10 Nov 1775

[taltos]

Hopefully the moderators will allow this thread in General Discussion instead of Troops Room because it feel that this topic affects more than just troops, it affects all American citizens.

On 10 November 1775 the Continental Congress authorized the recruiting of two battalions of Marines. The recruiting station was Tun Tavern in Philadelphia underthe command of Captain Samuel Nicholas. Their first mission involved 245 Marines under the command of Captain Nicholas sailed from Philadelphia. After the Revolutionary War, the Marines were in a holding pattern until 11 July 1998 when they were re-established as a military force and an official branch of the US military serving under the US Navy. Since that date, the Marine Corps has served in every conflict involving the USA. If you read the first verse of the Marine Corps Hymn, it explains our history up to the Civil War. That war split the Marine Corps since the Officer Corps was primarily loyal to the Union and a good number of the enlisted were loyal to the Confederacy. Eventually esprie d' corps reunited the Marine Corps and have left us in the proud situaton that we are now inhabiting. Outside of our good friends and allies in the Coast Guard we are the smallest branch of the US Armed Forces but per capita the Marines had the most severe losses in combat in the twentieth century.
America, we have always been there for you and we are proud of that fact. Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps on the occasion of their 233rd Birthday protecting this nation and going where nobody with good sense woud dare to go. I salute all Marines past, present and future with a special salute to those serving today on active duty and I thank all Marines in the past who established this heritage. I am proud to have been and am a Marine. Semper Fi to all and God bless this great nation. Paul