Ahhh yes.  Today is the 234th birthday of the Marine Corps.  I don't think it's any coincidence that the Corps started in a bar, do you?

Whether you call them gyrenes, jarheads, leathernecks, devildogs, husband/wife, son/daughter or boyfriend/girlfriend, they are devastatingly good looking in their dress blues, no?

Now, the Marine Corps has many traditions and the one most closely associated with THE BIRTHDAY is the Birthday Ball.

I have attended plenty of Birthday balls and although these fetes start off as formal, they don't end that way.  I could make the post about Ball antics, but I would like to refrain.

Even if there is no Birthday Ball, there is always a cake cutting ceremony.  The oldest and the youngest Marines in attendance receive the first two pieces. 

Marines greet each other on this day with a hearty "Happy Birthday" as if it were their own and in a very real way, it is.

I suppose I could go on and on about why I love working with so many of these amazing people, why I love the traditions of the Corps, why I love their loyalty to their fellow Marines, and why I love each one I have had the honor of calling friend. 

 Maybe another day...

Today, I'll just say,"Happy Birthday" to the Marines and the people who love them.