Happy 250th Birthday, Marines!

  All views in this blog are my own and represent the views of no other person, organization, or institution.

10 November 2025 is the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. I served in the Corps, and today I work for the Corps s a historian. I am proud to be a Marine, proud of my Corps. We celebrate our birthday every year with balls and ceremonies, and for the past few years I've celebrated by sharing quotes about Marines on line. Not all positive - loving the Corps means taking the bad with the good - but they all illustrate, in my opinion, some aspect of the Corps and the Marines who make it what it is. So, through 10 November, I'll share several quotes a day, a long with a iconic painting or photograph about Marines. You can find the previous quote posts and all other Marine Corps related posts here. 

I was part of the team that wrote Semper Fidelis: 250 Years of U.S. Marine Corps Honor, Courage, and Commitment. You can get free pdf and epub copies of the work at the link provided.

Today, 10 November 2025, is the 250th birthday of the United States Marines. 

The Birthday celebrations, along with so many other traditions that enhance the Corps' esprit de corps were created by Major General John A. Lejeune. Lejeune is, in my opinion, the true father of the modern day Marine Corps. He decided the Marine Corps would be an elite fighting force, and he understood precisely how to make that happen. The Marine Corps was not created as an elite force, it made itself one intentionally. Its success in doing so has been stupendous. 

As the 13th Commandant, Lejeune issued the first Commandant's Birthday Message. Every year Marines still hear it read, along with a message from the current Commandant. I urge you to read it as well, here. 

Today's Marine Corps Quotes are three that I feel are the foundations of the Corps. First, the resolution that created the Corps:

"That two battalions of Marines be raised consisting of one colonel, two lieutenant colonels, two majors and officers as usual in other regiments, that they consist of an equal number of privates with other battalions; that particular care be taken that no person be appointed to office or enlisted into said battalions, but such as are good seamen, or so acquainted with maritime affairs as to be able to serve to advantage by sea." 

(Resolution of the Continental Congress, 10 November 1775.) 

Second, the oath that ALL U.S. military service members swear upon enlistment:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." 

(Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).

And finally, I the words to our Hymn:

From the Halls of Montezuma

To the shores of Tripoli;

We fight our country's battles

In the air, on land, and sea;

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean;

We are proud to claim the title

Of United States Marine.

Our flag's unfurled to every breeze

From dawn to setting sun;

We have fought in every clime and place

Where we could take a gun;

In the snow of far-off Northern lands

And in sunny tropic scenes,

You will find us always on the job

The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps

Which we are proud to serve;

In many a strife we've fought for life

And never lost our nerve.

If the Army and the Navy

Ever look on Heaven's scenes,

They will find the streets are guarded

By United States Marines.

The west side of the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington County, Virginia.