Richard T. Spooner

Richard Treat Spooner (born 10 September 1926) is a former officer in the United States Marine Corps and founder and former proprietor of The Globe and Laurel Restaurant in Stafford, Virginia, just a few miles south of the main gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico. He served in the Marine Corps for over 29 years. His second book, A Marine Anthology, was published in 2011 by Phillips Publications. "A Marine Anthology" is a collection of stories and tales about the "Old Corps", ranging from the Boxer Rebellion to the Battle of Saipan. His third book, The Dragon of Destiny & The Saga of Shanghai Pooley, is set in the 1930s. The fourth book, the Brigadier and the Baroness, released in 2022, is the tale of a character of old Marine Corps lore, a Marine gunnery sergeant named "Brigadier" whose serendipitous adventures follow late 19th century-to-World War I Marine Corps battles, from the Spanish American War to the birth of the famous 5th Marines.

The Globe and Laurel In 1968, Richard Spooner opened the Globe and Laurel Restaurant, which he described as "a pub for professional Marines". The pub features a collection of military memorabilia, including an original Medal of Honor and Victoria Cross. When he retired from the Marine Corps, his wife Gloria helped convince him to turn it from a part-time hobby into a full-time job. The Globe and Laurel was originally located on Broadway Street in the town of Quantico, but in 1973 a fire gutted the original building. The Globe and Laurel subsequently reopened in the town of Triangle, just outside the main gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico where it resided for 35 years. The Spooners and "The Globe and Laurel" have been featured on "War Stories" on the History Channel and the Food Network. Due to a road widening project, the Globe and Laurel location in Triangle was closed and destroyed in May 2008, and a new location re-opened in Stafford, Virginia in 2009. Spooner continued to serve as proprietor of the Globe and Laurel until he retired in mid-2020.