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Sergeant Major Donald J. Barrett address the cadets and guests announcing promotions effective November 10th.
The actual birthday of the Marines is November 10th. It was decreed on that date by the Second Continental Congress in 1775. Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is regarded at the birthplace of the Corps as the location of the first Marines to enlist under Commandant Samuel Nicholas. Some dispute the claim saying the enlistments may have occurred at Nicholas’s family tavern, the Conestoga Waggon. When the revolutionary war ended in 1783, the Continental Navy was disestablished and with it the Continental Marines.
The Corps was re-established on July 11, 1783 when the “act for establishing and organizing a Marine Corps” was signed by President John Adams. Prior to 1921 the Marines celebrated the recreation of the Corps on July 11 with very little pomp and pageantry. However, on October 21, 1921 Major Edwin North McClellan sent a memorandum to Commandant John A. Lejeune, suggesting the Marines original birthday of November 10 be declared a Marine Corps holiday and be celebrated throughout the Corps. Lejeune so ordered in Marine Corps 47 that it should be. It concluded that the date would honor all those who have served as “Soldiers of the Sea” since the founding of the Corps.
The first formal ball was celebrated in 1925. In 1952 the cake cutting ceremony was entered into the Marine Drill Manual of 1956. By tradition the first slice of cake is given to the oldest Marine present, who in turn hands it off to the youngest Marine present, thus symbolizing the old and experienced Marines passing their knowledge to the new generation of Marines.
This is the beginning and related happenings of “The Few, The Proud, The Marines”. On this, the 236th birthday of the U. S. Marine Corps, let us all join in and be thankful for each and every Marine, past and present, who embellish one of the greatest assets we have as Americans - The United States Marine Corps! Happy Birthday!
Is it any wonder that we proudly proclaim: “Once A Marine, Always A Marine!” Semper Fidelis! “Always Faithful”.
