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Most of the time, being a Marine is just kind of miserable by design. Grueling hours, treatment, food, haircuts and overall vibes can be a huge bummer. However, one day a year, Marines celebrate their birthday, and it is a magical day of jubilant celebration and wonder.
I’ve heard that the other branches have birthdays as well, but no one cares. The Marine Corps Birthday is basically a national holiday at this point, and the Marine Corps Birthday Ball is a tradition of legend that all other branches seek to emulate (but fail).
At least once a year, being a Marine is awesome.
Happy 249th Birthday, Marines.
If you happen to be at Camp Pendleton today, swing by the main PX to say what’s up to yours truly.
I spent a lot of time with the Marines in Iraq, despite being Army. In a stroke of Irony, I now work at the Five-Sided Good Idea Factory now, which means that for our November 10th, we had the Commandant himself at the ceremony, free cake, and two still living guys who had been at Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima.
But because the FSGDI is right under the flight path for Washington National Airport, every 60 seconds the Commandant’s speech was drowned out by an Airbus or Boeing going by overhead.
Felt like being back in Iraq.