Veterans, service members celebrate 247th birthday of Marine Corps in Palm Springs
Thursday, November 10th marks 247 years since the United State Marine Corps was established.
Locally, veterans and service members across the Coachella Valley are honoring those who dedicated and continue to dedicate their lives to service.
“Anybody that’s been in the Marine Corps will tell you, your life changes when you become a Marine," said Edward Corrick, a Marine veteran.
In 1775, the Corps was born out of a Philadelphia tavern during the American Revolutionary War and have continued to serve every day since then.
“Everything that Marine’s stand for, everything that we strive to be as an individual, as a group team, this is what the birthday stands for. Every, every tradition that we do, we do in the birthday," said Robert Gary who served in Desert Storm in the early 1990's.
At the American Legion Post 519 in Palm Springs, local veterans came together reminiscing about their time in the service.
“How to look out for somebody else, before you look out for yourself. You know, there's always somebody that's next to you that that needs you more than you need, you know, something for yourself," Corrick added.
Valley resident Clinton Hollins served 20 years as a Marine.
“In the military, you have to defend this country for our way of life. So I figured I'd go into Marine Corps because if I had to go to combat, I'm ready for combat," Hollins explained.
Although he’s no longer an active duty Marine, Hollins continues to work with veterans everyday.
“We make sure that the American Legion, the VFW.... organizations, they are there fighting for us to have the option to do what we're doing right now. And again, get the benefits that we're doing. My job now is help all these young veterans out here, understand that they have benefited from being in the service.”
Despite all of them having their own busy lives, they say this is the one day each year they can count on being together. A bond they say can never be broken.
"The Marine Corps may be a small amount of time in your life, but it's a very important time in your life," said Justin Pellegrino, a Marine veteran. "When you get together on this day with other Marines, even if you haven't seen him in a year, it's just important. It's important to get together again, it's important to go back to the roots."
Friday is Veteran's Day. You can find a full list of Veteran's Day events here.
