· Marines take the right of the line
or head of the column when in formation with elements of the
other sea services (i.e., the Navy and the Coast Guard, not
to mention NOAA).
· All Marine posts have a bell, usually
from a decommissioned ship of the Navy.
· In the US Navy, when "Abandon Ship"
is ordered, the last person to leave the vessel before the captain
is his Marines orderly.
· On a warship, Marines do not man
the rail.
· Whatever the regulations say, Marines
do not use umbrellas.
· The Marine Hymn is the oldest official
anthem of any U.S. military service.
· The Marines always stand at attention
during the playing of the Marine Hymn.
· The Marine Corps March, "Semper Fidelis"
by J.P. Sousa, is the only march authorized by Congress for
a particular service.
· The "Mameluke" Sword, first adopted
in 1826, is the weapon with the longest continual service in
the U.S. Armed Forces.
· In the Marines, the phrase "I wish..."
or "I desire..." uttered by a senior is considered an order.
· The crowns of Marine officer's service
caps are decorated with an embroidered quatre foil, a heritage
of the days when such designs helped Marines in the rigging
identify their officers on deck below.
· Since 1850 Marine sergeants have
been the only NCOs in the U.S. Armed Forces to have the privilege
of carrying swords on ceremonial occasions, a weapon of a pattern
that makes it the second oldest weapon.
· Officers and NCOs of the Marine Corps
wear scarlet piping on their trousers, said to honor the blood
shed by the Marines who stormed Chapultepec Castle in Mexico
City on 13 September 1847, and traditionally called the "Blood
Stripe".
· In combat Marines never leave behind
wounded comrades, and attempt to recover their dead as well.
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