CONTACT: : Eric Durr, 518-786-4581 (Division of Military and Naval Affairs) or 1st Sgt. Edward Ackley (F Company 2nd Battalion 25th Marines) 399-1342 ext. 179

FOR RELEASE: Friday, Apr 24, 2009

WHO:

Approximately 100 Marines of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion 25th Marines

WHAT:

The New York State Military History Museum will host more than 100 Marine Corps Reservists of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, to a special tour of the facility on Friday, April 24. The Fox Company Marines recently returned from a seven month deployment to Iraq. Members of the media are invited to attend. Marines will receive a tour of the New York State Military History Museum, including the museum’s arms room, in which rare weapons are stored, and the museum’s curatorial facilities. The event is designed to familiarize the Marines with a local community resource.

WHEN:

1:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24, 2009.

WHERE:

New York State Military History Museum, 61 Lake Avenue, Saratoga Springs

Visual and Coverage Opportunities: The Marines, who will be in civilian attire and not in military uniform, will be available for interviews and members of the media are welcome to be part of the tour. New York State Military History Museum Director Michael Aikey will also be available for interviews. On site media contact will be 1st Sgt. Dennis Schager, F Company 2nd Battalion 25th Marines or Mr. Michael Aikey, Military History Musem Director.

BACKGROUND:

Fox Company 2nd Battalion 25th Marines: Fox Company is one of five companies of the 2nd Battalion 25th Marines. The 25th Marine Regiment is one of three infantry regiments within the Fourth Marine Division, which is the Reserve component of the United States Marine Corps. Units of the regiment are located throughout the northeast United States, covering all states from Delaware to Ohio to Maine. Soldiers of Fox Company deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2005 as augmentees to other units. In May of 2008 the company mobilized as a unit for deployment to Al Assad in Iraq, where they provided local security, protected convoys, and conducted humanitarian assistance missions. The Marines returned from Iraq on April 10. The Marines miss home and look forward to getting their feet on the ground, their leaders say. The New York State Military History Museum: Run by the New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs, the New York Military Museum and Veterans Research Center houses over 10,000 artifacts dating from the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm that relate to New York State’s military forces, the state’s military history and the contributions of New York’s veterans. The artifacts include uniforms, weapons, artillery pieces, and art. A significant portion of the museum’s collection is from the Civil War. Notable artifacts from this conflict include the uniform coat of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, a famous Union officer killed early in the Civil War; the medical kit of Confederate General Jubal Early’s surgeon; and the uniform and bugle of Gustav Schurmann (Union General Philip Kearny’s boy bugler). Included in the museum are significant holdings relating to New York’s 27th Division in World War I and World War II and notable state military regiments such as the 7th (Silk Stocking Regiment), 69th (Fighting Irish), 71st, and 369th (Harlem Hell fighters) New York Infantry. The museum also owns the largest collection of state battle flags in the country and the largest collection of Civil War flags in the world. Of the over 1700 flags in the collection, more than 60% are from the Civil War. The flags date from the War of 1812 through the 1991 Gulf War. The museum maintains an exhibit of its flag collection in the state capitol building in Albany where the museum collection was originally housed.