“It is bizarre because it just never leaves you….”  Former active-duty Marine Jenni Biesheure was discussing what it means to be a Marine. 

She continued, “People can see it. I can watch people and pick out the Marines. They are just different; they carry themselves differently.” 

Groups have been trying to replicate the ethos and bonding that is the Marine Corps for a long time. It is perhaps a tribute to how effectively the Marines instill that ethos that there are no other knock-offs.

Biesheure served as an active-duty Marine from 1994-98. Four years, 30 years ago. She is still a Marine. ‘Once a Marine, always a Marine,’ as the adage goes. 

She said, “It is the warrior culture, it is standing with your brotherhood. It stays with you because it is all built on tradition.”

This week Marines around the globe will be celebrating that warrior ethos on Nov. 10, the Corps’ 250th birthday.

These celebrations are not just something that Marines decide to do. It has, since 1921, been directed. 

On Nov. 1, 1921, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Major General John A. Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order 47. The order was to be read on Nov. 10 of that year and thereafter on the 10th of November of every year. It is.

The message is remarkable in its brevity. In four short paragraphs, Lejeune directed that in memory of the men who “have borne the name Marine,” men who are Marines should commemorate the birthday of the Corps by highlighting its glorious history.

He then spoke of the reputation of the Corps and how “generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security.”    

Lejeune reflected on battlefield efficiency and soldierly virtue with which Marines have acquitted themselves.

The order concludes by describing the eternal spirit received from those who previously served as Marines which animates the corps, generation to generation. Lejeune stated, “So long as that spirit continues to flourish Marines will be found equal to every emergency in the future as they have been in the past, and the men of our Nation will regard us as worthy successors to the long line of illustrious men who have served as ‘Soldiers of the Sea’ since the founding of the Corps.”

In a few words Lejeune not only captured the ethos of the Corps but forever connected the concept of being a Marine with those of past service, those presently in uniform and those yet to join the brotherhood. He introduced the concept of the eternal warrior spirit which must be passed from generation to generation – that it must be guarded, strengthened and passed forward – that a Marine must be worthy.

What evolved over the years was a United States Marine Corps Birthday Ball. Lejeune’s Order 47 from 1921 is indeed read at each ball, as is an annual message from the current commandant.

While there usually is a guest speaker at such events, as well as dinner and dancing, there is also a small ceremony. That ceremony involves a cake, and symbolizes, more than anything else in the evening’s events, the legacy that Lejeune sought to nurture.

An officers’ sword is used to cut the cake, and the first piece is handed to the oldest Marine present. The eldest takes a bite from the piece and passes it to the youngest Marine.

The simple passing of that cake symbolizes the passing of the warrior spirit from one generation of Marines to the next. It is a powerful gesture. 

On Nov. 10, 1974, Lake Hawkins resident and retired Marine Master Sergeant Dennis DeNoi received that piece of cake from a Marine who had service stripes from his shoulder to his cuff.

DeNoi was a private wearing a used dress blue uniform. That evening remains crystal clear in his mind, “it was amazing,” he simply remarked.

The Marines draw their ranks from around the world and across all social strata. 

DeNoi was at the Marine recruiter’s office on the morning of his 17th birthday. He related, “They wouldn’t enlist me on my birthday…they told me to come back in a few days.” He did.

Conversely, Biesheure wandered into a recruiter’s office while wrestling with the college experience.

“When I walked in, I just knew. I didn’t know how I knew, but I just knew it was for me. I was very driven and very athletic.” She departed early for Parris Island Recruit Depot. She was 20 years old.

Despite their differences, Biesheure and DeNoi will always answer to the salutation ‘Marine.’ It is an identity forged of necessity in the profession of arms. 

For DeNoi, the identity is described by immediate response to orders, as well as adaptability. For Biesheure, it is membership in the largest fraternity in the world.

For those who do not answer to ‘Marine,’ Biesheure and DeNoi represent the flesh and blood insurance policy for a nation’s freedom. 

It bears noting that on Nov. 10, there will be Marines in far-flung locations around the globe who will be busy with matters of life and death. Even they, however, will pause and in some way acknowledge the passing on of th