Happy 228th Birthday Marines!

This year we celebrate the 228th anniversary of the founding of our Corps. As always, it is an occasion for remembrance, proud traditions, and joyful camaraderie. The events of the past year have called for great sacrifices from many Marines and their families. While the Global War on Terrorism will continue to demand the best from each of us, it is important that we join with our fellow Marines, families and friends to celebrate our Corps' special culture and unique warrior ethos.

This past year, Marines demonstrated once again that they are the most important entity on any battlefield. Lethal weapons and advanced technologies provide us unique advantages, but educated warriors ultimately determine victory in combat not machines. During Operations IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, our small unit leaders' skills, adaptability and flexibility produced victory on uncertain and at times chaotic battlefields. We proved once again the power of integrated ground-air-logistics teams as well as the importance of every Marine being first and foremost a rifleman.

Our special spirit is evident not only in battle; it is evident in the faithful performance of demanding duties by countless Marines at home and abroad. Every Marine makes a vital contribution to the ability of our Corps to project and sustain credible combat power. Moreover, the willingness and readiness of all Marines to accept and accomplish any mission is central to our success and a hallmark of our warrior ethos. The culture that defines the Marine Corps is nurtured by our traditions. In celebrating our heritage, we strengthen the linkages to a glorious history and recommit ourselves to upholding the standards and values given to us by past generations.

In commemorating our 228th anniversary, remain true to the spirit of the occasion. Reflect on our fallen with deep respect, observe our traditions with justifiable pride, take care of one another, and of course, celebrate those special bonds that exist among United States Marines.

Customs and Traditions

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Parade Precedence

The rationale behind the present parade precedence structure appears to be based more on custom than an any documented set of criteria. The majority of texts, manuals, and guides on the subject of military and naval customs and traditions appear to cite service seniority as the determining factor in deciding the precedence of forces in parades.

The Marine Officer’s Guide, section 1823, states “To avoid conflicts at parades or ceremonies, the places of honor are allocated in order of Service seniority…” Likewise, in Military Customs and Traditions, it is stated that “Precedence among military units very much as among people - is normally determined by age.”

In theory, this criteria for establishing the parade precedence of the various armed forces would seem to be very straightforward and easily comprehendable. However, in practice this is not the case. There exists among the various branches of the service a divergence of opinion on the issue of dates which mark the beginnings of their respective branches.

Service seniority can be interpreted in a number of ways. For example, one could trace the origins of the various branches in their respective dates when the Continental Congress passed initiating resolutions. Using this criteria we could find the Army being established in June 1775, the Navy in October 1775, and the Marines on 10 November 1775.

However, seniority of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps is obscured by the divergent elements of the intentions of the Continental Congress as compared to the realization of those intentions. Although the intention of the Congress to established an Army is apparent in several resolutions of June 1775, the realization of those intentions was not effected until 1 January 1776 when General Washington states in his orderly book, “This day giving commencement to the new Army which in every point of view is entirely Continental.”

Likewise, the Navy which the Congress created by resolution in October 1775 was not to be realized until several months later. The process of procuring and outfitting ships as well as enlisting and commissioning personnel was a time-consuming one. The commander in chief of the Navy and other officers were not commissioned until 22 December 1775.

The Marine Corps, on the other hand, even though established by resolution on 10 November 1775, was actually a force in readiness before the Army or the Navy. Samuel Nicholas was commissioned a Captain of Marines on 28 November 1775, a month before the first officer of the Continental Navy was commissioned. Indeed, the Marine Corps’ claim to being the oldest integral force in being results primarily from fortunate circumstances. The Corps was much smaller and more closely knit than either of the other services, and its origin was not complicated by the existence of provincial and local forces already in the field. Thus, the Continental Marine force was all regular Marine from the beginning during the period when the Army was an amorphous mass of mixed Continentals and militia, and the Navy lacked ships. The Marine Corps appears, therefore, to be the first truly “federal” armed services branch.

The question of seniority of the armed services is further confused by the fact that nearly all of the original Colonies placed militia, ships, and troops serving as Marines in action at the opening of hostilities, before the establishment of the Continental Congress. It could be argued that these forces, having been taken under Continental pay and control, constituted the beginning of the American Army, Navy, and Marines.

