Marines' hymn

From Free net encyclopedia

Current revision

Template:Portalpar The Marines' hymn is the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps. It is often also referred to as "The Marine Corps' Hymn". It is the oldest official song in the U.S. Armed Forces. The song has an obscure origin—the words date from the 19th century, but no one knows the author. The music is from the opera Genevieve de Brabant by Jacques Offenbach, which had its début in Paris in 1859. The Marine Corps secured a copyright on the song on August 19 1919, but it is now in the public domain.

The initial verse is "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli". The Montezuma phrase refers to the Battle of Chapultepec. The Tripoli phrase refers actions during the First Barbary War and the Battle of Derna.

Lyrics

From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli,
We fight our country's battles in the air, on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.

Our Flag's unfurled to every breeze from dawn to setting sun.
We have fought in every clime and place, where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far off northern lands and in sunny tropic scenes,
You will find us always on the job, the United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our Corps, which we are proud to serve.
In many a strife we've fought for life and never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy ever look on heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines.

Extra verses

Various people down the years wrote unofficial or semi-unofficial extra verses to commemorate later battles and actions, for example:-

Again in nineteen forty-one, we sailed a north'ard course
and found beneath the midnight sun, the Viking and the Norse.
The Iceland girls were slim and fair, and fair the Iceland scenes,
and the Army found in landing there, the United States Marines.

(In 1941 in WWII USA forces occupied Iceland to guard it from possible occupation by Nazi Germany.)

Variations

The Marines' hymn has many variations including:

• The Pride of South Australia - the theme song of the Adelaide Crows Australian rules football side in the Australian Football League.

See also

• The Army Goes Rolling Along
• Anchors Aweigh
• Eternal Father, Strong to Save
• The U.S. Air Force
• U.S. Coast Guard - lyrics to Semper Paratus