The Dickey Chapelle and Military Order of the Iron Mike Awards are presented each year at the Modern Day Marine Grand Banquet to two individuals for their exceptional service to their country and the United States Marine Corps.
The Dickey Chapelle Award honors the memory of the late Dickey Chapelle, an American foreign correspondent who first covered Marines in combat at the Battle of Iwo Jima and was killed while on patrol with a Marine Corps infantry unit engaged in combat operations against enemy forces during the Vietnam War. The award was established by the Marine Corps League to extend recognition to a woman who has contributed substantially to the morale, welfare and well-being of the officers and men and women of the United States Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps League’s annual Military Order of the Iron Mike Award was established by the Marine Corps League for the purpose of honoring a person who has most significantly contributed to the United States of America and the United States Marine Corps. The award is named for the landmark statue, “Iron Mike,” located at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina. The statue and the Iron Mike Award symbolize courage, tenacity and distinguished leadership.
2024 Dickey Chapelle Award Recipient
Major Jacqueline Barnum, USMC
Major Jacqueline Barnum is currently serving as the Headquarters Company Commander at Marine Air Control Group 38 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. She graduated the United States Naval Academy in 2014 and was commissioned into the Marine Corps.
After completing The Basic School in Quantico, VA; in 2015, she completed Logistics Officer Course in Jacksonville, NC; before being stationed in Okinawa, Japan. While stationed in Okinawa, she served as a Platoon Commander and participated in multiple exercises in the Philippines and the Republic of South Korea.
She transferred to Camp Pendleton, CA; where she served as a Company Commander for Combat Service Support Company and had the opportunity to participate in exercises in Guam, the United Arab Emirates, and Port Hueneme. She was subsequently transferred to the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, RI; as a Company Officer where she lead students who will become future Naval and Marine Corps officers.
Major Barnum used her growing online influence as a Captain by connecting veterans and aspiring military members to current military members. Currently, Major Barnum has connected hundreds of these individuals with each other.
Major Barnum’s mission is to assist service members of all ranks and branches in achieving their career goals by connecting them to a mentor. She commits her off-duty time to providing a safe and effective environment and works relentlessly to create a free website that will go live in Spring 2024, allowing more mentor connections to be made.
Aboard MCAS Miramar, Major Barnum works tirelessly to support the Miramar Air Show, serves as the AO for the Marine Air Control Group 38, and volunteers her time at the booth interacting with spectators and military personnel to include local veterans, families, aspiring Marines and local civilians. In 2023, she founded Mentors for Military, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that connects volunteer mentors to provide guidance, advice, feedback, and support to service members seeking assistance.
2024 Iron Mike Award Recipient
The Honorable Seth Moulton
Seth Moulton is a father, a husband, and a veteran who represents a new generation of Democratic leaders in Washington.
Inspired to public service by the great Black Minister Reverend Peter Gomes, he joined the Marines in 2001, days after his college graduation and a few months before the attacks on 9/11. Leading a frontline infantry platoon in the first Marine company to enter Baghdad, he later worked to establish a free and independent Iraqi media and served as a liaison to senior Iraqi military and political leaders for General Petraeus.
After serving four tours of duty in Iraq, Seth returned home and used his G.I. Bill to earn joint degrees in business and public administration, and became the managing director of Texas Central, where he worked to build America’s first high-speed rail line. Soon after he was called to serve once again, this time in his home district in Massachusetts.
Seth challenged the establishment with a platform of bringing a new generation of leadership to Washington, fighting for progressive values while reaching across the aisle to get things done.
Named the Most Effective Freshman Democrat in his first term, Seth has consistently delivered results in a divided Washington. No House or Senate office has won more Democracy Awards from the Congressional Management Foundation than his team. He earned one in 2018 for Transparency, a second in 2020 for having the best constituent services in all of Congress, and a third in 2022 for Achievement in Innovation and Modernization.
His legislation created the 988 National Suicide Lifeline, which is now live in all fifty states. Seth has delivered Faster Care for Veterans, modernized Government Travel, and delivered on ALS Disability Insurance. His American High-Speed Rail Act is the most ambitious and forward-thinking infrastructure package before Congress today, and his G.I. Bill Restoration Act would finally restore long-denied benefits to Black veterans of World War II.
Seth sits on three committees. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee where he serves as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces. At the beginning of the 118th Congress, he was selected by party leadership to sit on the new Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the U.S. and China, which was created to shape a diplomatic, economic, and military strategy toward the Chinese Communist Party that preserves American leadership and avoids war.
As a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Seth is the Congressional leader on high-speed rail and other next-generation infrastructure.
Back home in Massachusetts, Seth works tirelessly to support local small businesses and veterans, advance civil rights, and grow the economy. He created a model intergovernmental task force that has spurred over $1 billion in federal economic development funding for the city of Lynn, and he forged a unique partnership between fishermen and scientists to ensure the long-term sustainability of fish stocks and the local fishing economy.
Most importantly, Seth is the proud father of two girls – Emmy and Caroline. His amazing wife Liz is a sports industry executive, and they live in Salem, Massachusetts.