Marines at Landstuhl celebrate Corps’ birthday

[thedrifter]

Friday, November 9, 2007

Marines at Landstuhl celebrate Corps’ birthday

By Steve Mraz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, November 9, 2007

LANDSTUHL, Germany — When U.S. Marines host a birthday party, they don’t celebrate with silly confetti, plastic noisemakers or cardboard hats.

They show a video narrated by the distinctive coarse drawl of actor Sam Elliott, highlighting the Corps’ famous World War I battle at Belleau Wood, France.

They cut a cake with a sword.

They shout out guttural “Ooh-rahs.”

On Thursday, a handful of Marines from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center’s Marine Liaison Team and Stuttgart’s U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe celebrated the Corps’ upcoming 232nd birthday with a ceremonial cake cutting. The Marine Corps traces its beginnings back to Nov. 10, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress resolved to raise two battalions of Continental Marines.

Wounded Marines receiving treatment at Landstuhl, including one who was in a wheelchair recovering from a roadside bomb blast, also attended the ceremony, which drew a standing-room-only crowd of soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians to the hospital’s auditorium.

“Having the ceremony at the hospital is our way of showing our wounded Marines here how much we appreciate what they do,” said Marine Sgt. Scott Bullard, who now is with Marine Force Europe but formerly worked as a Marine liaison at Landstuhl.

A massive cake decorated with the Corps’ eagle, globe and anchor was wheeled up to Marine Maj. Gen. Cornell A. Wilson Jr., commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe. The cake was then sliced with a sword. Wilson received the first piece. As is Marine tradition, the second piece was sampled by the oldest Marine in attendance and then passed to the youngest Marine in attendance.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Published on WWAY NewsChannel 3
Marines celebrate 232 years of service
By WWAY
Created 8 Nov 2007 - 6:05pm
Marines celebrate 232 years of service

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CAMP LEJEUNE -- It wasn't the traditional happy birthday song, but then again, it wasn't your typical birthday party. The Marine Corps is commemorating its 232nd birthday.

Camp Lejeune Commanding Officer Col. Adele Hodges said, "It's just an awesome feeling to be part of an organization that has been in existence for 232 years."

The birthday celebration included a historical pageant. It showcased Marine uniforms from as far back as 1775, the year the Marine Corps was established.

Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik is the oldest Marine at Camp Lejeune. He said, "It's just an honor and a privilege to be able to continue to serve, it really is."

Hejlik is the oldest active Marine at Camp Lejeune with 38 years of service under his belt. He said, "I never thought in 1968 as a private from Garner, Iowa that I would be standing here today, 38 years later."

He helped cut the cake with Camp Lejeune's youngest Marine, 18-year-old Private Luis Garcia. The traditional cake-cutting is a symbol of passing along knowledge from one generation of Marines to another.

Garcia said, "It's an honor. Not many Marines get this opportunity so, very glad to be out here today."

Liversedge Field was filled with the pride and honor that come with being a Marine.

Hejlik said, "Always seek to do your best, always seek to be leading your Marines, be a good leader, be a good follower and the Marine Corps will take care of you."

The Marine Corps actual birthday is November 10, but the celebration was Thursday since the 10th falls on a weekend.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Lejeune celebrates Corps' birthday

ANIESA HOLMES
November 9, 2007 - 2:08AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Only one thing could have made Camp Lejeune's celebration of the Marine Corps' birthday better for retired Sgt. Maj. Matt Hardiman.

"I want to go out there and march with them," Hardiman said.

Hardiman, the former executive director of the USO of Jacksonville, was one of the 2,000 Marines, sailors, family and friends gathered aboard the base to celebrate 232 years of honor and resilience at the Joint Daytime Ceremony on Thursday morning. The actual Marine Corps birthday is Saturday. New River Air Station will host its ceremony today.

"It never gets old. I get motivated when I come out here," Hardiman said.

The chilly fall winds blew the American and Marine Corps flags carried onto Liversedge Field by the honor guard platoons and color guard assembled to recognize each unit.

The pageantry of historical uniforms marked the wars from the American Revolution through Operation Iraqi Freedom, while the 2nd Marine Division band trumpeted melodies such as "Amazing Grace."

The celebration also recognized troops who are deployed.

"We want them to be a part of this celebration," Camp Lejeune Commanding Officer Col. Adele Hodges said. "It's the tradition of being a Marine."

That tradition is one the Marine Corps has been honored since John A. Lejeune designated the day of recognition for the service in 1921.

A white three-tiered birthday cake (minus the candles) with scarlet and gold trimming was brought onto the field and cut - as is tradition to symbolize the passing of knowledge through generations of Marines - by the oldest and youngest Marine present.

The oldest Marine was Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, 60, general commander of special forces operations.

"I have 38 years of active service, and I'm honored to be in the Marines," he said.

He also commended the support of Jacksonville for recognizing "232 years of the world's best fighting force."

"The United States wants a Marine Corps," he said. "They don't necessarily need one."

The youngest Marine was Pvt. Luis Garcia, 18, of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines.

The Los Angeles native has been serving in the Marine Corps since May and was proud to be attending and taking part in his first Marine Corps birthday celebration.

"It's an honor, not many Marines get this opportunity," he said. "I want to make my unit look good."

Hejlik had words of advice for the younger Marines, like Garcia, who will continue the legacy.

"Seek the best," he told them. "Be a good leader and a good follower."

