These 7 Feats of BadAssery by the U.S. Marine Corps Show Why They Deserve An Ooh Rah On Their Birthday

The U.S. Marine Corps celebrates its 239th birthday on November 10th. Here are seven reasons why you should tip your cap and give an Ooh Rah to the men and women who are ‘always faithful’ to their duty and their country.

1. The Battle of Belleau Wood

This ferocious, weeks-long World War I battle in June 1918 in Belleau (Aisne), France, saved Paris from the German raiding forces and turned the tide of the war. By the time the bayonet wielding Marines were done, the Germans were in full retreat and so frightened of these fighters they named them ‘Devil Dogs’, a mythical creature of German lore.

Marines still come to this place to drink from the Devil Dog fountain and pay their respects at Belleau Wood. Marines have been called Devil Dogs ever since.

2. The Battle of Iwo Jima

Despite weeks of bombing by U.S. warships to soften the target, by the time the amphibious assault by Marines began in February 1945, the Japanese fighters had gone inland, positioned themselves in caves and were ready to rock. It was sometimes hand to hand, bloody fighting.

The Marines finally–triumphantly–erected the American flag on the highest point of the island, Mount Suribachi, a month after the battle began. After taking the island, U.S. B-29s were able to use Iwo to resupply.

#3 The Battle of Guadalcanal n August of 1942, U.S. Marines launched ‘Operation Watch Tower,’ a surprise attack that took control of a Japanese air base under construction on Guadalcanal,  a ‘2,500-square-mile speck of jungle’ in the Solomon Islands. That was just the beginning of a bloody, six-month-long battle in which the Marines annihilated  two-thirds of the Japanese troops stationed to defend it.

The victory was a turning point in the Pacific Theater in World War II.