Devil Dogs

The Devil Dogs drum and bugle corps was organized in the fall of 1969 by John Stout, Freddy Meyer and Harry Hollister and was sponsored by the Marine Corps League, Pound 79, the American Legion (AL) Post 7 and the VFW Post 2343, all from Clearwater.

In its formative years, the Marine sponsored group started out slowly, performing locally in parades and events before entering the field of competition in 1973 as members of the Southern States circuit, winning both the AL and VFW state “Class B” titles and performed in the VFW Nationals, placing 26^th in the preliminary round. The following year, the Devil Dogs competed in the 1974 AL Nationals, where they finished in 10^th place in the prelims and after finishing in 2^nd position in the 1975 VFW state convention, went on tour, participating in the North Tonawanda and US Open “Class A” regional prelims, finishing in 12^th and 35^th respectively.

The corps participated in the 1976 Mid-American circuit championships, finishing 2^nd and in their final season of competition, placed 2^nd and 3^rd in the 1977 AL and VFW state championships. They also toured that year, with appearances at the American International Open (17^th) and US Open (16^th) “Class A” prelims before returning to parade status in 1978, as they struggled to secure a permanent practice facility.

They disbanded in 1979.

Paul Legault (DCX)

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