Blow out the candles, Marines, you’re a year older. The Marine Corps officially is 249 years old today. But you’re Marines, you already knew that. So happy birthday.
It’s been a long, strange journey since the Marine Corps was first established. The Continental Congress ordered two battalions of Marines to be established way back on Nov. 10, 1775. Technically the Marines started with that resolution, but they really started thanks to bar patrons. The order given, Capt. Samuel Nicholas alongside Tun Tavern owner Robert Mullan quickly turned to the patrons, recruiting new troops in or just outside the establishment.
Like the Army and Navy, the Marine Corps technically predates the modern United States, forming years before the American Constitution became the foundation of the government. After disbanding after the American Revolution, the United States Marine Corps was officially reformed on July 11, 1798. Marines might have started in a bar, but the last 249 years have taken them around the world, often as the advanced presence of American foreign policy. That is something Gen. Eric Smith, the Marine Corps Commandant, alluded to in his birthday message to the Marine Corps.
“Our history bears witness to Marines of all stripes picking up their rifles and fighting for Corps and Country when the call came. From Wake Island to the Chosin Reservoir to Khe Sanh to Camp Bastion, every Marine fought,” Smith wrote in his birthday message to the Corps. “Our future battles will be no different. Our rear areas will be as vulnerable as our front lines and every Marine from our infantry battalions to our aviation squadrons to our headquarters and support elements will have to stand-to when called.”
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For its birthday, the Marine Corps gave itself something it has done over the years: a birthday video that is half remembrance of past sacrifices, half action-packed sizzle reel. This year’s one has it all, opening with more than a minute and a half of action, with ground troops, artillery, aircraft and amphibious assaults. But for all of the shows of force, it features plenty of Marines talking about what others have given, in recent wars and in decades past.
Watch for yourself:
There are many things for Marines to celebrate as the Corps turns a year older. This year has had some ups and downs. This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Second Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest fight of the Iraq War. But 2024 has also seen some major ups. The Marines Corps led the way once again, becoming the first military branch to pass its audit. Marines have revived a World War II-era “Sledge” airfield on Peleliu, part of a massive effort to build up infrastructure in the Pacific. Marines trained Air Force members so well they were awarded medals for it. The latest Navy destroyer was just commissioned, named for legendary Marine John Basilone.
Nearly two and a half centuries after they were founded, the Marines are facing new challenges. The birthday message pointed to changing times and changing strategic goals for the United States military. That means greater technology, more drones and a focus on peer-to-peer conflict. But as the birthday message notes, “America will always need Marines willing to fix bayonets and charge the enemy.”
So have the birthday balls. Have some cake. Have some crayons. You might not actually fight dragons or lava monsters like the recruiting commercials showed, but you’re still the Marines.