Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday

231 years ago today in a small tavern in Philly a Corps of Marines were formed. All over the world men and women will stop and wish each other Happy Birthday, have a piece of cake and sing the Marine’s Hymn.

As with all birthdays, we need to reflect on our past and look towards the future. I can sit this morning and remember some really good friends. Some I still am in contact with. And a few who are now guarding heaven’s gates. I have been around the world and back. At times I really believed that I would not make it home to see my loved ones again. By the grace of God, we young Marines did.

The Marines today are no different than the Marines who turned back the Germans in World War One when we got the nickname “Devil Dog”. Or the men who spilled their blood on the black sand of a tiny island in the south Pacific to take a hill called Mount Suribachi. They can stand side by side with the toughness of the Chosin Marines or the ones from Khe Sahn. Being a Desert Shield/Storm veteran, I am proud of my brothers and sisters throughout history.

“There really is a tie between Marines, our history and our Corps that is, in some sense, mystical. It starts in boot camp and Officer Candidates School with Drill Instructors regaling recruits and officer candidates with the stories that make up our history and with a few chosen stories of their own detailing their small part of the whole. They talk about the first "Continental Marines," the Barbary pirates, Archibald Henderson (who was Commandant for 30-plus years), landings across the globe, the Boxer Rebellion, Dan Daley, the Philippine Insurrection, Smedley Butler, Belleau Wood, "Chesty" Puller, Nicaragua, "Manila" John Basilone, Wake Island, the Montford Point Marines, Iwo Jima, the Chosin Reservoir, Lebanon, Viet Nam and – from their own experience – Kuwait, Somalia, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Almost magically, the most junior recruits and candidates begin to believe they can be like those heroes and have the opportunity to add to our history. More than that, these newest Marines begin to understand the burden of living up to expectations – the expectation that they will never quit, never give-up on themselves or another Marine, that they'll never leave a fellow Marine behind, and never disgrace the Corps. It may be hokey, but there can be no doubt it works.” - © 2005 Col. Jeff Bearor/USMC

You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth- and the amusing thing about it is that they are.
Father Kevin Keaney
1st Marine Division Chaplain
Korean War

I can't say enough about the two Marine divisions. If I use words like 'brilliant,' it would really be an under description of the absolutely superb job that they did in breaching the so-called 'impenetrable barrier.' It was a classic- absolutely classic- military breaching of a very very tough minefield, barbed wire, fire trenches-type barrier.
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, U. S. Army
Commander, Operation Desert Storm, February 1991


Happy Birthday and Semper Fi Marines.

Ooh-Rah!!