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Marine Corps Aircraft Group 31 celebrated a Marine Corps Birthday Ball aboard MCAS Beaufort, Nov. 9. The Guest of honor for the ball was the 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps, retired Gen. James F. Amos.
Before becoming the 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Amos was the Commanding Officer of Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533 and then the Commanding Officer of Marine Aircraft Group 31.
“I am very happy to be back here with MAG-31,” Amos said. “As most of you know I was the Commanding Officer of VMFA(AW)-533, but when I was promoted to general and I received my new orders I had to leave in a little bit of a hurry and I didn’t know when I was going to be back. So I am beyond grateful for the invitation to come and celebrate the Marine Corps 241st Birthday where I called home for a period of time.”
The purpose of the Marine Corps Birthday Ball is to celebrate the creation of the Marine Corps and to gather with fellow Marines to build camaraderie. Marines all around the world gather and celebrate the traditions and heritage built throughout 241 years of service.
“We did not always celebrate the birthday of the Marine Corps with birthday ball,” said Col. Robert Cooper, the Commanding Officer of MAG-31. “Marines would hold Mess Nights or Field Meets to celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday. It was only after Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune directed the celebration of the Marine Corps Birthday would be through birthday ball that the tradition of a ball took hold. That is why the reading of Lejeune’s birthday message to the Marine Corps is read during every birthday ball.”
One tradition that is always constant during a Marine Corps birthday is the cutting of a cake. No matter where a Marine may be, either forward deployed or back in the U.S., some version of a birthday cake will be present. For some Marines, they only get to witness one birthday.
“I found a letter written by a Maj. Edwin Simmons talking about the Marine Corps birthday he and his men spent in Korea,” Amos said. “ He spoke about how the Company Chief Cook approached him about the birthday. The least the men deserve was a cake the chief said. The cooks used white cake mix and baked it in flat sheets then iced it with strawberry jam. The Marines were then called off the line one squad at a time to be fed a three-inch square of cake and read general Lejeune’s birthday message. For most of the Marines, that was their first and last Marine Corps birthday.”
The Marine Corps Birthday Ball is one of the events of the year where Marines get to get together and celebrate the Marine Corps. They get to celebrate the bond the Marine Corps creates and to celebrate the traditions found in it.
“The ball is very important,” said Lance Cpl. Paul Sebastian, an administrative clerk for Marine Wing Support Detachment 31. “Everything we go through, we go through together. The Marine Corps is 241 years of traditions and the ball is the opportunity for Marines to come together and celebrate those traditions, from the cutting of the cake to the reading of general Lejeune’s birthday message.”
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2016 10:17 |
| Story ID: | 215118 |
| Location: | BEAUFORT, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, MAG-31 celebrates Marine Corps birthday with 35th Commandant, by SSgt Benjamin McDonald, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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