The morning activities included field and water sports, and a shooting match. At Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the birthday was celebrated on the 12th, since a special liberty to Santiago had been arranged on the 10th.
The battle lasted about twenty minutes, and was witnessed by Portsmouth and Norfolk citizens. Marines at the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Virginia, staged a sham battle on the parade ground in commemoration of the birthday. In 1923 at Fort Mifflin, Pennsylvania, the celebration of the Marine Corps' 148th birthday took the form of a dance in the barracks that evening. Some commands expanded the celebration during the next few years. The order summarized the history, mission, and tradition of the Corps, and directed that it be read to every command on 10 November each subsequent year in honor of the birthday of the Marine Corps. Guests would include prominent men from the Marine Corps, Army, and Navy, and descendants of the Revolution.Īccordingly, on 1 November 1921, MajGen Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order No. Maj McClellan further suggested that a dinner be held in Washington D.C., to commemorate the event. Lejeune, suggesting that the original birthday on 10 November 1775 be declared a Marine Corps holiday to be celebrated throughout the Corps. On 21 October 1921, Maj Edwin McClellan, Officer-in-Charge, Historical Section, Headquarters Marine Corps, sent a memorandum to Major General Commandant John A. On 11 July 1798, President John Adams approved a bill that recreated the Corps, thereby providing the rationale for this day being commemorated as the birthday of the U.S. During the Revolution, Marines had fought on land and sea, but at the close of the Revolution the Marine Corps and the Navy were all but disbanded. The July date was commemorated between 17 as the birthday of the Corps. Further inspection of documents and publications prior to 1921 shows no evidence of ceremonies, pageants, or parties. An unidentified newspaper clipping from 1918 refers to the celebration of the 120th birthday of the Marine Corps on 11 July "as usual with no fuss." It is doubtful that there was any real celebration at all. Until 1921 the birthday of the Corps had been celebrated on another date. That particular date was chosen because on that day the Second Continental Congress resolved in 1775 to raise two battalions of Continental Marines. In fact, Marines have not always celebrated their founding on November the 10th.įormal commemoration of the birthday of the Marine Corps began on 10 November 1921.
This has not always been the case, however. By early November, every Marine is either rehearsing his role in the "party" or pressing, polishing, and spit-shining in order to appear at his or her best for the Birthday Ball. Activities become more feverish as the fall hues arrive. Marine Corps begins preparations for its "birthday party" every summer.
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