"One, two, three, four...

...United States Marine Corps!"

We're going to do something a bit different today. I'm breaking with the usual way of doing things and am making the same post on both blogs, as I feel the topic is that significant.

10 November 2013 marks the 238th anniversary of the USMC, so this post goes out to all who wear or have ever worn the Eagle, Globe and Anchor insignia. Founded on 10 November 1775 by Samuel Nicholas in Philadelphia, and being credited with having its first recruitment drive in the Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, the Marine Corps began when the Continental Congress formally authorized the formation of two battalions of naval infantry. Thus, a legend in military lore was born.

The Marines are regarded by many as the finest fighting force in the Untited States Armed Forces. Though their mission has changed, the Corps has been there in every conflict the US has ever been involved in, often leading the way and being "the first to fight!" A saying among Marines is that the single most deadly weapon in the World is a motivated Marine and his rifle.

During the World War II era, there was talk of defunding the Marines and disbanding them as a branch of military service. That all changed when five Marines and one Naval Corpsman, in a moment that they considered almost insignificant, made history on a small, ash-covered island in the Pacific.

In response to this photo, the Marine Corps was given new life.

• The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next five hundred years.  [James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy; 23 February 1945 (the flag-raising on Iwo Jima had been immortalized in a photograph by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal)]
   

Thus they were formed, fought, were re-born, and continue to lead the way in the fight today.

"Semper Fi!" Marines, and God bless you. May the United States Marine Corps live forever!

I have a father, and several good friends who are Marines. Even though they no longer serve, everyone knows they will always be Marines. The following photos are of figures crafted by me that were made to honor the Corps and those who are part of it.

Early-War Marine, with an '03 Springfield:

Marine in HBTs island-hopping in the Pacific, armed with a Thompson for close-range firepower:

And finally, one motivated Marine in camos, and with an M-1 Garand: