Today we stand in awe to salute the institution that has done so much to secure America’s freedom since 1775.
In the photo above, Kilo (an English bulldog) and a suitably large cake celebrate the 230th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton. The English bulldog is the unofficial mascot of the Marines (more here).
In the photo above, Marines Ira Hayes, Franklin Sousley, John Bradley, Harlon Block, Michael Strank and Rene Gagnon raise the flag on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, February 23, 1945 (more here). God bless ’em all.
UPDATE: Thanks to the many readers who have written to remind me that John Bradley was a Navy Corpsman “dressed as a Marine without any indicia of hospital corpsmanship, reason being, the Japanese would let him gather a crowd to rescue wounded, and then pick off all the group – 4-6 vs. just the one, so Bradley dressed as a combatant” (quoting reader J. Michael Amis of Dallas).
MORE: Retired Marine gunnery sergeant and reader Charles Vidsens adds:
Just to correct a minor misrepresentation in your post, all Navy corpsmen attached to USMC units wear Marine uniforms. This has been the case since at least the Second World War and maybe before then. Navy corpsmen serving at medical facilities aboard Marine bases often wear Navy uniforms. When directly inserted into a Marine unit the corpsmen are required to wear Marine uniforms. Once directly inserted into a Marine unit they go where the Marines go and do what the Marines do. They eat and sleep with their unit. On their uniforms they wear their appropriate Navy rank insignia but otherwise they are dressed as Marines, including wearing of the Globe and Anchor. In a combat uniform the Navy rank insignia would not be noticeable except at extremely close range. Navy corpsmen serving with Marine units are highly respected by those with whom they serve.
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