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The youngest Marine was Pvt. Luis Garcia, age 18,

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The oldest Marine was Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, age 60

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Happy birthday, U.S. Marine Corps
Air station marks Corps' 232 years
Published Friday November 9 2007
By DAN HILLIARD
dhilliard@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531

As the personification of Marine Corps tradition, Master Gunnery Sgt. Allen Dedmon accepted a slice of cake from an officer's saber Thursday at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to celebrate the Corps' 232nd birthday.

To the tune of the Marine Corps hymn, Dedmon, the oldest Marine at the air station at 51, accepted his cake alongside the youngest Marine, 18-year-old Pfc. Michael Turner, before more than 1,000 Marines gathered on a cold and windy parade field.

Together, they represent the unbroken lineage between the current Corps and the continental Corps that was formed Nov. 10, 1775, in Philadelphia's Tun Tavern to combat the forced recruitment of American sailors by the British.

Base commander Col. Robert Lanham addressed the gathered Marines before Dedmon accepted his cake.

"America has its Marines not because it has to have them, but because it wants to have them," he said. "And I think they'll want us for quite a while, so long as we never let them down."

Col. Gregg Brinegar, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 31, also addressed the group.

"Two of every three Marines here today were 14 to 18 years old at the start of the war," he said of the combat in Iraq. "If you look at it, you've accomplished quite a bit in the past four to six years. You've got a lot to be proud about. You can lay claim to something not a lot of Americans can: You're a United States Marine."

Dedmon, an avionics maintenance chief with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 31, said he plays a mentor role to the younger Marines. Dedmon enlisted Sept. 10, 1981. He's been the oldest Marine present for the birthday celebration three years running.

"There are Marines on this air station who have been in the Marine Corps longer than I have, but that life experience makes me a father figure," he said. "We owe it to the younger Marines to be there for them in the absence of their friends and families."

Turner enlisted March 19 as a switchboard operator. He serves with Marine Wing Support Squadron 273.

He is scheduled to make his first deployment to Iraq in August and said he's proud to set the standard for incoming Marines.

"It's definitely a heavy weight on my shoulders, but it's one I'm proud to uphold," Turner said. "I plan on doing that by staying motivated, doing my job as I'm supposed to and taking care of the Marines around me. Honestly, I can't see myself doing anything else right now."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Nov 9, 2007
Marines celebrate 232 years of service

By Robert DeWitt
Staff Writer
TUSCALOOSA | Wearing everything from dress blues to blue jeans, Tuscaloosa area Marines celebrated their beloved corps' 232nd birthday at the 4th and 23rd bar downtown Thursday.

'We stand together in common love of country and corps,' Commandant Jim Burch said as he swore in new members of the Mike Spann Detachment of the Marine Corps League, which organized the celebration.

The ceremony included a traditional cake cutting, in which Burch used a sword to serve a slice of a cake decorated with the Marine Corps emblem to the oldest Marine in attendance.

Rather than eat the cake, the oldest Marine passed it on to the youngest Marine in attendance.

'This is to show that we care for our young Marines before we take care of ourselves,' said Senior Vice Commandant Ray Looney. 'And so it must be.'

Jim Kisgen, a 90-year-old veteran of four World War II Pacific landings, including Saipan and Iwo Jima, accepted the cake from Burch.

'I think there's something different about the camaraderie between Marines,' Kisgen said. 'They've all seen a little action.'

He passed the cake to 18-year-old David Miles, a University of Alabama student from Madison who serves in a Bessemer reserve unit.

'If you look around this room, even though they may not be in uniform, I see at least 60 Marines,' Miles said. 'I'm proud to be among them.

'My life goal was to be a Marine,' Miles said. 'I was raised by a Marine. All I've ever wanted to be was a Marine.'

The third piece went to Johnny Spann, father of Mike Spann, for whom the detachment is named. Mike Spann, an Alabama native, was the first American battle casualty in the war on terror.

The Continental Congress founded the Marine Corps on Nov. 10, 1775. The Marine Corps league chose to celebrate on the Thursday preceding the actual birthday because of conflicts on Saturday.

The Marine Corps' original purpose was to serve as a landing force for the Navy and to serve as security aboard ship. In a day when many sailors were forced into service, the Marines were necessary to keep the ship functioning and the officers safe.

'We kept the sailors in line,' Burch said. 'That's why there's always been this traditional animosity between sailors and Marines. We were the security force and we fought from the riggings. We were snipers and bomb throwers.'

For many years, their main purpose was to maintain order and discipline aboard ship and to engage in ship-to-ship actions. In small units, they took part in fighting during the War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, the Philippines insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion and other hostilities.

But it was during World War I that the Marines were first deployed in large numbers as a land force. Since then, they have maintained a high-profile presence in every conflict the country has been involved in.

Also included in the ceremony was a video of a speech by Gen. James T. Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps and a reading of Gen. John A. LeJeune's 1921 address to the corps.

It was in the 1920s that the Marine Corps began celebrating its birthday annually.

'It began in 1923,' Looney said. 'The first formal birthday ball took place in Philadelphia in 1925. It's quite and occasion. If you're an active duty Marine you wear your dress blues and ribbons. We hope one day to have one here.'

Anyone who served in the Marine Corps or any U.S. Navy corpsman who served with the fleet Marine force is eligible to join the Marine Corps League, Looney said.

At one point Thursday, the ceremonies were halted when an elderly Marine collapsed. A paramedic was on hand and immediately attended to him. He was conscious, responsive and sitting up when an ambulance took him away for treatment.

Ellie