Happy 240th Birthday, U.S. Marines

Please join us in wishing a happy 240th birthday to the USMC. This year, Gen. Robert Neller released this video with the help of Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, Ronald Green, at Marine Barracks, Washington.

The Corps has seen many changes over the century, Green said, “but one thing that hasn’t changed is each Marine’s commitment to contributing to our great legacy.”

The video also honors this year’s 70th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima and provides a retrospective of the Corps’ history, including interviews with several Marine veterans of past conflicts.

In reflecting on this legacy, Neller invoked the 13th commandant of the Marine Corps, Lt. Gen. John Lejeune, who characterized it as “the eternal spirit which has animated our Corps from generation to generation.”

“I want to reinforce this point,” Neller said. “You are the embodiment of that legacy; it’s the very embodiment of who we are and what we will continue to be.”

Neller concluded by wishing Marines a happy birthday, wherever they might be.

“We must remain ready for the next fight, wherever and whenever it is, and we must continue to uphold the legacy of those that have gone before, and we remain Semper Fidelis,” he said. --Matthew L. Schehl, the Marine Corps Times