Thus, it seems that no definitive case can be made for establishing the relative seniority of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. In fact, the only facts that correspond with the present parade order of Army, Marine Corps, and Navy respectively, are the dates when their first officers were commissioned, in June, November, and December of 1775. It appears that the present order of parade precedence has evolved over the years, perhaps initially based on early opinions of the actual dates of origin of the services. In any case, the present order of parade precedence has become one of our foremost military customs and as the foregoing has indicated, there appears to be little evidence to support any change in that order. The present order of parade precedence is indicated in DoD Directive 1005.8 as Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Therefore, by analogy, the order of display of colors should be in the same order.

Reference Section
History and Museums Division

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THE FLAG-RAISING AT IWO JIMA!!!
Morning, 1020, on 23 February 1945, Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, our national colors raised for the first time ever over the Japanese Empire!

The combat patrol of 40-men of Easy Company 2/28, 5th Marine Division, led by 1/Lt Harold G. Schrier USMC. See Gunny G's sites & forums for the story of Sgt Ray Jacobs, USMC (Ret.), who for 57 years went unrecognized as the radioman in Sgt Lou Lowery's series of photos of the actual flagraising on Iwo Jima (not the "replacement" flag photo shot by Joe Rosenthal later that same day to become almost instantly famous).
WHO RAISED THAT FLAG ON IWO JIMA?
(The following is from the book, Iwo Jima..., by Marling/Wetenhall)
The answer may surprise even long-time Marines who think they know their Marine Corps history...)

"...on February 24 when Schrier was notified, "Request you designate one member group of flag raisers report aboard Eldorado (AGC 11) early morning 25 February.Purpose news broadcast.

Schrier sent his second in command of the original patrol--PltSgt Ernest Ivy "Boots" Thomas.

At 0430 the next morning, Thomas found himself aboard the ship in the presence of Admiral Turner and General Howlin' Mad" Smith. He was then interviewed by Don Pryor of CBS, who, microphone in hand, introduced him as "a modest but tough 20-year old fighting man from Tallahassee," leader of the Marine platoon that captured Suribachi, "the first American in history who has ever raised Old Glory over a part of the Japanese Empire."

A stunned pause. "No, Mr. Pryor," Thomas interjected, "I don't want to give that impression. The honor belongs to every man in my platoon. Three of us actually raised the flag--Lieutenant Harold G. Schrier, our company executive officer, Sergeant H.O. Hansen of Boston, and myself. But the rest of the men had just as big a part in it as we did."

Thomas continued to point out that although he felt "mighty proud," he did not consider himself a hero, or that he had done anything that the others hadn't also done."
(PltSgt Thomas, speaking to the media and Navy/Marine Corps top brass just a couple days after the flag raising on Iwo Jima!)

THE VANDEGRIFT REVELATIONS

The following is from Tedd Thomey's Immortal Images, A Personal History of Two Photographers and the Flag Raising On Iwo Jima, Naval Institute Press, 1996 "

The Vandegrift revelations surfaced in a book about Iwo Jima published in the spring of 1995. Albee and Freeman present evidence that, over a period of 2 1/2 years, from early 1945 to September 1947, General Vandegrift laid down a policy that suppressed issuance or recognitionof any of the Marine Corps' Iwo Jima photography that might have diminished the uniqueness of the Rosenhtal classic.1" "

...The man most affected by this policy was Sgt Lou Lowery, the Leatherneck magazine photographer who had shot the photo of the first flag raising. Genaust was also affected because the commandant's office used the policy to reject all efforts to honor the sergeant posthumously for his motion picture achievement..." "

...Vandegrift decreed that Leatherneck could not publish any of the Suribachi photographs that Lowery shot on 23 February 1945, including the first flag raising. The decree remained in effect until late 1947, when the magazine came under increasing pressure--much of it from an angry Lowery himself--to publish his photos...."

"...Albee and Freeman obtained some of their data on 28 December 1992 in interviews with former WO Norman T. Hatch, the 5th Divisionphoto section director....Hatch...received orders to leave Iwo Jima and report to the commandant in Washington...." "

...The commandants who served after Vandegrift let the Rosenthal photograph speak for itself and made no effort to censor the work of any of the other Suribachi photographers..."

1. Albee and Freeman, Shadow of Suribachi, 83--90

Dick Gaines GySgt USMC (Ret.) 1952-72

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