snifter of brandy; most could not, however. A variety of after-dinner beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, were available as well as coffee. Constant reference to the origins of our tradition of themess night to Eighth and Eye intrigued me. Lucas, Lelia Gordon. Huntley, VA, 7 June 1979. Those who arrived earlyand no one arrived late could have a glass of sherry or a pink gin. In a cheesecloth bag, place stick of cinnamon, 6 whole cloves, and 6 whole allspices. STRAWBERRY DAIQUIRI PUNCH MCRDPI Strict Menu a Recipe for Nutrition | ParrisIsland.com In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, it was a common custom for the aristocracy to lay aside a pipe of port for each male member of the progeny. Another member of the committee undertook the task to provide suitable decorations for both the anteroom and dining room. You give of yourself just like you are spending your adult lives giving and serving our country, he continued. General Williams retained images of memorable evenings as guests of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, but failed to mention any such gathering hosted by the 4th Marines. It provides an opportunity for members to meet socially at a formal military function to recognize individual and/or unit achievements or any events which are effective in building and main-taining unit esprit de . Sheehan, J. M. Wardroom Mess,U.S. Like those of us with the 5th Marines at An Hoa a decade before, these officers had their token cup of sparkling wine and a plate of whatever the battalion field mess was serving for supper. This traditional beverage was supposedly served to potential Marine Corps recruits at Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, during the. Naval Institute Proceedings62 Stewards serve a small dessert, a specialty of the club, called chocolate decadence (a chocolate mousse). Naval Institute Proceedings64 (June 1938): 891-93. Bravely despise Champagne at Court Just as the company executive officer explained, we ate and drank our way through a multi-course dinner conforming strictly to custom and tradition. A vintage Port is held in wood for 22 to 30 months, then bottled. Following dinner, Portand sometimes snuffwent round. included. four parts lime juice 20.15 The Grog Bowl (USAF Protocol) - Military Wives The following morning, Colonel Davis summoned his adjutant and instructed him to arrange a similar gathering hosted by the 4th Marines, and to invite the officers of the Scots Guards. Pate to the officers of the barracks. Members of the mess: The 2d Division, followed by a sip of punch. Abolition of the Rum Ration,U.S. Marines of the mess sit down to a formal dinner, normally Prime Rib. President of the Mess: Mister Vice, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II., Vice President of the Mess: Ladies and Gentlemen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.. Lovette, Leland P.Naval Customs, Traditions, & Usage, 4th ed. (PDF), By Lieutenant Colonel Merrill L. Bartlett, USMC (Ret.) - The Mess Night is a Marine Corps tradition designed to bring a unit together at the dinner table with an odd conglomerate of stern ceremony and light-hearted amusement. When that great prohibitionist moralizer, Josephus Daniels, took up the portfolio of Secretary of the Navy in 1913, he argued that officers should not be granted a privilege denied enlisted Sailors and Marines. The gathering extended long into the evening as Ellis and the other officers toasted the Marine Corps, the departing officers, and the gallant dead of Samar and Tientsin. The signal for dinner might be chimes or simply the mess corporal announcing gentlemen, dinner is served. The commanding officer, or more likely the senior dining memberprobably a bachelor majorentered the dining room first, followed by the other officers in strict order of seniority. pour over cracked ice in a glass punch bowl; garnished with Grapefruit came first, laced with at least the alcohol content of two cocktails. One disappointed observer, the daughter of Major General Wendell C. Neville, noted tartly that: The Lejeunes, you know, they never entertained. By that era, Lejeune had become a teetotaler and his good friend, Smedley D. Butler, a military prohibitionist. Almost two decades after my first mess night, I attended my last. While many claim to make a traditional navy grog recipe, there are several accepted forms. The band strikes up Stars and Stripes Forever. and those seated at the head table proceed into the dining room and position themselves behind their assigned chair. Cunningham/Opha Maye Johnson, etc. General Krulak remembered a guest night hosted by the Royal Ulster Rifles: It was severely formalmarching in by twos, printed menus, three wines, great formality in the areas of introduction of the meat, toasts, recognition of guests, cook, etc. 1815: The guest of honor, and his spouse; and the guests of the mess, and their spouses arrive to be greeted by the president and vice president of the mess.