Albany Marines, community celebrate Corps’ 248th birthday

MCLB-Albany — Where there are two Marines gathered on the Corps’ anniversary, there will be celebrating, according to Col. Matthew McKinney, commander of Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

On Thursday, the party was a bit larger at the base, where the gathered Marines and community members celebrated the 248th anniversary of the formation of the U.S. Marine Corps. The celebration included the traditional cutting of a large cake and pageant of uniforms displaying the dress of Marines from the Corps’ formation during the U.S. Revolutionary War to the present.

“The Marine Corps’ birthday is always an amazing event,” McKinney said during an interview following the ceremony. “We celebrate it with as much esprit de corps as possible.

“Today we not only celebrate our birthday, but we remember those who served before us.”

After slicing the first piece of cake with a sword, the commanding officer handed it to Lt. Col. Bob Adams, retired, the oldest celebrant on hand.

The cake ceremony has been a part of the birthday celebration for decades, with some evidence dating it back to 1935. It commemorates the date of Nov. 10, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress agreed to raise two battalions of Continental Marines. Pretty much every installation around the world has some form of commemoration on or around that date, McKinney said.

Adams, who enlisted on March 12, 1962, fought in Vietnam and retired as branch head in supply operations. After retirement, the Baltimore, Md., native decided to remain in Albany, and he has participated in the birthday celebration each year except one when he could not do so for medical reasons.

At 84, he has seen a lot of birthday parties, but he seemed to be particularly enjoying the 2023 edition on Thursday.

“This is my 61st birthday celebration,” he said. “It is always a day to celebrate. Like the colonel said, when there’s more than one marine, when there’s two of you, you celebrate.

“It’s just been great for me to stay active with the Marine Corps. If I had to do it over, I’d do it the same.”

During the pageant of uniforms, which included Marines dressed in replica uniforms starting with the first uniform from the Revolutionary War era, the narrator described some of the history of the uniforms represented. Those included key moments and historical battles in the history of the Corps, as well as the inclusion of black Americans and the role of women.

The Marine Corps has about 168,000 members currently enlisted, and in Albany the base’s role is to support operations across the globe, McKinney said.

“(Our) role is to support our tenants, the major tenant being Marine Corps Logistics Command, to repair, distribute and work to serve globally all the members of the Marine Corps,” he said.

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]
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