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Sunday, November 10, 2013

BIRTH OF THE MARINE CORPS

November 10, 2013

USMC BORN 238 YEARS AGO TODAY

Philadelphia (JFK+50) The United States Marine Corps celebrates its 238th birthday today having been created by a resolution passed by the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775.

Captain Samuel Nicholas formed the two battalions as naval infantry.

Although the resolution, drafted by John Adams of Massachusetts, created the Corps, it was a bill signed by President John Adams in July 1798 that made the USMC a permanent military force.

The Corps, which has served in every major American conflict, is justly proud of its most famous action in the War with the Barbary Pirates in which they captured Tripoli.

"From the halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our Nation's battles
On the land and on the sea."

The Marines Hymn

In a speech at the Marine Recruiting Department in San Diego on June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy said...

"The old Corps may have been a great Corps, but the new Corps is just as good."


JFK Greets Marine and Family
Cherry Point Marine Air Station
North Carolina (1962)
Photo by R.L. Knudsen
JFK Library Image

FIRST LADY OF THE WORLD LAID TO REST 51 YEARS AGO TODAY 

Hyde Park (JFK+50) Eleanor Roosevelt, who died at the age of 78, was laid to rest 51 years ago today, November 10, 1962, in the rose garden of the Roosevelt estate beside her late husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Funeral services, held at St. James Church, were attended by President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy.

Upon receiving news of Mrs. Roosevelt's death, the President issued the following statement:

"One of the great leaders in the history of this country has passed.  Her loss will be deeply felt by all those who admire her tireless idealism.  She has been an inspiration and a friend."

After FDR's death, Mrs. Roosevelt was appointed as a delegate to the United Nations by President Harry S Truman.

She served in that capacity from 1945 to 1952 during which time she chaired a committee which issued "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and earned the title "First Lady of the World".



                     Eleanor Roosevelt
                         FDR Memorial
                     Washington, D.C.
         Photo by John White (2003)