Retired Gunnery Sgt. Thomas E. Williams, the director of operations for the United States Marine Corps Historical Company, shows Marines, who will represent the 1930’s Banana Wars era, how to present arms with a Thompson submachine gun. Twenty-two Marines learned how to take on the persona of the Marine of their era at a practice for the Marine Corps Birthday Pageant Nov. 2 at Little Hall.
Whether it’s the way they walk, the haircut they wear or the professionalism they show, Marines are easily identifiable. But perhaps the greatest common factor Marines share is the uniformthey wear.
To celebrate this distinction, the Marine Corps Combat Development Command presents its annual Marine Corps Birthday Pageant on Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Little Hall theater. Marines will show the 22 uniforms worn from the Marine Corps’inception to today.
The pageant is designed to impart the Marine’s rich history to all who come.
‘‘The goal is to give all Marines a sense of heritage and belonging,” said retired Gunnery Sgt. Thomas E. Williams, the director of operations for the United States Marine Corps Historical Company, which is providing all the uniforms for the pageant. More than any other service, said Williams the Marine Corps has the reputation that heralds and commemorates its history.
‘‘We have to understand what Marines of the past did to get us where we are today,” he said. ‘‘This, in turn,nspires Marines of today to make ourselves better and challenge Marines of the future.”
This is a learning experience not only for those who attend the pageant but also for the approximately 80 Marinesinvolved in the event.
‘‘It’s cool to come out here and be part of the sharing of Marine Corps culture,” said Lance Cpl. William Holton Jr., a telecommunications and computerrepairman for G-6 at Marine Logistics Branch. ‘‘I’ve learned a lot since we started practice. The weapons were much heavier back then. I’ve also realized we have a lot more advantages than they had. They did a lot more with less.”
The way Marines fought and the way they looked in the past is different today, but Marines today still hold to some of those traditions.
‘‘Earlier uniforms were more bright and colorful,” Williams said. ‘‘What we consider our dress uniforms of today is what their warfighting uniforms were — Back then they stood out in the open and in ranks. The enemy would look at us and see how squared away we wereand how tight and organized our movement was. They could see that weknew what we were doing. It waspsychological warfare.
‘‘But even back then it wasn’t just the uniform. It was the person inside showing pride and esprit de corps that made the uniform stand out.”
To make sure the uniforms look as sharp today as they did in years past, a large amount of effort is put into make the uniforms accurate.
‘‘We’ve made them accurate by years and years of detailed research of pictures, period correspondents anddocuments of the regulations of the day for every detail of every uniform,” Williams said. ‘‘We use period accurate materials. We have museum-level uniforms, not mere costumes.”
‘‘But to make [the pageant] as accurate as possible we go beyond the uniform,” Williams said. ‘‘We make sure the Marines are educated in their uniform and we instill them with a sense of pride for their uniform. We custom fit them and we teach them how Marines moved in that period of time. It’s an educational experience. They understand what it is like to be a warfighter of that time.”
The pageant is open to all, Marines and civilians, because the Marine Corps heritage is a legacy cared for by today’s Marines and is willed to the Marines of the future.
‘‘People need to come to the pageant so they realize where we are and where we’ve come from,” said Sgt. Maj. Leon Thornton, the base sergeant major and assistant drillmaster for the pageant. ‘‘If we don’t do this, we will lose the traditions of all those Marines before ushave built.”
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