The Marine Corps, 238-years-old Sunday, has served a role in every conflict in the history of the United States.
That's because the Marines operate on sea, air, and land and — unlike the other services — can respond to a crisis in under 24 hours with the full force of a modern military.
Today, there are more than 200,000 active-duty and reserve Marines.
To celebrate the Corps, we've pulled some of the coolest photos from the archives.
SEE ALSO: 49 Reasons Why America Can't Fold Its Marine Corps
Created in 1798, the Marine Corps Band was called "The President’s Own" by President Jefferson during his inaugural ball. Since then, the band has played at every presidential inauguration. Here they are in 1893.
In the early 1900s, Marine forces were active in China and the Philippines. This photo from 1907 shows Marines posing in front of the Great Sphinx in Egypt.
WWI marked the beginning of trench warfare and poison gas. Mortars were useful in muddy trenches because a mortar round could be aimed to fall directly into trenches unlike artillery shells. These Marines are posing with a German trench mortar captured in France in 1918.
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