US Marines

What do Lee Marvin, Steve McQueen, George C. Scott, and Gene Hackman all have in common?  They are actors.  They all won Academy awards.  And they are all U.S. Marines. "The Few.  The Proud." were originally formed during the Revolutionary War as the Continental Marines in 1775.  The purpose of this branch of the United States military was to provide landing support for the Continental Navy and was first recruited in Philadelphia…

After the war, the U.S. Marines were broken up and disbanded in 1783 but were reorganized in 1798.  The U.S. Marine Corps Hymn says it all.  Soon after reformation, U.S. Marines fought in and captured Tripoli in North Africa.  During the Mexican- American war, the U.S. Marines were there at the "Halls of Montezuma" guarding the Mexican Presidential Palace.  79,000 served in World War I and almost 500,000 fought in World War II.  Since then they have seen action in Korea, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Viet Nam, and most recently the Persian Gulf and Iraq.  Wherever the United States confronts an enemy, the U.S. Marines are on the front line.

The U.S. Marines’ role as an amphibious unit, so commonly seen in movies storming the beaches, came in World War II.  Names like Wake Island, Guam, Bataan, Corregidor, Midway, Okinawa, and Guadalcanal are part of the U.S. Marine Corps history.  During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a famous photograph of five U.S. Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the United States flag on Mt. Suribachi was taken.

The Marine Corps is the second smallest of the five branches (Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard) of the U.S. military.  In real numbers though, the U.S. Marine Corps is larger than the armed forces of many major nations: the whole British Army is smaller than the Corps.

The U.S. Marine Corps is a versatile combat group and can do the job in a variety of situations faced with different tasks in various combat operations.  Depending on mobility, speed, and self-sufficiency, the marines are the "First to Fight".  The U.S. Marine Corps started out as infantry combat forces serving aboard naval vessels.  They were responsible for security of the ship and its captain and officers, which is a role they still serve.  However, when the action turns nasty, the Marines are there to provide offensive and defensive combat operations and support as well as carrying out amphibious assault.

With a widely held reputation as the one group of soldiers you do not want to go against on the field of combat, U.S. Marines are gung-ho for the job and take a lot of pride in that attitude.  And every one of the U.S. Marines carries the belief that "Once a Marine, Always a Marine".

This was a free article by consumer reports | free consumer reports.

Originally posted 2007-12-12 17:46:35.

Related posts:

1. The US Marines
2. Phoenix