The US Marines celebrated the 233rd birthday of the United States Marine Corps, marking the occasion with a traditional cake cutting ceremony and reading of their commandants' messages.
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces that traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Captain Samuel Nicholas under a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775.
Tun Tavern circa 1775
Throughout the history of the United States, Marines have fought and earned honors in "Every Clime and Place". From First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon’s actions at Tripoli against the Barbary Pirates, to the Battle of Chapultepec during the Mexican-American Wars and the battle at Belleau Wood, France in World War I where Marines are said to have been called "Teufel Hunden", or Devil Dogs, by their German opponents on account of their ferocious fighting and indomitable spirit.
Chapultepec, Mexico 1847
Marines fought bravely in the Pacific Campaigns of World War II earning medals for valor in the intense fighting of such battles as Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. It was of the Marines on Iwo Jima that that Admiral Chester Nimitz said "Uncommon valor, was a common virtue”.
Marines drove on through the Korean War (1950-1953) with the amphibious landing at Inchon and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir; accounts which showed Marine toughness and resolve in the face of adversity. Marines played an important role in the Vietnam War at such battles as Da Nang Nang, Hue City and Khe Sahn; constantly engaged in a guerrilla war. Following the Vietnam War the Marine Corps resumed its role as an expeditionary fighting force in such engagements as Operations Eagle Claw, Urgent Fury, Just Cause, Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Restore Hope.
Belleau Wood, France 1918
In the ongoing War on Terrorism, Marines have continued to show that they are “A Force in Readiness” operating in the battle theatres of the Middle East in such engagements as Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Phantom Fury and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Marines of today continue to forge a tradition of military professionalism and discipline, bearing credit to the long line of illustrious fighting men that stormed the battlefields of old “in safeguard of democracy”.
