Marine Corps

Marine Corps, U.S., armed service within the Department of the Navy providing troops trained for land, sea, and air operations. The Corps was founded by the Continental Congress in 1775 and established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798. It served in the Revolutionary War, the naval war with France (1798–1801), and the war with Tripoli (1801–05). Nearly 79,000 Marines served in World War I, and over 475,000 fought in World War II. They played a major role in the Pacific theater in World War II, first with their heroic stands at Wake Island, Guam, Bataan, Corregidor, and Midway and later with the assault at Guadalcanal and the Pacific campaign. Subsequently the Corps fought in Korea (1950–53), preserved order in Lebanon in 1958 and the 1980s, ended fighting in the Dominican Republic in 1965, and served in the Vietnam War (1965–73) and the Persian Gulf War (1991). Between 1943 and 1945, the Marine Corps Women's Reserve numbered over 23,000. With the passing of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act in 1948, the women reservists became full-fledged members of the regular Marine Corps.