Marine Corps Birthday: 243 Years Young
243 Years ago the greatest fighting force in the history of the world – the United States Marine Corps – was born. And over those 243 years, Marines have kept the peace, protected our liberties and defeated America’s enemies in every climate, geography and generation.
Fittingly enough for America’s “Force in Readiness”, the Marine Corps was born in a bar – Tun Tavern Philadelphia on November 10, 1775. Two Marine Battalions were recruited by Captain Samuel Nicholas (a former Quaker) at Tun Tavern. Their mission was to lead amphibious assaults, provide good order and discipline on all naval vessels and engage in ship to ship fighting.
Throughout the Marines 243 year history, the Marines have acquitted themselves in battle in every war and conflict. In 1776, the Marines made their first successful amphibious assault, defeating the British at Fort Nassau and capturing critical gunpowder, firearms and cannon. Although largely confined to ships, the Continental Marines also participated in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, fighting side by side with George Washington and the Continental Army.
The Marines gained further distinction during the Barbary Wars – ensuring freedom of navigation and protecting merchant shipping from the pirates of Tripoli. In 1805 and the Battle of Derna is the impetus for the verse in the Marine Corps Hymn “to the shores of Tripoli.” There Lt. Presley O’Bannon and his Marines marched 600 miles across the Libyan desert to rescue the kidnapped crew of the USS Philadelphia from the Barbary Pirates. It was during that battle that Marines earned the nickname “Leathernecks” on account of the high leather collars of their uniforms which were intended to protect them from pirate swords. Following the freeing of US hostages and the utter defeat of the pirates, Lt. O’Bannon was presented with the Mameluke sword by the Ottoman Empire – a ceremonial sword that all Marine Corps Officers carry to this day during important ceremonies (like the celebration of the Marine Corps Birthday).
During the War of 1812, the Marines fought fiercely during the Chesapeake campaigns and at the Battle of Bladensburg. During the Mexican-American War, Marines distinguished themselves again through their tenacious fighting, most particularly at the Battle of Chapultepec – which gives rise to the phrase “from the Halls of Montezuma” in the Marine Corps hymn. The battle was particularly bloody and so Marine Corps Non-Commissioned Officers wear a red stripe down the leg of their dress blue uniform pants – known as “The Blood Stripe” – in memory of the great victory at Chapultepec.
The Marine Corps played only a minor role during the Civil War and were largely confined to ship to ship fighting, enforcing blockades and the like. The Marines were dispatched just before the war to arrest John Brown at Harper’s Ferry and participated in the First Battle of Bull Run but did not play a major role in any Civil War engagements.
After the Civil War, the Marines quickly evolved into America’s Force in Readiness, always ready to deploy on a moment’s notice to handle trouble anywhere in the world. Altogether, the Marines were involved in over 28 separate interventions in the 35 years from the end of the Civil War to the end of the 19th century, including China, Formosa, Japan, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Mexico, Korea, Panama, Egypt, Haiti, Samoa, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, including the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which would be annexed five years later. They would also be called upon to stem political and labor unrest within the United States, such as guarding mail. In 1885, war correspondent Richard Harding Davis popularized the phrase “The Marines have landed and have the situation well in hand” when describing Americans intervention in a Panamanian revolt.
But it wasn’t until the First World War – during which the Marine Corps earned their nickname “Devil Dogs” – when the Marines earned the respect of the world. The Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918 is emblematic of the Marines fighting spirit. Deep in Belleau Wood, just outside of Paris, the 4th Marine Brigade fought tenaciously against German soldiers. The Marines suffered heavy casualties and were pinned down by machine-gun fire. On 7 June 1918, with few grenades and no signal flares left, Marine forces launched an assault with fixed bayonets, seizing enemy positions. Marine riflemen demonstrated their superior marksmanship, shredding the lines of an oncoming German counterattack. After 20 days of intense fighting, the Marines had won the Battle of Belleau Wood. The German survivors, exhausted and wounded, referred to their captors as “Teufelhunden” and the nickname “Devil Dogs” took root.
Before and after WWI, the Marine Corps was called into action repeatedly during the Banana Republic Wars in Nicaragua, Cuba, Panama, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Vera Cruz, Santo Domingo and numerous other conflicts throughout Central and South America.
World War II saw the Marine Corps as the key to the Battles of the Pacific and the successful defeat of Imperial Japan. Most famously, the Marine Corps was responsible for the defeat of Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, where wave after wave of Marines tenaciously fought their way ashore through the black sands and decimated the Emperor’s forces, who were dug into fortified positions all around the island. The raising of the US Flag on Mount Suribachi by five Marines and one Navy corpsman is one of the most indelible images of the War. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, who had come ashore earlier that day to observe the progress of the troops, said of the flag raising on Iwo Jima, “the raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years.” As famous as the Marine Corps victory on Iwo Jima is, it represents a tiny fraction of what the Marines accomplished in the Battles of the Pacific. Marines were instrumental in victories all across the Pacific Ocean including the battles of Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Guam, Peleliu and Okinawa.
