MARBLEHEAD — On the cliffside of a fort built by America’s earliest European soldiers nearly 400 years ago, red flags donning an eagle, globe and anchor fluttered in the seaside wind Thursday to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.
“Since 1775, your Marines have fought in every time and place,” said Col. J.J. Wilson, commanding officer of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-250, as he addressed an audience of Marines and onlookers at Fort Sewall in Marblehead Harbor.
“From the Shores of Tripoli to the streets of Fallujah, from the frozen fields of Chosin Reservoir to the humanitarian missions across the globe, the Marines have stood watch, defended liberty and served with unwavering dedication.”
The ceremony served as the welcome to Marine Week Boston, a birthday celebration for the Corps with events in and around Boston from Aug. 20-25.
The week is a part of coast-to-coast commemorations honoring this year honoring 250 years of Marines.
Thursday’s event drew dozens of active duty Marines and a crowd of hundreds to Fort Sewall. Many were veterans wearing gear proudly showcasing their service.
They watched a formation of Marine Corps F/A-18E/F Super Hornets fly over the fort during the National Anthem, performed by the Quantico Marine Corps Band, and a demonstration by the Marine Corps silent drill platoon.
The official U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard presented the flags, and a traditional cake cutting ceremony was held as it is each year for the Marines’ birthday. Historical Reenactors with Glover’s Reenactment also drilled a 1775 military salute.
“They’re a lot more spit and polish than we were,” the current regiment’s captain, Larry Sands, said as he looked over at a young group of clean-cut Marines. “In 1775 and ‘76, they didn’t have uniforms. They came in whatever clothes they had.”
The regiment was a precursor of sorts to the Marines, having been called on by George Washington for support during pivotal points in the Revolution.
These Marblehead men helped evacuate the American army from Long Island during the war and fought to defend New York. Most famously, they rode across the Delaware River with Washington on the famous Christmas night of 1776 to ambush enemy troops.
“General Washington used us anytime something was done on boats, and so that was the start,” Sands said. “We fought on land and sea, and we’re honored to be here to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps.”
The Marines’ birthday coincides with the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution. On Nov. 10, 1775, the Marine Corps was created to assist with naval infantrymen in the colonies’ defense against British tyranny.
Fort Sewall was established in 1644 and was a point of defense for Marblehead in the French and Indian War, American Revolution and the War of 1812, when its gunners defended the USS Constitution against British attack.
Marblehead also played host to a key development in the Marines’ history. In 1912, Lt. Alfred Cunningham flew a Burgess seaplane built in Marblehead from Marblehead Harbor, making the flight the first of any Marine aviator.
It was the 75th anniversary of that flight when a 9-year-old Marbleheader Seth Moulton met his first active-duty Marine, the towering pilot of a Cobra Attack Helicopter the Marines had landed onto the soccer field at Seaside Park to honor Cunningham’s flight.
“I said, ‘You’re awfully lucky to get to fly that,’” Moulton recalled to the crowd Thursday evening. “He looked down at me and with the attitude of every Marine Cobra pilot I have known ever since, he said to me, ‘I’m not lucky, kid. I’m good.’”
Moulton went on to serve four tours as a Marine during the Iraq War. Now a congressman representing Marblehead and the rest of Massachusetts’s 6th congressional district, he still holds that idea of what a good Marine looks like close to his heart.
“I quickly learned that in the Marines, being good is not just about being good at your job, but also about being good to those you serve…” he said.
“In training, we learned about two types of courage: physical courage and moral courage. And we were told that moral courage was often the more difficult and the most important.”
Moulton was the guest of honor Thursday. He said some young Americans have told him they want to serve in the military, but are hesitant to under a president they deeply disagree with.
“My answer is always that this is the most important time to serve, the most important time to have leaders in our armed services with smart minds and moral courage who may even have to disobey an unlawful order,” he said.
“America has never been a country that has always gotten it all right, but it’s always been a country that believes that it might, and so it is when America is challenged that we most need our volunteers.”
He said the volunteers have included Freedom Riders, members of AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, and, of course, Marines.
“(That Marine pilot) didn’t say this to my 9-year old self, but in fact, I was the one who was lucky,” Moulton said. “Lucky that he and other brave Americans were, in the immortal words of our Worcester-born Italian chaplain in Iraq, standing on the ramparts of freedom around the globe.”
Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com .