Cutting-edge way for veterans, Marines to connect

TogetherWeServed.com reunites Marines
by Gunnery Sgt. John S. Jamison Jr.

If one were to Google U.S. Marines one would find that somewhere in the approximate 19 million sites that appear, one site seems to be a niche for the Marine Corps’ tightly-knit family.

Whether a Marines’ service is present or past, TogetherWeServed.com is a site that has reunited many Marines and allowed them to keep in contact with each other through e-mail, photos, blogs and other personal information.

TWS was conceived to meet the objective of being a Marine-only website, devoid of any commercial advertising, explains Joe Armstrong, a retired Marine SgtMaj. and Administrator/Advisor for the site. The site is specially created to allow members to not only locate lost Marine Corps friends (brothers) and interact with other Marines, but also provide a place to tell their personal Marine story….

The site was brought on line on Nov. 10, 2003 and since then has signed more than 33,000 profiles 20,000 of those in the past six months. Which, in comparison, rivals the number of active duty Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

TWS members include active, reserve and retired Marines and, of course, Navy corpsmen and chaplains. Family members of Marines who are deceased, fell in the line of duty, or are POW/MIA are also invited to join TWS for the purpose of posting a remembrance profile.

TWS’s oldest member was born 93 years ago and members’ ranks range from private all the way to lieutenant general. The current membership roster includes hundreds of veterans of WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and hundreds who are still on active duty and/or serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

New profiles are being added at an average of 120 per day. The primary means of membership growth is by invitation from an existing Marine member, said Armstrong. Very little advertising is done for the site which results in only about 30% of membership growth, the other 70% of Marines that join almost every day are invited by other Marine members.

Each of these individuals has the opportunity to post as much personal and professional information as they wish. All of which is cross-referenced with the incalculable amount of information already entered by other members. If there is a match to someone else’s entries, say, their platoon number in bootcamp, it will alert all members that also attended at the same time.

New members may search the entire website in more than 30 different variables to locate the Marine for whom they are looking.

“I really like the TWS web site. Last week I spoke to one of my Drill Instructors after 36 years, said Joe Lisi, a Marine who was discharged as a corporal in 1972. I was able to locate him through Marines on the TWS web site. What a thrill it was to hear his voice after all this time. And, he wasn’t yelling at me to boot.”

There are plenty more kudos from other satisfied customers on the Forum pages of the site. These 34 different pages offer an area for Marines to comment on current events, professional issues, sports and hobbies and many other subjects to include a reunion forum that gives dates and places of unit get-togethers.

It reminds me of sitting on a footlocker in an open squadbay with a bunch of Marines and telling stories, said Bob Heise, a Marine Sgt. who served from 1965-68 in Vietnam. In the open forums there is an opportunity to speak with active Marines which keeps you not only informed but feeling as though you are still tied in.

Not all of the members posted are legitimate and they are soon found out using the Profile Dispute System. The Profile Dispute System is a way for the other members of the site to call into question or verify any service history data posted by another member, said Armstrong.

When an item is disputed or verified, the members are notified and provided an opportunity to clarify and/or remove the data that may be incorrect, or to acknowledge the verification posted for them. In this way, the website has become self-policing’ with the integrity of service data becoming a primary feature.

Additionally, since the website is profile driven, and those profiles are continuously reviewed, verified and/or challenged by other members, there is no such thing as an anonymous profile on this site that are common on other sites, Armstrong explained.

Armstrong is not the only person dedicated to the accurate perpetuation of the Corps’ Marines and stories. TWS is supported by a very enthusiastic TWS Advisory Group (TAG) which consists of 11 volunteers, Marine and Navy, representing the entire rank structure and multiple eras of Marine Corps history, he said.

As it is entirely devoid of any advertising, which is in keeping with the sanctity of the site, TWS relies solely on membership upgrades in order to meet its debt as well as promotional and operating expenses.

Armstrong explains that, all Marines can join TWS as Free Members’ and enjoy a great many of its unique features. Full Membership,’ has been deliberately set to be in the reach of most at a very nominal $14.95 for 12 months.

An exception is made for all members who are currently on active duty in combat areas. They are given complimentary membership upgrades, as are those who are seriously disabled.

It is the goal of this website to eventually chronicle the service history of 250,000 Marines or more, covering all recent eras, within the next five years, Armstrong said. If this website is able to accomplish this goal, it will ensure that the site becomes not only a prolific Marine locator, but more importantly, it will ensure that the living history that the Marine members represent will be recorded for posterity in the words and pictures of those that were there and who Served Together.’