Pet Peeves, Politics, & Potpourri

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[By?Jack Hargis

By the time you read this I will have celebrated the 225th birthday of the U.S. Navy. On 12 October 1775, the continental congress established a Navy consisting of two sailing vessels (each with 8 guns) that immediately captured or sank so many British ships, the King finally conceded defeat.

That brings me to the birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. The two original captains got together one day over a few tankards of grog and decided they needed a small force of men to stand guard on their gang planks, to keep bilge rats and other neer-do-wells off their ships. The captains could also use them as their personal orderlies so the sailors could tend to the important ships work. This led to a discussion on what to call them. They reached a consensus on (M)uscles (A)re (I)ntelligence (N)ot (E)ssentially, hence the acronym MARINE. But there was a deliemma. Where would they find such men? The answer lay in the infamous TUN Tavern in Philadelphia. The two captains went to the TUN?Tavern, dumped a large pile of gold coins on the bar and announced "drinks for everybody as long as the gold lasted".

The captains retired across the street, where several of their biggest sailors were waiting, and let nature take its course inside the tavern. Fortified with liquid courage, the tavern patrons soon started fighting each other until they were either knocked out or passed out. The sailors then came in, drug them out, tossed them in wagons and hauled them to the two ships. As they started to wake up, though still groggy, they were sworn into the United States Marine Corp. That day 235 years ago, 10 November 1775, the official birthday of the USMC. To this day, the TUN?Tavern is still known as the birthplace of the Marines. The TUN?Tavern sponsors Chapter 1 of the Leathernecks Motorcycle Club. You cannot be a member unless you are a Marine or a Navy Corpsman who served with the Fleet Marine Force.

So to my Marine friends, as you get together next month, eating, drinking, dancing and OOHRAHS flying, happy birthday.

BTW, Marines are sometimes called Leathernecks because they used to wear a 3 inch wide thick leather collar around their neck to deflect sword blades.

More trivia: They were nicknamed devil dogs by one our enemies they fought.

Marine Corp children are referred to as devil pup(s). Some of the above from an official Leatherneck website.

Sailors Have More Fun!

Jack Hargis is a columnist for The Randolph County Herald Tribune.