Happy Birthday USMC X248

[WV Sawmiller]

"That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, two majors and officers as usual in other regiments, that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no person be appointed to office or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea."

(Resolution of the Continental Congress, 10 November 1775.)

1) On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name "Marine". In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history.
(2) The record of our corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous military organizations in the world's history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the Marine Corps has been in action against the Nation's foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security.
(3) In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our corps, Marines have acquitted themselves with the greatest distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term "Marine" has come to signify all that is highest in military efficiency and soldierly virtue.
(4) This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received from those who preceded us in the corps. With it we have also received from them the eternal spirit which has animated our corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of the Marines in every age. So long as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as "Soldiers of the Sea" since the founding of the Corps.
John A. Lejeune,
Major General Commandant

USMC Morale policy - There will be no leave, liberty, mail or pay until morale improves.

[WV Sawmiller]

  And the origin of "It wasn't like that in the Old Corps"

   After the continental congress approved formation of the Corps of Marines they commissioned Captain Samuel Nicholas to find and train the Marines. He started in Philadelphia and found his first victim recruit sitting on a bar stool and after talking to him a few minutes he got him to sign up but he told him he had to provide his own musket and bedroll. He told him to stay there in Tun Tavern as their temporary HQ.

   Sam scoured the city looking for another gullible qualified candidate but times were hard and recruiting was tough. He tried all the likely hotspots like the bars, brothels, gambling dens, and finally ended up at the jail where he found a cooperative jailor who said he'd release his prisoner if the convict would sign up and go with Sam. The prisoner finally agreed but only after Sam agreed to buy him a musket and bedroll. He freed the second Marine and stopped at a local pawn shop outfitters to buy him his musket and bedroll and told him to go to Tun Tavern and meet up with the first Marine who was waiting there.

   The second Marine went to Tun Tavern and met the First Marine and when he showed him his 782 gear (Musket and Bedroll) the First Marine sagely opined "It wasn't like that in the old Corps".

   That statement has been with us ever since.

[firefighter ontheside]

My wife's uncle's shares his birthday with the USMC and he was a marine in Vietnam.

[Don P]

Running memory back to that time, or starting a few decades before, is another tough old vet. He was a member of his state's house when that vote was taken. I'd bet his advice to their delegation to congress was "vote yes".
Samuel Whittemore - Wikipedia

Notice from the wars he fought in, he was in combat in his 40's through his 70's. Although he retired to the colonies after a career as a dragoon. When asked about the fancy dueling pistols they refer to, he had returned from King George's war with them. He would only reply that he had "come into them suddenly." The sword had returned with him from the French and Indian War. He had "come into it suddenly".  After dispatching 3 redcoats in the column retreating from Concord on the first day of the Revolution with musket, pistol and sword, he was shot point blank in the face, bayoneted multiple times and buttstroked by the retreating redcoats. His comrades found him bleeding out, reloading. They carried him to the local doc who summoned his wife and told her he was a goner, there was nothing he could do for the dying man. His descendants came quick, right down through the great grandkids, all 180 of them. Apparently when he wasn't at war he was still quite active. The doc relented and patched him up. Part of his jaw was missing but he lived, and served, for 18 more years.

The Romans understood a people become the stories they tell about their heroes.

That's who we are

Never Forget

[Ron Scott]

Semper Fi, Devil Dogs.

[rusticretreater]

My father was a career marine and I grew up on Marine Corps bases, LeJune, Yorktown, Quantico, HM Smith(Pearl Harbor!) before he finally got a high enough rank to afford a house midway between Quantico and Washington DC.  

He did two Mediterranean cruises(6mo aboard a ship), and saw action in the Libya Government Crises(50's), Gitmo(Cuban Missle Crises), and Vietnam.  He finished off a 27 year career in Weapons Development Command at Henderson Hall, HQ Marine Corps.  Three Bronze stars, 2 with V device, Rep. of Vietnam, Meritorius Service, Navy Commendation medals among others. 

Being the son of a marine and rebellious, I didn't like him much but he was a good father and one of the men that this country was built upon.  He and my mother both rest at Arlington Cemetery. 

[Texas Ranger]