Copyright The Boston Globe
The event featured a ceremonial cake cutting, a time-honored tradition where the first piece is given to the oldest Marine present, 104-year-old Louis Tanzer, who fought in World War II. Tanzer then passed the piece to the youngest Marine present, John Daly, 19, who just graduated last week. The event celebrates the history of the Marine Corps, which was formed on Nov. 10, 1775, by the Constitutional Congress during the American Revolution. “Without us, there’d be no country, if you think about the Navy and the Army, [they] all celebrated their 250th birthday this year. And so without those three branches, there would not be a country,” said Patrick McMahon, 64, who was a peacetime combat engineer and left as a corporal in 1984, then serving as a police officer for 28 years. The Marine Corps Birthday Ball is not only a celebration of the history of the Marines, but also of the memories of service that they share with one another. “Hearing our anthem played, and I get misty,” Ferris said. “Yeah, I’m old, so it brings up a lot of old memories, and we think of the guys that we’ve lost, and we look at the young kids that are here, that, God willing, they’ll come home.” Tom Lyons, a Vietnam combat veteran, first hosted the luncheon in Boston 38 years ago with just 17 other Marines. Now, the event has grown into a full-scale, 150-table ball where attendees were served a lunch of steak with mashed potatoes and green beans. Lyons was honored with the Distinguished Service Award, a high-ranking military award for Navy and Marine Corps members. General Joseph F. Dunford received the Ted Williams Globe Award. During his acceptance speech, Dunford honored the motto of the Marines, “Semper fidelis” which means “always faithful.” “We are all proud of that motto, and we’re also proud of the fact that we never leave another Marine behind. And most of us today are just enjoying each other’s company and raising a class and celebrating the Corps, and that’s a good thing to do,” Dunford said. “But I also would just ask you, during this month of November to think about those brains that aren’t in rooms like this, that may be outside and still be literally left behind, and make a commitment to do what you can do to take care of our fellow Marines.” McMahon, who’s grandfather fought in the Korean War, said the camaraderie and the community is what makes the Marines different from other branches. “Anybody will tell you, you can’t join the Marine Corps. You have to become a Marine. You can join the Army, join the Navy, joining a force, but you have to become a Marine,” McMahon said. “And so that’s the difference, I think, in all the branches, nothing against them that differentiates us from them.” Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Christopher Mahoney also spoke at the event, honoring the families who have lost someone, and spoke directly to not only the Marines in the room, but also those who are out in the field. “Everything we do reinforces the truth that there is no better friend, there is no worse enemy than the United States Marines,” Mahoney said, “Two hundred fifty years of faithful service, 250, years of truth. The United States Marine Corps is in the business of kicking ass that we celebrate today.”
