The adjutant reads Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune’s birthday message during the 240th Marine Corps Birthday Ball ceremony November 13, 2015 at the Butler Officers Club on Camp Foster Okinawa, Japan. Lejeune’s message was published in Article 38 of the the Marine Corps Manual edition of 1921 and republished every year at Marine Corps birthday celebrations world-wide. The ball has been a Marine Corps tradition since 1951 and continues to be a time every year where current Marines set aside an evening to honor fallen Marines and toast to the future success of the Corps. The ceremony includes a sword d
The adjutant reads Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune’s birthday message during the 240th Marine Corps Birthday Ball ceremony November 13, 2015 at the Butler Officers Club on Camp Foster Okinawa, Japan. Lejeune’s message was published in Article 38 of the the Marine Corps Manual edition of 1921 and republished every year at Marine Corps birthday celebrations world-wide. The ball has been a Marine Corps tradition since 1951 and continues to be a time every year where current Marines set aside an evening to honor fallen Marines and toast to the future success of the Corps. The ceremony includes a sword detail, the reading of Lejeune’s message and an official cake cutting for the oldest and youngest Marines present as well as the guest of honor who receives the first piece before giving a speech to those present. In most ball ceremonies the guest speaker is a Marine, but Marines in Okinawa are so closely tied with the Department of State and ultimately the people of Okinawa and Japan, that this years’ speaker was Consul General, Naha Joel Ehrendreich. Ehrendreich began his speech with a thank you’s to all of the honored guests to include members of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force in attendance. He continued his remarks with a brief story of his time “In the Corps,” which was a light hearted reference to his time served in the Peace Corps where he worked alongside Marines for the very first time humanitarian aid exercises. Ehrendreich said his respect for the individual Marine and the Marine Corps as a whole has only grown over the years with his embassy work and he looks forward to a bright future with not only the Marines stationed in Okinawa, but also the people of Okinawa and Japan as a whole. Marine Corps Installations Pacific is the strength behind America's ability to respond quickly to crisis in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. MCIPAC strengthens power projection with our allies and partners; enables the strategic launch and recovery of military
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Keywords: 240th, ball, birthday, brig., consul, corps, ehrendreich, gen., general, installations, japan, joel, malavet, marine, mcipac, naha, okinawa, pacific
