... Marine is an old term. As far back as 500 BC, the Greeks carried Marines on triremes; they were used as boarding parties to capture or destroy enemy vessels.
... on June 6, 1918 at the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I, more Marines were killed in action on that single day (31 officers and 1,056 Marines) than the combined total of the entire history of Marine Corps.
... During World War I, the Marine Corps grew to 75,000, more than seven times it's pre-war size.
... Phil and Don Everly of the music duet The Everly Brothers both served in the Marines.
... Sergeant Faustin E. Wirkus was crowned king of La Gonâve, an Island in Haiti, in 1926 and ruled until his detachment returned home in 1929. As king, Faustin made many reforms on the island and his rule was noted as a "peaceful and flourishing time."
... the term "Leatherneck" for a Marine came from 1798, when the Marine Corps began issuing "one stock of black leather and clasp" to Marines. The band of leather was used to protect the neck when fighting with swords.
... Archibald Henderson, the Grand Old Man of the Marine Corps, established the idea of the Marines as “ready to fight”, however, in his time, fighting units were formed by gathering up Marines from Navy ships and shore stations.
... Until 1900, the size of the Corps had never exceeded 3,000 Marines and had been armed almost entirely with rifles.
... before "Semper Fidelis" became the Marine Corps official motto in 1883, there were three unofficial mottos: "By Sea and by Land," "Fortitudine," and "To the shores of Tripoli."
... Marine Corps pilots are now flying more flight hours per pilot than the U.S. Air Force Pilots. See Marine Corps Times Feb 15, 2018
