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SENATOR JOHN WARNER TO RECEIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD NAMED FOR LEGENDARY MARINE CORPS GENERAL
Nominations remain open for best artistic depictions of Marine Corps culture, history, service

Dumfries, Va. – The Honorable John Warner, former U.S. Senator, will receive the 2016 Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune Recognition for Exemplary Leadership during the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s Annual Awards dinner on April 23, 2016. The Lejeune Recognition is an honor bestowed on an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership worth emulating throughout their career.

The Foundation formally awards the Lejeune Recognition as part of its Annual Awards program, which recognizes outstanding depictions of the Marine Corps in categories including journalism, writing, scholarly research, screen plays, combat art and poetry. A panel of Marines and subject matter experts judge the entries. For the third consecutive year, actor, former Marine and Founder of Arts in the Armed Forces (AITAF), Adam Driver and actress, director and Artistic Director of AITAF, Joanne Tucker will return as guest judges.

Nominations for these awards remain open until January 8, 2016.  For a detailed list of the awards as well as the submission requirements, please visit: http://www.marineheritage.org/Awards.asp.

Applicants may self-nominate or nominate the work of another individual. All winners receive a $1,000 cash prize, a medallion and a commemorative brick along the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park pathway at the Marine Corps Heritage Center.

“Senator Warner’s example of extraordinary leadership in public life provides a model for all Americans to follow, and we are proud to honor him,” said President and CEO of the Foundation, retired Lt. Gen. Robert R. Blackman, Jr, USMC. “The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation calls on all those writers, artists and scholars who have contributed to the preservation or deeper understanding of the service of Marines, like Senator Warner, to submit a nomination for our other award categories. We look forward to recognizing your work.”

Senator Warner was one of the many 17 year old young men, with the legal written consent of their parents, who enlisted in the Navy during World War II. In January 1945, when Warner enlisted, Pacific forces were concentrated on operations to take Iwo Jima, and in Europe, recovering from the “Battle of the Bulge” and regaining momentum to take Berlin.

Warner completed his Naval service and was honorably discharged as a Petty Officer 3rd Class in late spring of 1946.  He again volunteered for active service in the Marine Corps in 1949, was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Reserves and later ordered to active duty in October 1950 shortly after the Korean War began.  In May 1952, he completed a tour in Korea as a 1st Lieutenant Communications officer in Marine Air Group 33 and was honorably released from active duty in early summer of 1952.  He voluntarily opted to remain in the Marine Corps Reserve for ten more years.

In 1969, he was appointed by the President, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, to be Under Secretary of the Navy; in 1972 he was elevated to Secretary of the Navy and took his oath of office at the “Oldest Post,” Marine Barracks at 8th & I streets SE, Washington, DC.  He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, and was re-elected 4 times, becoming the second longest serving U.S. Senator in the history of Virginia.

He proudly served on the Senate Armed Services Committee for 30 years, and, many of those years he was either Chairman or Ranking Member of the Committee.

Throughout his career, Senator Warner has had everlasting appreciation for the opportunity to serve with and continue to learn from the men and women in uniform, and he is deeply grateful for the honor of having the newest building added to Marine Corps University bear the name of the John W. Warner Center for Advanced Military Studies at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.

About the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation:
Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Marine Corps history, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation was established in 1979 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. The Foundation supports the historical programs of the Marine Corps in ways not possible through government funds. The Foundation provides grants and scholarships for research and the renovation, restoration, and commissioning of historical Marine Corps artifacts and landmarks. Securing the necessary funding for the complete construction of the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Heritage Center, located in Triangle, Virginia, is the Foundation’s current primary mission while continuing to provide program support for the Corps’ historical, museum, and educational activities.