Today is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States Marine Corps. It’s a day to celebrate and to remember why we are celebrating.
The Marines have always been America’s “kick in the door” force. The Marines’ Hymn begins, “From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli.” In 1794 President Thomas Jefferson asked congress to build six frigates — the first ships in the U.S. Navy — because Jefferson wanted to punish the Barbary Pirates who had taken Americans captive and held them for ransom.
The frigates were built by 1805 and the Marines were ordered to take on the pirates. A young man named First Lieutenant Presley Neville O’Bannon, USMC, commanded a small Marine force that marched about 500 miles through the desert to a successful attack on Derna, Libya. He was the first U.S. officer to command troops overseas.
The curved “Mameluke” sword was presented to Lt. O’Bannon by a Mameluke tribal chief. (The Mamelukes were a tribe of Turkish and Circassian warriors who ruled Egypt before being extinguished by the Ottomans in 1517.) The sword, which is worn by Marine officers when performing ceremonial duties is modeled after the O’Bannon sword. It is the oldest weapon still in U.S. service.
In 1847, the Marines went to the “Halls of Montezuma,” storming into Mexico City and Chapultepec Castle in the first U.S.-Mexican war.
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