Nov 10, 1775: Birth of the U.S. Marine Corps

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History.com

 

 

 

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress passes a resolution stating that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces for the recently formed Continental Navy. The resolution, drafted by future U.S. president John Adams and adopted in Philadelphia, created the Continental Marines and is now observed as the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.

 

Serving on land and at sea, the original U.S. Marines distinguished themselves in a number of important operations during the Revolutionary War. The first Marine landing on a hostile shore occurred when a force of Marines under Captain Samuel Nicholas captured New Province Island in the Bahamas from the British in March 1776. Nicholas was the first commissioned officer in the Continental Marines and is celebrated as the first Marine commandant. After American independence was achieved in 1783, the Continental Navy was demobilized and its Marines disbanded.

 

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Today, there are more than 200,000 active-duty and reserve Marines, divided into three divisions stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Camp Pendleton, California; and Okinawa, Japan. Each division has one or more expeditionary units, ready to launch major operations anywhere in the world on two weeks' notice. Marines expeditionary units are self-sufficient, with their own tanks, artillery, and air forces. The motto of the service is Semper Fidelis, meaning "Always Faithful" in Latin.

 

 

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Marine Corps History

 

On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress passed a resolution stating that "two battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces with the fleet. This established the Continental Marines and marked the birth of the United States Marine Corps. Serving on land and at sea, early Marines distinguished themselves in a number of important operations, including their first amphibious raid on foreign soil in the Bahamas in March 1776, under the command of the Corps' first commandant, Capt. Samuel Nicholas. The 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War and as the last of the Navy's ships were sold, the Continental Navy and Marines disbanded.

Following the formal re-establishment of the Marine Corps on July 11, 1798, Marines fought in conflicts with France, landed in Santo Domingo and conducted operations against the Barbary pirates along the "Shores of Tripoli."

 

Marines participated in numerous operations during the War of 1812, including the defense of Washington at Bladensburg, Md. They also fought alongside Andrew Jackson in the defeat of the British at New Orleans. Following the War of 1812,

232,000 a year later and nearly 250,000 by June 1953. More than half the troops actually served in the operating forces, and the 1st Marine Division and 1st MAW, operationally employed in Korea, were kept up to strength. In the meantime, the 2d Marine Division and 2d MAW reached full strength for their European contingencies. In June 1951 Headquarters activated the 3d Marine Brigade, built around the 3d Marines at Camp Pendleton. In 1952 the brigade expanded to become the 3d Marine Division, and the same year the 3d MAW formed and occupied a new base in Miami. In another important reorganization, Headquarters in 1951 formed an organization known as Force Troops in order to provide the heavy artillery and other combat support and combat service support units necessary to sustain a Marine division in a land war.

 

The three-division/three-wing force structure decreed by the June 1952 passage of the Douglas-Mansfield Act, gave legislative support to the stated roles and missions of the Corps. The defense assumptions and programs of the Eisenhower Administration, however, left the Marine Corps role, and the corresponding basing and deployment strategy, less clearly defined. The emphasis on strategic forces over conventional forces, coupled with domestic economic implications of high defense costs and unbalanced federal budgets, challenged Marine Corps leaders of this period.

 

During the years 1953 to 1955, significant changes in the basing and deployment of Marine forces were realized. The 3d Marine Division deployed from Camp Pendleton to the Far East in the summer of 1953. Based in Japan, the Division followed regimental landings in Japan and Okinawa with a full-dress division landing exercise on Iwo Jima in March 1954. Significantly, the division began redeploying from Japan to Okinawa in 1955 and by February 1956 the Headquarters of the 3d Marine Division was moved to Okinawa where its remains today. Teamed with the 3d Division, the bulk of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, in Japan with headquarters at Atsugi, provided the air portion of a ready U.S. expeditionary force in the Far East. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/history.htm

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1st Marine Division

 

 

 

Unit Profile // October 21st, 2010 // By Marines Magazine Staff

 

Marines with Weapons

Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine

Regiment, 1st Marine Division, conduct

medical evacuation techniques inside

the Camp Pendleton Infantry Immersion

Trainer.

 

The 1st Marine Division is the oldest, largest and most decorated division in the United States Marine Corps.

 

Mission : The 1st Marine Division is a multi-role, expeditionary ground combat force employed as the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. It may provide task-organized forces for assault operations and such operations as may be directed. The 1st Marine Division must be able to provide the ground amphibious forcible entry capability to the naval expeditionary force and to conduct subsequent land operations

in any operational environment.

 

Activated: Dec. 23, 1913 in Philadelphia as the 1st Advance Base Brigade

 

Headquarters Location: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

 

Commanding General: Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills

 

Sergeant Major: Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett

 

Command Master Chief: Master Chief Petty Officer Fausto A. Polanco Jr.

 

Manpower: 22,000 Marines and sailors

 

Components:

Headquarters Battalion

1st Marine Regiment

5th Marine Regiment

7th Marine Regiment

11th Marine Regiment

1st Reconnaissance Battalion

1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion

3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion

1st Tank Battalion

3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion

 

http://marinesmagazine.dodlive.mil/2010/10/21/1st-marine-division/

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Always faithful: Marine veterans tend to hero's grave, cemetery

 

 

By Phil Gast, CNN

updated 8:19 PM EST, Sat November 10, 2012

Linwood Cemetery in Macon, Georgia, fell into disrepair over the years, prompting families and volunteers to clean the site and graves, including that of Marine Sgt. Rodney Davis. Thanks to one of the men Davis saved in Vietnam, veterans have rallied to create a lasting legacy to Davis this Veterans Day weekend.

 

 

Macon, Georgia (CNN) -- A smiling likeness of legendary soul singer Otis Redding greets visitors to the city clerk's office in this central Georgia city. Down the hall, inside the mayor's office, is a portrait of another Macon legend: Rodney M. Davis.

 

Both men were African-Americans of about the same age. Both men died in 1967. Both men are city heroes.

 

Redding and his music are famous worldwide. The story of Davis, who gave his life in Vietnam and became Macon's only recipient of the Medal of Honor, is not so well known, despite two monuments in the city and a U.S. Navy frigate bearing his name.

 

Vietnam, after all, was a few wars ago. Acrimony over the United States' presence there has faded with time, along with much of the bitterness once felt by now-graying warriors.

 

But the loyalty among veterans hasn't faded. Marines never forget their own.

 

Saturday morning, joined by Davis' family, a couple dozen Marines gathered near the grave of the comrade they barely knew, but will never forget. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/09/us/vietnam-veteran-cemetery/index.html?hpt=hp_c1