Your Distinguished Presence is Requested at the Montford Point Marines 15th Annual National Heritage Military Banquet & Awards Ceremony on Sunday, June 22, 2025 from 03:30 p.m. –6:30 p.m. at the Atheneum Suites Hotel located at 1000 Brush St., Detroit, MI
To: WWII Montford Point Marines 1942-1949 Congressional Gold Medal Recipients (2012) & WWII Marine Corps Carlson Raiders
All branches of military services are represented at this affair including the United States Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. This event is frequently attended by guests from all over the United States and locally including governmental & public officials, military dignitaries, veteran organizations, journalists, historians, students and faculty, and the general public. Black tie, business dress, and military uniforms are welcome. Valet Parking available ($20) Banquet tickets are $65 per person in advance via Eventbrite link:
The deadline for Ticket Purchases is 20 June NLT 3:30 p.m.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
During WWII, U.S. Marine Corps Commander Lt. Colonel Evans Fordyce Carlson, was founder and namesake of the Marine Corps’ notorious Carlson Raiders that achieved national recognition for their guerilla-style tactics in breaking through the Japanese lines of defense and establish bases in rural and rugged terrain. Having previously studied Mao-Tse-Tung’s principle
of “Gung Ho” (meaning working in harmony) while operating as an intelligence officer, he learned to successfully counter Japanese war maneuvers in the Pacific War theatre.
The unconventional tenets of Lt. Carlson’s leadership were based on mutual respect among officers and enlisted men, superior physical and mental, as well as character and self-imposed–rather than simply ordered–discipline. The Commandant of the Marine Corps provided 3,000 Marines to volunteer for the Carlson Raider team, but only 1,000 Marines were eventually
selected to train for intensive guerilla warfare in the Pacific. Though many Marine officers doubted Lt. Col. Carlson’s methods, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s son, James Roosevelt, would serve next to Carlson in developing the innovative team of warfighters. On August 28, 1942, the Detroit Times and newspapers across the country celebrated the 2nd Marine Corps
Carlson Raider Battalion.
A member of the famous WWII Carlson Raiders, was Frank Torre, Sr., whose is the late father of one of Detroit’s most powerful businessmen, Frank Torre, according to dBusiness, the regions premier business journal. Frank Torre is Michigan entrepreneur businessman and philanthropist, and currently serves as co-CEO of Signal Restoration, and Vice-Chairman of
PuroClean, a national disaster restoration services company with locations across the United States and Canada.
Frank Torre is the Guest of Honor at the Montford Point Marines 15 th Annual Heritage Military Banquet & Award Ceremony on this 22 nd day June 2025, and his recipient of the Montford Point Marines prestigious Legacy Award. The Main Entrance stone built gate and the promenade of flags at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, MI, were donated by our guest of honor Frank Torre, and the road leading into the cemetery the road is named in recognition of the late Frank Torre, Sr. along with a historical marker in his honor. Furthermore, we stand proud that the U.S. Marine Corps adopted the term “ Gung Ho” after the famous WWII Carlston Raiders.
