Marines with I Marine Expeditionary Force honor the service’s 250th birthday with a ceremonial cake at Harrah’s Resort Southern California in Valley Center, Calif, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Nan Yang/U.S. Marine Corps)
The U.S. Marine Corps celebrates 250 years of service on Monday with a flagship celebration in its birthplace, Philadelphia, amid a wave of festivities across the country and around the world despite a government shutdown that has become the longest in U.S. history.
The Homecoming 250 celebration in Philadelphia began Friday and continues through Tuesday. The celebration features multiple events, including tours, a veterans parade on Sunday, and a ball and block party for the official birthday on Monday. The festivities will be capped off by a Veterans Day ceremony on the Battleship New Jersey on Tuesday.
Monday’s events are set to include a cake cutting ceremony that will be matched by ceremonies in all 50 states as part of a Marine Corps Heritage Foundation initiative.
Accordingly, other celebrations of varying sizes have been or are being held elsewhere, despite a federal shutdown that has affected some celebrations.
A cake-cutting at the Pentagon on Wednesday was attended by the Corps’ commandant, Gen. Eric M. Smith, as well as Navy Secretary John Phelan and veterans of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Delmar Beard, a Navy veteran who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima, eats a slice of cake at a Marine Corps birthday ceremony at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., Nov. 5, 2025. (Abigail Hutcheson/U.S. Marine Corps)
Charles Cram, a former U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class, left, and Delmar Beard, a former U.S. Navy Yeoman 2nd Class, right, both veterans of the Battle of Iwo Jima, talk about their time in service before a cake cutting ceremony honoring the Marine Corps’ birthday at the Pentagon, Nov. 5, 2025. (Abigail Hutcheson/U.S. Marine Corps)
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, left, shakes hands with Navy veteran Delmar Beard, who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima, at a cake cutting ceremony honoring the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., Nov. 5, 2025. (Abigail Hutcheson/U.S. Marine Corps)
Marines take part in a motivational run to celebrate the service’s 250th birthday at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, Nov. 6, 2025. (James Frank/U.S. Marine Corps)
Marines with Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South, and their guests, attend a ball for the Corps’ 250th birthday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Nov. 1, 2025. The ball in New Orleans is the largest ball in the Marine Corps with over 3,500 attendees this year, according to the service. (Edward Spears/U.S. Marine Corps)
Not too far away, a motivational run was held at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Thursday.
In New Orleans, thousands of Marines and their guests packed Caesar’s Superdome on Nov. 1. The service said the ball is the largest in the Corps, drawing in over 3,500 attendees this year.
A month earlier, on the other side of the country, Hegseth, Smith and Vice President JD Vance attended a high-profile arms demonstration and “Beach Bash” at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth walks to the podium during the arms demonstration and Beach Bash celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 18, 2025. (Joshua Bustamante/U.S. Marine Corps)
Attendees at the birthday Beach Bash at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 18, 2025 (Edgar Rafael/U.S. Marine Corps)
Vice President JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran, delivers remarks during the demonstration and Beach Bash at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 18, 2025. (Joshua Bustamante/U.S. Marine Corps)
U.S. Marines, sailors and civilians observe a flyover during the Beach Bash at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 18, 2025. (Edgar Rafael/U.S. Marine Corps)
SH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters conduct flight operations during the Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday at MCB Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 18, 2025. (Joshua Bustamante/U.S. Marine Corps)
The U.S. Marine Corps and Navy participate in the Marine Corps 250th Birthday Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 18, 2025. (Joshua Bustamante/U.S. Marine Corps)
And even farther west, Marines with the Wounded Warrior battalion took part in a birthday run at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Not all events were spared. A wave of events in San Diego, which has one of the country’s largest military communities, was canceled because of the shutdown, although some reduced festivities took place.
Some events were simply modified. The National Museum of the Marine Corps, for example, has closed its galleries but is still holding two cake-cutting celebrations on Monday.
In the event anyone is stuck at home on the big day, they can at least enjoy a new show on Netflix — which on Monday debuts a four-part documentary about the Corps’ rapid-response task force on Okinawa.
Why Philadelphia
Philadelphia birthed the Marines when the Second Continental Congress in 1775 passed a resolution that ordered “two Battalions of Marines be raised” as a landing force for the colonies’ nascent naval fleet.
Like the Navy, the Marine Corps disbanded in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. The Corps was reestablished in 1798, deploying soon after its creation, and has remained in service ever since.
That is why Philadelphia’s celebration of the Navy last month included a good deal of recognition of the Marine Corps, and why the city has been emphasizing its historicity for both services — as well as for the looming 250th celebration of the United States itself next year.
Personnel with the U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon perform in Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 2025. (Christopher Prelle/U.S. Marine Corps)
Marine Corps Cpl. Cameron Holmes, a rifle inspector with the Silent Drill Platoon, executes the “rifle inspection” sequence during a performance in Philadelphia, Oct. 14, 2025. (Christopher Prelle/U.S. Marine Corps)
