HAPPY BIRTHDAY

[subdjoe]

To any Marines out there!

Well done, Marine! Thank you.

www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm

[bolverk]

Happy Birthday to a group who has done more to preserve freedom then most.

[subdjoe]

And not a word about it in the PD onlie (sic). Or not that I have found anyway.

[The Big Dog]

And it's doubtful that you will anytime soon..... to all the Marines out there, past and present:

"Semper Fi, and good night Chesty Puller, wherever you are!"

[subdjoe]

Big Dog, there ARE no "past Marines." There are some who are not serving, and there are some who are on permanent watch over us having left this world, maybe waiting at Tun Tavern, but there are no past Marines.

[The Big Dog]

There are serving Marines and formerly serving Marines..... never "ex" Marines. My reference was to place in time, not service.



And for all interested, the Commandant's Birthday Message video, which features both Commandant of the USMC General James Conway and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlton Kent is available for viewing at www.marines.mil/usmc/Pages/2008MarineCorpsBirthdayBall.aspx

[subdjoe]

My view is that those Marines who have shuffled off this mortal coil are still, and ever will be, watching out for our Republic.

[The Big Dog]

Oh yeah..... and in keeping with tradition, the 1921 message of Major General Commandant John A. Lejeune may be read below:

MARINE CORPS ORDERS
No. 47 (Series 1921)
HEADQUARTERS U.S. MARINE CORPS
Washington, November 1, 1921

759. The following will be read to the command on the 10th of November, 1921, and hereafter on the 10th of November of every year. Should the order not be received by the 10th of November, 1921, it will be read upon receipt.

(1) On November 10, 1775, a Corps of Marines was created by a resolution of Continental
Congress. Since that date many thousand men have borne the name "Marine". In memory of them it is fitting that we who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of our corps by calling to mind the glories of its long and illustrious history.

(2) The record of our corps is one which will bear comparison with that of the most famous
military organizations in the world's history. During 90 of the 146 years of its existence the
Marine Corps has been in action against the Nation's foes. From the Battle of Trenton to the
Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security.

(3) In every battle and skirmish since the birth of our corps, Marines have acquitted themselves with the greatest distinction, winning new honors on each occasion until the term "Marine" has come to signify all that is highest in military efficiency and soldierly virtue.

(4) This high name of distinction and soldierly repute we who are Marines today have received from those who preceded us in the corps. With it we have also received from them the eternal spirit which has animated our corps from generation to generation and has been the distinguishing mark of the Marines in every age. So long as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as "Soldiers of the Sea" since the founding of the Corps.

JOHN A. LEJEUNE,
Major General Commandant