Get some cake, Marine Corps, it’s your 249th birthday

by Junna Base November 10, 2024

Blow out the candles, Marines, you’re a year older. The Marine Corps is officially 249 years old today. But you’re Marines, you already knew that. So happy birthday.

It’s been a long, strange journey since the founding of the Marine Corps. The Continental Congress ordered the formation of two marine battalions on November 10, 1775. Technically the Marines started with this resolution, but thanks to the bar patrons, they really took off. With the order given, Captain Samuel Nicholas and Tun Tavern owner Robert Mullan quickly reached out to the patrons and recruited new troops inside or outside the establishment.

Like the Army and Navy, the Marine Corps technically predates the modern United States and emerged years before the American Constitution became the basis of government. After disbanding following the American Revolution, the United States Marine Corps was officially reformed on July 11, 1798. The Marines may have started in a bar, but the last 249 years have taken them around the world, often at the forefront of American foreign policy. General Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, alluded to this in his birthday message to the Marine Corps.

“Our history shows that when the call came, Marines of all stripes picked up their rifles and fought for the Corps and Country. From Wake Island to Chosin Reservoir to Khe Sanh to Camp Bastion, every Marine fought,” Smith wrote in his birthday message to the Corps. “Our future battles will be no different. Our rear areas will be as vulnerable as our front lines, and every Marine, from our infantry battalions to our air squadrons to our headquarters and support units, will need to be ready when called upon.”

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For his birthday, the Marine Corps gave itself something it’s made over the years: a birthday video that’s part remembrance of past sacrifices, part action-packed sizzle video. This year’s edition has it all, starting with over a minute and a half of action, with ground troops, artillery, aircraft and amphibious assaults. But despite all the displays of force, there are many Marines who talk about what others have given in recent wars and decades past.

See for yourself:

There is much for the Marines to celebrate as the Corps turns a year older. This year has had some ups and downs. This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Second Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War. But 2024 has also seen some big upsides. The Marines Corps once again led the way, becoming the first military branch to pass its test. Marines have revived a World War II-era “sledge” airfield on Peleliu, part of a massive effort to build infrastructure in the Pacific. Marines trained Air Force members so well that they received medals for it. The Navy’s newest destroyer was just commissioned and named after legendary Marine John Basilone.

Almost two and a half centuries after their founding, the Marines face new challenges. The birthday message pointed to changing times and changing strategic goals for the U.S. military. That means more technology, more drones and a focus on peer-to-peer conflict. But as the birthday message says, “America will always need Marines ready to use bayonets and engage the enemy.”

So do the birthday balls. Eat some cake. Got some colored pencils. You may not actually be fighting dragons or lava monsters as shown in the recruiting commercials, but you’re still the Marines.