Veterans in Utah celebrate the Marine Corps’ 249th birthday

Salt Lake City, Utah – The US Marine Corps will celebrate its 249th birthday on Sunday.

Major Kyle King, a commanding officer at the Marine Corps recruiting station in Salt Lake City, stated, “It’s one of those traditions that makes the Marine Corps special and set us apart.”

The Marine community in Salt Lake City has been celebrating.

Marshall Parnell, a Marine veteran, stated, “It’s our 249th birthday.”

Nov. 10, 1775, saw the formation of the Corps.

“The Marines have been making history, fighting our nation’s battles, responding to humanitarian crises, and doing just about anything the President or the Congress may ask us to do since the Continental Congress authorized the formation of two battalions of Marines,” King said.

According to King, Marine veterans have a strong sense of fraternity, which makes the birthday celebration very memorable.

Parnell remarked, “We [the Marines] were born in a bar, very proud that we’re older than the country.” “Continental Congress decided there’ll be a United States Marine Corps, and we’ve been this country’s fighting force ever since.”

Honoring the history, the present, and the daily struggle that goes on.

Marine Corps canvassing recruiter Brenden Cole Jones stated, “This is when we remember the Marines at Iwo Jima, Midway, Okinawa, Bellwood, all of the Marines that have served in the past that have made this country so great.” “The pride that I feel for serving every day I get to wake up and put on this uniform.”

“We need Marines to preserve the rights that we have fought so hard to obtain in the past, and people need to be reminded that freedom is not free,” Parnell added.

Respecting each other for our nation’s unwavering loyalty.

“What we believe is most important to us are our basic beliefs and the pride that comes with being a part of a club of exceptional warriors. Every Marine is a rifleman, as we say, and that has been demonstrated time and time again, in both peacetime and conflict,” King added.

An occasion to commemorate the rich history of the US Marines and the fallen.

“The cornerstone of your beliefs, correct? Therefore, Jones stated, “America stands for freedom and the liberation of the oppressed.”

highlighting how unique the USMC is as a force. “Remember the history of the Marine Corps, and this is not an institution that you want to play around with,” Jones advised America’s enemies.

They take pride in commemorating this unique day.

Parnell wished the Marines a happy birthday.

devoted to serving the United States of America with success for years to come.

“The Marine Corps has been working hard and doing what they have been doing for a quarter of a century, and we are going to continue to win, fight, and make our country proud for another 250 years,” Jones added.

Commandant Sgt. Bryan C. Nicholes of the Marine Corps League’s Dannie O. Phillips Detachment 1332 shared this short story:

“The Marine Corps Birthday: What It Means To Marines”

“Marines young and old and all over the world still celebrate that day, and remember the role being a Marine played in their lives.
“Everyone has a birthday, and on Sunday 10 November 2024 the United States Marine Corps will celebrate its birthday. For the last 249 years, the Marine Corps has had the reputation of being the smallest, and the toughest branch of the U.S. military, and it is something that anyone who has ever been called Marine holds dear with a sense of pride, including myself.
“In November 1986, my drill instructors called me “Marine” for the very first time in my life, and it is a title I have long cherished.
“My journey started at the age of 18, on a bus ride to Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. It was September 1986. I’d slept on the flight from Seattle into San Diego, where I and five other Washingtonians had shipped out for boot camp. I would realize hours later how smart sleeping on the plane had been.
“My first step off the bus from the airport landed me on a set of yellow footprints with a young sergeant yelling in my face. I was a little intimidated, but three months later I was a different man.
“We went through field training, Marine Corps history, rifle marksmanship training, first aid training and had fire watch at night.
“Before light’s out each night we’d all lay in our bunks and hear the bugle playing loudly, and we’d all say the Marine’s prayer that ended with, “Goodnight Chesty, wherever you are.”
“I still remember my father, a Vietnam veteran, picking me up from the airport after graduation from boot camp, His eyes locked on mine and he smiled. I knew how proud he was of me in that instant.
“Like all new Marines, I went home, then went to my school and was eventually assigned to a duty station in California.
“We all had the same nick-names too: Devil Dog when it was coming from a senior Marine, or Jarhead, from our peers.
“Along with the training, field ops, and missions we did as a unit, we also had fun, and that included celebrating the Marine Corps Birthday at the Marine Corps Ball on Nov. 10 of each year.
“We’d celebrate the names of Maj. Samuel Nichols, who birthed the Marine Corps in Tun Tavern, Lt. Presley O’Bannion, who took on the Barbary Pirates, Lt. Dan Daley, who led the Marines at Belleau Wood in World War I and won the Medal of Honor twice. We’d remember the battles at Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal in World War II, and we’d celebrate being Marines with our brother, sisters, and friends.
“Marines young and old and all over the world still celebrate that day, and remember the role being a Marine played in their lives.
“While many like myself, have packed away their old uniforms and awards, there are some who never left that way of life. I am still serving the war fighter as an Army civilian and loving that I can serve our active brothers and sisters.”
“On Nov. 10, Marines all over the world will raise their glass in a toast again for birthday number 249. Some will reflect on the history.
“But many more will remember their friends and take some pride in the eagle, globe and anchor, the Marine Corps motto – Semper Fidelis: Always Faithful – as well as the uniform and camaraderie they all shared when they were so very young. I know I will.
“Semper Fidelis.”