USMC Birthday

American Legion Auxiliary Unit 281 will be presenting a wreath at the Clock Tower in Mt. Juliet on Tuesday, November 10, at 12:30 pm.

Please come celebrate with us

For more than a century, the Corps recognized July 11 as its birthday, often marking the day with little fanfare, according to the Marine Corps History Division. That changed in 1921, when Maj. Edwin North McClellan, who led the Corps’ Historical Section, recommended that the commandant, Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune, restore the original Nov. 10 founding date. Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order 47 on Nov. 1, 1921. The order summarizes the Corps’ history, mission and traditions and directs every command to read it aloud each Nov. 10, a tradition Marines still follow.

The first Marine Corps Birthday Ball likely took place in Philadelphia in 1925, according to the History Division. In 1952, Commandant Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd Jr. formalized the birthday celebration across the Corps and outlined the cake-cutting ceremony Marines still follow. Traditionally, the first piece of cake goes to the guest of honor. The second piece goes to the oldest Marine in the room, who then passes it to the youngest Marine, representing the transfer of wisdom, history and the enduring brotherhood of the Corps to the next generation.

The birth of the Marines wasn’t a grand, meticulously planned enterprise. It was a bold wartime initiative that, according to Marine Corps tradition, took root in a local tavern. Yet, from those humble beginnings grew a fiercely proud military branch bound by an unbreakable ethos.

Today, the Marine Corps birthday is more than a party; it is a sacred time for reflection. It gives Marines a chance to honor the Devil Dogs who made the ultimate sacrifice, reconnect with their brothers and sisters in arms and share the memories that bind them together forever.

For Blue Star Families, the history of the Marine Corps is an everyday reality shaped by deployments, frequent relocations and the unique tempo of Marine life.

When that cake is passed from the oldest to the youngest Marine on Nov. 10, it honors not just the warfighters on the front lines, but the resilient spouses, children and support networks who hold down the home front.