SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego held a ceremony Friday morning to promote Lance Corporal Manny, the depot bulldog mascot, to the rank of Corporal.
The promotion was held in conjunction with the Morning Colors Ceremony. In attendance were the friends and families of India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, who graduated from recruit training Friday.
Manny is a full-blooded English Bulldog who assumed the duties as the Depot's official mascot on May 24, 2019. He was named in honor of Sgt. Johnny R. Manuelito, Sr., one of the 'original 29' Navajo Code Talkers who trained in the first All Navajo Platoon aboard the Depot in 1942.
Manuelito helped create the code that the Navajos developed at Camp Elliott, now Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. He became an instructor, teaching other Navajo Marines the code. Later, Manuelito participated in the battle of Iwo Jima, where a Marine Signals Officer stated, had it not been for the Code Talkers, we would have never taken Iwo Jima.
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego hosts recruit graduations most weeks of the year, inviting the public to witness the graduation ceremony and the legendary transformation first-hand, as well as take in the sites of the historic base.
For more information on the recruit graduation schedule and the history of the depot, click here.
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