Today we celebrate the 250th anniversary of founding of the United States Marine Corps – aka – the ‘Marine Corps Birthday’ that will be celebrated by both active-duty and former Marines the world over.
I’m not going to write about the Corps’ glorious history of defending America and its ideals. I’m sure our president, Donald J. Trump and the Marine Corps Commandant, General Eric M. Smith, will handle those duties far better than I ever could.
All branches of the U.S. Armed Forces have birthdays, but none are celebrated with the same reverence and pride as that of the United States Marine Corps. For Marines, November 10th isn’t just a date on the calendar — it’s the most important day of the year. The Marine Corps Birthday isn’t merely remembered; it’s honored, cherished, and celebrated as a reaffirmation of who we are and what we stand for. That’s what makes it different from every other service
Anyone who’s donned the uniform of a United States Marine understands that the Corps is a brotherhood, and unless one has lived it, is impossible to truly comprehend. There’s something almost mystical about it — a bond that defies time, distance, and change. And in my own case, as the years pass and my Nomex flight suit has long been stowed away, whenever Marines who once flew and fought together meet again, it’s as though the years vanish.
The stories start to flow, laughter fills the room, and for a few precious hours, it feels like the old “O”-Club at Marble Mountain Air Facility— loud, irreverent, and alive with that unmistakable energy that only Marines understand.
Flying helicopters in combat does something a day-at-the-office cannot. It forges a bond deeper than just friendships. In the chaos of combat every man learns that his life quite literally depends on the others — the crew chief who keeps the bird flying, the gunners with .50-cals on the port and starboard sides of the bird, and the wingman orbiting overhead in case the bird gets into trouble spiraling into the hot LZ.
Many years ago, Hall-of-Fame ballplayer (and former Marine fighter pilot) Ted Williams once said, “The greatest team I was ever a part of was the U.S. Marine Corps.” Combat has a way of putting the world in perspective. When we flew together in Vietnam, we had one goal – to support those “grunts” on the ground. And in doing so, we experienced each other’s fear, courage, humor, and heart — and that kind of trust, once earned, becomes eternal. That bond is more than nostalgia, more than a brotherhood. It’s an identity.
For a time, we were all a part of something larger than ourselves — the squadron, the mission, the Corps. We belonged to a fraternity that spoke its own language, shared its own gallows humor, and lived by an unspoken code: No one gets left behind.
And when former squadron mates reunite, the memories come roaring back like the sound of rotors spooling up — familiar, powerful, alive. It’s not that time has stopped; it’s that what we shared transcends it.
In civilian life, few things ever come close. The world moves on, people talk about teamwork, but only those who’ve been “in the arena” know what it means to trust others completely. Reunions aren’t about reliving the past — they’re about reconnecting with the men who knew you at your best and your worst, and who would fly on your wing today if it came down to it.
It’s interesting when we gather some 50 plus years later how we don’t have to explain much because they already know. Interesting too, as the years roll by (and my former squadron mates are 80 like me) those bonds remain, perhaps even stronger.
The stories may get polished, but the truth behind them never changes. Once upon a time we flew together, we stood the watch and we belonged to something sacred — a squadron of Marines bound not by orders, but by honor and shared experience.
So, when the old HMM-263 “Thunder Chickens” gather again and raise our glasses and tell our stories, it’s the camaraderie, the laughter and the brotherhood that comes to the fore. Because what we are celebrating aren’t memories — it’s brotherhood. It’s the kind of loyalty and love that can only be born from shared danger, sealed in trust, and kept alive by time.
Quote of the day: “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. Marines don’t have that problem.” – Ronald Reagan