NC State Partnership Honors Marines Who Fought in Battle of Belleau Wood

Several members of the NC State Marine Corps Naval ROTC stood outside Reynolds Coliseum in the early morning hours of November 29, 2021, listening to the legacy left behind by the Marines who fought valiantly in the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War 1.

To conclude the ceremony, the ROTC members then assisted Austin Heine, operations manager of NC State’s Cooperative Tree Improvement Program, as he planted an oak sapling. The sapling, and about 90 others, were grown by Heine and his team from acorns gathered at Belleau Wood.

For more than two years, the program’s staff grew the oak saplings in a greenhouse on NC State’s campus. The saplings are now being planted on Marine Corps bases and facilities across the country through March 2022.