Marine Corps Birthday Ball

By MIDN 1/C Yanni Hronas

The Marine Corps Birthday is celebrated every 10th of November. This year the Marine Corps celebrated its 233rd birthday. The Marine Corps marks every birthday celebration with a Marine Corps Birthday Ball, which has many traditional aspects to it that bring Marines together through tradition and camaraderie.

Every year the Marine Options at our unit, just like the Navy Options, attend a Birthday Ball. This Ball is held to commemorate the birth of the United States Marine Corps. Normally our unit will attend the Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the local Reserve Unit. However, this year we decided to put on our own ball. This was a new venture for the fourth class Marine Options who experienced the birthday ball for the very first time.  This also afforded the first class Marine Options the opportunity to setup a function as storied and important as this. The fourth class Marine Options got all the experiences they would have had they been to the Reserve Ball.  Tried and true staples of every ball are the reading of the birthday messages, the cutting of the cake, and the P.O.W/MIA table, to name a few. This experience really brings home the espirit de corps, the brotherhood, and the history of the Marine Corps, and not just to the new Marine Options but to all who attend the event. 

The event turned out much better then one could have expected, ensuring the legacy of our Corps continued growth.  The Midshipmen experienced one of the many traditions of the Marine Corps and had a lot of fun doing it. Events such as these pull the Marine Options together which help to mold and form that bond of camaraderie that is one of the hallmarks of service in the Marine Corps.