As costly as the Marine battles of the Pacific were for the Corps – which to this day remains the smallest of America’s armed forces – the battles ahead in Korea were even more costly. Of particular note in the history of the corps was the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Fighting against a numerically superior force (the Chinese Army had joined forces with the almost vanquished North Koreans and that left the Marines outnumbered 8 to 1) in sub zero conditions (temperatures frequently dipped as low as -40F) with blinding snow representing the worst weather in 50 years, Marine Corps’ First Marine Division inflicted very heavy casualties (destroying 10 Chinese infantry divisions) during a fighting withdrawal, leading ultimately to the Korean armistice. The Korean War also saw the first successful use of Marine Corps helicopters to support amphibious operations and important Marine victories at Pusan and Inchon.
When America entered the Vietnam War, Marines again distinguished themselves in Battle at places like Khe Sahn, Da Nang and Hue and defended the US embassy tenaciously during the evacuation of Saigon at the end of the war. Hue cemented the Corps’ reputation as the finest, most tenacious, fiercest fighting force in the world. One of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War took place during 33 days in the winter of 1968. Vastly outnumbered, Marines fought a viciously intense urban battle against North Vietnamese and Viet Cong until finally securing victory on 2 March 1968.The battle began when Communist forces launched the Tet Offensive on the first night of the Vietnamese lunar New Year, attacking hundreds of military targets and civilian centers across the country, including the ancient city of Huế. Despite enormous losses on both sides, including to the city itself, after a month of intense house-to-house street fighting which foreshadowed the tactics Marines would employ in Fallujah some 35 years later, American forces steadily retook the city of Huế, block by block. As bloody as WWII and Korea were for the Marines, the USMC lost more men in Vietnam than in both of the preceding wars and 54 Marines distinguished themselves so completely in battle with their valor as to receive the Medal of Honor.
In more recent times, Marines have played a decisive role in Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The I Marine Expeditionary Force (consisting of almost 90,000 Marines) were critical to pushing Iraqi forces out of Kuwait during the Gulf War and Marines turned the tide against the Taliban in Helmand Province (the most deadly fighting grounds in Afghanistan). Marines were also part of the vanguard that defeated the Iraqi army and captured Baghdad and and then defeated insurgencies across Al Anbar Province, Iraq (including deadly fighting throughout Fallujah).
Across the generations, there have been many great heroes of the Marine Corps. Two Marines have earned the Medal of Honor twice – and lived to tell about it: SgtMaj Daniel Daly and MajGen Smedley Butler. Daly was actually nominated for a historic third Medal of Honor but the award was downgraded to the Navy Cross (the second highest medal that can be awarded to a Marine) so as not to create a precedent for 3 MOHs to any single human being. Other Marine greats include Lt. Gen. Chesty Puller (who was awarded the Navy Cross a record five times), Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone (the recipient of both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross), Col. John Glen (first American to orbit the earth and a Marine aviator who flew 122 combat missions and earned 6 Distinguished Flying Crosses before joining America’s space program), GySgt Carlos Hathcock (one of the greatest Marine Corps snipers ever to live), Private Jack “Indestructible” Lucas (who stowed away on a ship during WWII because he wanted to fight Japan and who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima without any weapon since he had not been issued a rifle given that he was a stowaway and was awarded the Medal of Honor for diving on two hand grenades to protect his brother Marines – and SURVIVED) and Cpl. Jason Dunham of 3d Battalion, 7th Marines (The Cutting Edge) who became the first Marine awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery during the Global War on Terror for selflessly sacrificing himself by diving on a grenade to protect the lives of the Marines under his charge. In total, 300 Marines have received the Medal of Honor (many of which were awarded posthumously) since the first Marine was awarded the MOH during the Civil War (the MOH was established in 1862).
Throughout its history, the Marine Corps has conducted disaster relief operations, guarded embassies, defeated our enemies, secured military victories and protected our liberties. The motto of the Corps – Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful) – is a testament to what it takes to be a Marine. If you call the Chief of Naval Operations “sailor”, you will get a scornful look from that Admiral. If you were to call out “hey soldier” to the Army Chief of Staff, you would get a derisive response. If you were to call the Air Force Chief of Staff “airman” you would get dressed down for your insolence. BUT if you were to call the Commandant of the Marine Corps “Marine”, you would get a hearty “ooh rah” or a “Semper Fi” and then a smile because the greatest compliment that you can pay to any Marine of any rank is to call him or her a “Marine”. So please join me in wishing the Marine Corps a Happy 243rd and wishing them many more birthdays to come.
(submitted by a very proud Marine Corps dad)
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