(Taken from this webpage)
It is a list of things about the Corps that Marines consider better than any other military service, and why.
Best action: Marines invade, and then go home. The Army has to do the occupying.
Best campaign covers: The Smokey Bear hat.
Best emblem: Eagle, Globe and Anchor.
Best Esprit de Corps: Even if you can’t spell it or pronounce it, the Marine Corps has it in spades. One example; when sailors get tattoos, they do it to express their individuality, and their choices range from Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse to raging sea serpents. When Marines get tattoos, they do it to express their solidarity, and choose bull dogs, “Death Before Dishonor,” and “USMC.”
Best Latin Motto: Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful) - not only to the Corps and to the nation, but to each other as well. A Marine is a member of a worldwide brotherhood unlike no others. As they will say: “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”
Best name: You’re a Marine. Not a soldier or a troop. That’s Marine, spelled with a capital “M.”
Best nickname 1: Jarhead
Best nickname 2: Leatherneck
Best nickname 3: Devil Dog; The ultimate compliment was given by our enemy, The German Army in World War I, whose soldiers’ greatest fear was running up against the toughest American fighting men - the Marines. who they called “teufelhunden,” or Devil Dog.
Best recruiting gimmick 1: The Knights-in-Shining-Armor commercials.
Best recruiting gimmick 2: “We’re looking for a few good men.” OK, they left out women. The Corps is looking for a few good women, too.
Best recruiting gimmick 3: “If you have the mettle to be a Marine.”
Best slogan 1: “Once a Marine, Always a Marine.”
Best slogan 2: “Tell That to the Marines.”
Best slogan 3: “Send in the Marines.”
Best duty assignments: Okinawa, Kaneohe Bay, Camp Pendleton, Diego Garcia, Moscow, North Carolina. Plus any ship at sea.
Worst duty assignments: Okinawa, Kaneohe Bay, Camp Pendleton, Diego Garcia, Moscow, North Carolina. Plus any ship at sea.
Most exotic duty assignments: Kuala Lumpur, The White House.
Best fast attack vehicles: LAVs.
Best fighting knife: Ka-Bar.
Best haircut, hands down. You can’t have a bad hair day with a Marine Corps Regulation haircut, and you spend less on shampoo.
Best motivational cry: Ooh-rah! It’s pronounced “Ooh-raw” and NOT Hurrah.
Best phone number: Call 1-800-MARINES and you’ve got the Corps, and if you’re a civilian with the mettle to be a Marine, a recruiter will be happy to sign you up.
Best tradition: The Corps is older than the Republic itself.
Best uniforms:
Dress Blues: They’re the coolest uniforms in any military, worldwide.
Bloused trousers: Another distinctive Marine look that sets the proudest service members apart.
The rest of the Marine sea bag: From the Alphas to the camouflage utilities, uniforms just look better on a Marine than any other service member.
Marines don’t wear dungarees.
Best Unity: Every Marine is a rifleman.
Best unofficial hymn: The Marines’ Hymn
From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli;
We fight our country’s battles in the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom and to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.
Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun.
We have fought in every clime and place where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job, United States Marines.
Here’s health to you and to our Corps, which we are proud to serve.
In many a strife we’ve fought for life and never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy ever look on Heaven’s scenes,
They will find their women sleeping with the United States Marines.
Best War Monument: The Iwo Jima Memorial, Washington, D.C.
Commandant’s House: The oldest occupied residence in Washington, D. C.
Chesty Puller: You’ve got to love a service that has heroes with names like that.
Former Commandant and Mud Marine Al Gray: His official portrait is in cammies. He drank from a four-star canteen cup. Business leaders are so impressed with his Fleet Marine Force Warfighting Manual 1 that they are using it hone their skills for boardroom battles.
Most dangerous airplane: The Marine Harrier. Not a simple science, but luckily more of a danger to the enemy than to Marine Corps flyers.
Most remarkable airplane: The Marine Harrier. No other service’s jets can take off and land on a dime.
Most respect 1: When the Marines pulled out of Haiti and Somalia, the media reported the U.S. military was pulling out as if tens of thousands of Army troops weren’t still in the country.
Most respect 2: When the Corps returned to Haiti after 60 years, an old man on the beach at Cap Haitian said, “Welcome back!”
Mud: You want to see pure joy? Look at a group of Marines after a mud fight.
Poetry in motion: They are weapons, not “g-u-n-s” and if you don’t know the pithy verse that explains that, don’t ask.
Point of the Spear: Out in front, kicking down the door, what the Marines do best.
Separate heads for enlisted and officers: Everywhere else, the officers and enlisteds use the same pot.
Silent Drill Platoon: Just watching them apply their trade makes you want to wear dress blues.
Starch: Clean ‘em up, put ‘em in starched cammies, and they look sharp.
Status: Sailors live and work on ships. Marines go for cruises, then hit the beach
The Docs, Marines’ corpsmen-in-arms: They’re sailors, but they’re as tough as Marines.
Toughest boot camp: San Diego, California. When Navy recruits were still training in San Diego, occasionally they would jump the fence and accidentally land at MCRD. The Marines would keep them a couple of days and when they were sent back, they were glad to be sailors! Corpsmen excluded, of course.
Toughest Drill Instructors: They’re so tough that when the Navy wants to train its officers, who do they call? 1-800-MARINES.
Toughest mascot: The Marine Corps’ is a bulldog, the Navy’s is a goat, the Army’s is a jackass, and the Air Force’s is a bird.
What Marines symbolize: Discipline, courage, honor, commitment, valor, patriotism, and military virtue.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY U.S. MARINE CORPS
November 10, 2004 - 229 year old and counting!
Semper Fi.
Happy Birthday US Marine Corps!
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