Transcript Slide 1
“Since the birth of our nation, our liberty has been purchased by valiant men and women of deep conviction, great courage and bold action; the cost has often been in blood and tremendous sacrifice. As America’s sentinels of freedom, United States Marines are counted among the finest legions in the chronicles of war. Since 1775, Marines have marched boldly to the sounds of the guns and have fought fiercely and honorable to defeat the scourge of tyranny and terror. We are Marines — that is what we do.” - General James T. Conway, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps, 232nd Birthday Message 1900 - China 1950 - Korea 1990 - Persian Gulf 1864 – Washington DC 1983 - Lebanon 1944 - Pavuvu, Russell Island 1942 - Guadalcanal 1968 - Vietnam "From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security." - Major General John A. Lejeune, USMC, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps 1901 - Cuba 1902 - Philippines 2007 - Afghanistan 1944 -Tinian 1944 - Marshall Islands 2003 - Iraq 1943 - Bougainville 2005 - Africa “Each of our storied battles is a link in the long chain that binds all Marines together - from the Continental Marines at Bunker Hill to the Teufelhunden crossing the wheat fields of Belleau Wood. This chain binds us to the Marines on the crest of Mount Suribachi; it passes through the ice and snow of Chosin Reservoir and the steaming jungles of Vietnam, and it anchors firmly today in the sands of Iraq” - General M. W. Hagee, USMC, 33rd Commandant of the Marine Corps, 231st Birthday Message 1918 - France 1945 - Iwo Jima 1950 - Korea 1967 - Vietnam 1898– Puerto Rico 1926 - Nicaragua 1944 - Peleliu 1942 - Samoa "From the individual Marine to our institution as a whole, our model is the thinking and stoic warrior who fights more intelligently than his enemy and is inured to hardship and challenges." - General James L. Jones, USMC, 32nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, 13 June 2001 1950 - Korea ca. 1900 - Philippines 1932 - Nicaragua 2004 - Iraq 1945 - Okinawa ca. 1980 - Okinawa 1944 - Saipan “You can bloody our uniforms, you can fill our hearts with sorrow, but you can't stop us. We will replenish those units, and we will come after you with a terrible resolve.” - General James T. Conway, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Beirut Remembrance Ceremony, 23 October 2008 1966 - Vietnam 2006 - Iraq 1943 - Tarawa 1950 - Korea 1918 - Dominican Republic 1944 - Solomon Islands 1990 - Kuwait 1944 - Roi Island “Only a few Americans choose the dangerous, but necessary, work of fighting our Nation’s enemies. When our chapter of history is written, it will be a saga of a selfless generation of Marines who were willing to stand up and fight for our Nation; to defend those who could not defend themselves; to thrive on the hardship and sacrifice expected of an elite warrior class; to march to the sound of the guns; and to ably shoulder the legacy of those Marines who have gone before.” - General James T. Conway, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps, 2007 Birthday Message