Happy 243rd Birthday United States Marine Corps

Happy 243rd Birthday United States Marine Corps 10 Nov. 1775 - 2018

For God and country, Semper Fi. I was asked this evening to share a bit of the distinguished history of the USMC and the 100th anniversary of World War I – especially the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood.

I was the keynote speaker at the 243rd Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps 1775-2018. Saturday, 10 November 2018, 1730-2130 (5:30-9:30 pm.) The 4th District of the Department of Maryland, Marine Corps League annual birthday ball at the American Legion Carroll Post 31, 2 Sycamore St., Westminster, MD  21157.

Much of my research into the history of the Marines dates back to the classes I took in the summer of 1972 in Quantico Virginia. I still prize my tattered, torn, and worn 1970 "Concise History of the Unites States Marine Corps 1775-1969," by Captain William D. Parker, USMCR.

For those of you who have served or are currently serving: thank you. Your dedication and service to our country is deeply appreciated. Indeed, that appreciation is the purpose of having a Marine Corps Ball – in addition to the not so minor detail of following Gen. John A. Lejeune's Nov. 1, 1921, Marine Corps Order No. 47 to have a yearly birthday celebration.

Any discussion of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI must include the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood; which raged for nearly a month, June 1 through June 26, 1918. Many historians consider the battle of Belleau Wood to be the beginning of the end of WWI. The introduction of the Marines in the war effort had a direct impact on the successful conclusion of the hostilities.

The Marine nickname of 'devil dog' can be traced back to the Battle of Belleau Wood. The German officers referred to the Marines as the "Teufel Hunden," which is German for "Devil Dogs," in their field reports. Exhausted, outnumbered, and outgunned, the Marines refused to yield.

On November 11, 2018, we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917. 

Approximately 62,000 Marylanders served, 2,000 died, including 31 from Carroll County. According to my friend and fellow historian, Judge Joe Getty, at the time of the war, Carroll County had a "population of only 34,000; 1,200 men and women served with the armed forces. Of those, 14 were killed in action or died of their wounds, twenty died of disease or accidents and two committed suicide."

These young men gave their lives and their future in two military operations that changed the world.

Happy Birthday Marines. For Corps and Country, Semper Fidelis.