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nWaynback on this day in 1775, before the USA was the USA, thenContinental Congress passed a resolution creating two battalions ofnContinental Marines. They would serve as landing troops for thenContinental Navy, and they would do the ship-to-ship fighting andnprovide shipboard security.
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ThenMarines helped win the Revolutionary War, and they were disbandednafter the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. But the new nationnwasn’t without Marines for long; in the 1790s the Marine Corps wasnreestablished. One thing that early Marines did was to fight againstnBarbary pirates along “the shores of Tripoli.”
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nThisnbattle of Tripoli is especially famous because of the Marines’ Hymn,nthe oldest official song of the US military. The song starts:
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n Fromnthe Halls of Montezuma, Tonthe shores of Tripoli, Wenwill fight our country’s battles Innthe air, on land, and sea…
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nThenMarine Corps birthday is celebrated with a traditional ball, ancake-cutting ceremony, and the singing of the Marines’ Hymn. At thenball, civilians (people not in the military) will wear “black tie,”na phrase that means men in tuxedos and women in formal evening wear.nThose who are in the military will come to the ball in militaryn“dress” uniforms”
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n Marines:nEvening Dress B
n or Blue Dress A
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n Army:nArmy Blue (bow tie) Navy:nDinner Dress Blue Jacket or Dinner Dress Blue AirnForce: Mess Dress
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nDidnyou know…?
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nThenmotto of the Marines is often stated as “Semper Fi,” but thenLatin is actually “semper fidelis.” It means “always faithful”nor “always loyal.”
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nAlsonon this date:
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Sesame Street’s birthday
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nBiologist Francis Maitland Balfour’s birthday
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nArea Code Day
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