On April 25, 2026, the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation proudly welcomed award recipients, distinguished guests, military leaders, historians, authors, journalists, filmmakers, photographers, artists, and supporters to the National Museum of the Marine Corps for the 2026 Annual Awards Dinner—an evening dedicated to recognizing excellence in preserving and sharing the story of the United States Marine Corps.
Held in the Museum’s Leatherneck Gallery, the evening marked a meaningful return of the Foundation’s signature awards program following a pause in 2025 to commemorate the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday. Throughout the night, one message remained clear: the story of the Marine Corps endures because individuals continue to dedicate themselves to documenting, preserving, illustrating, and sharing it for future generations.
The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Annual Awards Program honors exceptional achievements in literature, journalism, photography, documentary filmmaking, scholarship, fine arts, digital storytelling, and historical preservation. Selected from more than 150 submissions and reviewed by a dedicated panel of judges, this year’s recipients represented the very best in communicating the Marine experience and preserving the history, traditions, sacrifice, and spirit of the Corps.
This year’s awardees explored Marine Corps history from Belleau Wood to Fallujah, the First Gulf War to the Arctic, Khe Sanh to the Pacific, while also illuminating the experiences of today’s Marines preparing for future conflict. Their work captured stories of courage, service, hardship, leadership, remembrance, and resilience through books, memoirs, reporting, exhibits, photography, film, poetry, and art.
Highlights from the evening included recognition of:
Among those recognized were recipients whose work chronicled combat history, institutional challenges, Marine aviation, women Marines, local community impact, memoir, fiction, fine art, and battlefield remembrance—each contributing to a broader understanding of what it means to earn and carry the title Marine.
The evening also featured remarks from distinguished military leaders, including keynote speaker General James N. Mattis and the 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Eric M. Smith, whose presence underscored the enduring importance of preserving Marine Corps history and honoring those who tell its story.
The Marine Corps Heritage Foundation extends its sincere congratulations to each of the 2026 award recipients and gratitude to the judges, sponsors, donors, and supporters whose generosity helps make this program possible year after year.
The stories of Marines deserve to be remembered—and the Annual Awards Program is one way the Foundation continues to ensure that history is preserved, shared, and passed to future generations.
We invite you to support this important mission through membership, giving, volunteerism, or by engaging with the National Museum of the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
Interested in recognizing excellence in Marine Corps storytelling, scholarship, and historical preservation? Nominations for the 2027 Marine Corps Heritage Foundation Annual Awards Program will open in Fall 2026. We encourage authors, journalists, filmmakers, artists, historians, scholars, and storytellers to consider submitting work that preserves and advances the Marine Corps story.
To view the full list of 2026 award recipients, click here.