Us Marines

History of the Marines

What do Drew Carey, Gene Hackman, and Lee Harvey Oswald all have in common? They are all, The Few. The Proud. The Marines. Like these young men, many people after high school join one of the many branches of the military. From the U.S. Bureau of Labor, nine out of ten high school graduates go into the military. However with the Marine Corps being the smallest of the branches, only one-fifth of them become Marines. In 2006, according to the Recruit Depot Parris Island for Marines, 99.9% of the students there were high school graduates. Of the 4,420 recruits in 2006, the average age for a Marine was 19.6. Since the branches were formed, the Marine Corps has developed into a military branch that is greatly respected for its achievements and responsibilities.

The Marines As A Whole

Unquestionably, the marines were very basic and underdeveloped in their earlier days. The USMC, or better known as the United States Marine Corps, is one of the five main branches of the United States military. The Marines Corps started out being known as the Continental Marines (“United States Marine Corps” 4). The Continental Marines were born November 10, 1775 at Tin Tavern in Pennsylvania. Due to the act of July 11, 1798, the Marines were formed in place of them under the constitution. They were first formed because of America being in debt. At the time, the United States was in a naval war with France (Metcalf 343). The marines have many allies and foes throughout the branches of military. The United States Navy is said to be the “big brother” of the U.S. Marines out of the other military branches. Most of the support that the Marines get is from this fine group of men. Early marines served as gunners, mechanics or just crewmen on naval vessels. “In the Civil War their services were almost entirely on board vessels of the Navy” (Metcalf 343). The Marines courageously served in every war through the nineteenth century. Unlike early Marines, they now strive in improving their combat, training, and physical fitness.

Like Today’s Marines, they have many traditions that they still abide by. The Birth of the Marines has been a tradition that has long been celebrated. The birth date of the Marines is 10 November of every year. On this day, the first slice of cake goes to the oldest Marine present and the second piece goes to the youngest present. Besides this custom, the Marine Corps Order “Forty-Seven” is also read. In the order “Forty-Seven”, it summarizes Marine Corp traditions; the Marines mission statement, and the history of the Marines. The Marine Hymn is a traditional song played. It is actually the oldest official song played in the U.S. Armed Forces. The most popular of the mottos in the Marines is “Semper Fidelis” (“United States Marine Corps” 5). This is Latin for “always faithful”; the motto was adopted in 1868. Another of the most important Marine traditions is their signature emblem. This emblem consists of a rare crested eagle, a globe, and an anchor. The eagle stands for the pride the Marines have in the United States. The globe stands for global service. The anchor stands for maritime tradition; meaning human experience at sea (“United States Marine Corps”18). These are just a few of the ways the Marines show Pride in their nation.

Another key factor in the history of the Marines was some of the statistical numbers. Many marines in the past have risked their everyday life to fight for their country. In the Marine’s earlier days, the recruiting levels were severely lower than today’s. Between the years of 1798 and 1856 “’…the U.S. Marines Corps seldom exceeded 5,000 officers and men…”’(Millet 413). Most of these men that did enroll were based in ships and used as emergency cannoneers, or cannon gunners (Millet 413). These numbers just show Americans how desperate they were at times for recruits. “ The post war effort to reduce the size and limit the mission of the Marine Corps was prohibited”(Bartlett 417). The Marines thought that their current size of their group was too large, at the time of World War II, but when they went to condense the size, their orders were outlawed. Over the years, the amount of recruited Marines has fluctuated. In the beginning of the 1950’s, the U.S. realized that the Marines were two to three times shorter on people than they should have been. After this was realized, they began paying more attention to their reserve programs by introducing volunteer groups with more pay but also longer training than before. As for today’s Marines, America has approximately 180,000 on active duty and 40,000 in the Marine reserves. Every year approximately 1,600 new Marines are entered as officers and 38,000 are accepted and trained to be one. So all in all, the United States army size has fluctuated