Letter ‘R’ finds its ‘happy place’ aboard Camp Lejeune

Found, at last. The silent fourth letter (R) from the word of “February” has turned up within the confines of Marine Corps Camp Lejeune at Jacksonville, N.C. 

R has found its voice aboard the Marine base, squeezed into a word where you wouldn’t expect it. Lo and behold, Lejeune is pronounced with an “R sound”…as luh-JERN, not luh-JOON. 

The Marines Corps’ official historian said: “In 1940, World War II had been raging in Europe for more than a year and U.S. military planners were posturing forces for America’s eminent entry to the fight.”

 

“The need for an East Coast amphibious training facility was answered as the Department of the Navy purchased an initial 110,000-acre tract of land.” Close to ports at Wilmington and Morehead City, the property in Onslow County was “a logistical gem.”

 

Congress authorized more than $14 million for the construction of the base in 1941. The facility was named in honor of Lt. Gen. John Archer Lejeune, the Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1920-29. 

John Lejeune was born in Pointe Coupee Parrish, La., in 1867. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated in 1888.

 

He served admirably in the Spanish-American War and was a World War I hero. After his retirement from the Marine Corps, Gen. Lejeune spent seven years as superintendent of Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. He died in 1942 at age 75. 

The Marine historian said Gen. Lejeune was fondly known as “the greatest of all Leathernecks.” (Leatherneck is a Marine Corps’ “term of endearment.”) 

An authority on all matters pertaining to Camp LeJeune was the late George M. Barrows Sr. of Jacksonville. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1945 at age 17. He said the Lejeune family always pronounced their surname as luh-JERN. His drill sergeant insisted that the family receive its proper respect. 

“It’s a matter of confusion about how to read it,” Barrows said. “People argue that there’s no ‘R’ in Lejeune, but there’s no ‘R’ in colonel and yet we pronounce it ‘cur-nel’…not ‘col-o-nel,’” he said.

 

Barrows, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, retired in 1967. He devoted a lot of his time and energy advocating for the proper pronunciation of Camp Lejeune. Barrows died in 2016 at age 87, and his obituary included a subtle (luh-JERN) reminder. 

Reporting on Barrows’ death for the Marines.mil website, Lance Cpl. Juan Madrigal interviewed Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley, who was commander of Marine Corps Installations East in 2016. 

Gen. Weidley said: “Staff Sgt. George Barrows was the epitome of ‘once a Marine, always a Marine.’ He was a Marine to his core. Even after retiring, he never stopped.”

 

Sarah Hauck of the Jacksonville Daily News spoke to Lee Barrows, a daughter of the deceased. She said that her father’s passion for the Marine Corps was indeed highlighted by “his push for the local Marine Corps base to be recognized under its original pronunciation: ‘Luh-jern.’” 

Beyond that, “one of his big pet peeves was seeing an American flag flying around town that was torn or tattered,” Lee Barrows said. “He would go out of his way to speak to the business or homeowner, and if they couldn’t afford a new flag, he’d go out and buy them a flag. If they weren’t home, he’d leave it neatly folded for them.” 

Readers are welcome to clip this column and share with indignant eastern North Carolina lawyers who continue to perpetuate the “JOON” word. Got it?