U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Marines of past and present gathered to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the inception of 8th Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Oct. 6, 2017.
A ceremony was held to recognize and honor the history of the regiment as they prepared to celebrate their centennial mark as a unit.
“This is a celebration of the regimental headquarters which was established on Oct. 9, 1917,” said Col. John Armellino, the 8th Marine Regiment commanding officer. “The greatest legacy, according to the history of the 8th Marines, is to be a force in expeditionary readiness. 8th Marine Regiment has a strong history of deploying to any crisis or contingency around the world, with little to no notice in advance. That trend continues today within our regiment.”
A mantra of the United States Marine Corps is “once a Marine, always a Marine.” The ceremony held by 8th Marines exhibited that mantra to the fullest extent.
“The significance of today is incorporating retired Marines into this ceremony, for the Marines of today to see our history and our legacy in person,” Armellino said. “In order to go forward, you have to be able to look back and see where you came from and that’s what today is all about.”
While maintaining a century-long legacy of warfighting and national defense is a huge feat, 8th Marine Regiment is preparing to make their Marines even more deployable by beginning a campaign called “Are You Ready Campaign: n+96.”
“We are inspired to challenge our Marines and give them the tools to deploy anywhere in the world in 96 hours or less by focusing on their personal, professional and tactical readiness,” Armillano said. “This campaign has direct ties to our lineage, tradition and legacy to the history of 8th Marines and it has a direct impact and correlation to the future of 8th Marines.”
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