Pendleton Marines celebrate Corps' 231st birthday

By: SHANNON WINGARD - For the North County Times | Thursday, November 9, 2006 11:04 PM PST ∞

The Marines at Camp Pendleton kicked off their 231st birthday celebration a day early Thursday with a color guard, a symbolic cake-cutting ceremony, and a traditional pageant featuring period uniforms.

The Marine Corps was established Nov. 10, 1775. Hundreds of Marines wearing camoflage or dress blue uniforms, veterans, family members and other guests attended Thursday's celebration, which detailed the long history of Marine Corps tradition.

For the pageant, men and women wore period Marine uniforms ---- from the Revolutionary War to the Iraq war ---- and gave a firsthand description of the history of that period.

Their stories illustrated how the Marine Corps grew to six divisions and five air wings in 1941, and how women, or "Marinettes," were approved to enlist during World War I. Other stories highlighted facts like the first woman to serve in a "combat theater" in 1967 and how the Marines earned the "First to Fight" slogan.

Afterward, Brig. Gen. Mark Bircher, the senior ranking Marine at the ceremony, said the "pageant members tell us about change ---- change in weapons and change in uniforms."

However, he said some things haven't changed throughout the years, including the Marine characteristics of "honor, courage, commitment and duty."

Other Marine traditions Thursday included a symbolic cake-cutting ceremony, with the first piece given to Bircher, the honored guest. The next pieces were given to the oldest active-duty Marine and the youngest, respectively, as is a part of the tradition.

According to Sgt. Major Wayne Bell, who enlisted in the Marines in 1977, the pageant is a way to "preserve our history."

"We love tradition in the Marine Corps," he said.

Robert Murlless, 58, a chief warrant officer, was honored as the oldest Marine at the pageant. He said being a Marine today is "the same, exactly the same" as when he enlisted in 1966.

As the youngest Marine, Pfc. Todd Kelly, 18, said the pageant highlighted the actions of many people who preceded him.

"It is an honor to be surrounded by this. There is a lot of history," said Kelly, who will deploy to Iraq for the first time next year. "It definitely shows me how much I have to represent to uphold the whole history of the Marine Corps."

Anthony Arrum, a member of the local Chapter 493 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, said the pageant helped him reminisce of his years as an active-duty Marine.

"It brings back memories," said Arrum, who retired as a gunnery sergeant in 1981. "I have been on that field many times in formation."

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