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Visit Boston, Mass., around the 10th of November, and you're likely to run into a few four-star Marine generals, Medal of Honor recipients and high-ranking politicians. You're guaranteed to notice the presence of Marine veterans both young and old, united by a common bond, and of an unmistakable spirit of pride in the Corps that resounds through the streets of a city with a rich and illustrious history of patriotism and service.
It's not a coincidence that they all have converged there. They come together every year to celebrate the Birthday of the United States Marine Corps at the Semper Fidelis Society of Boston's Marine Corps Birthday Luncheon, which, over the past 28 years, has evolved into quite the event-undoubtedly the largest of its kind.
It certainly didn't start out that way, but sometimes the most remarkable of endeavors have the simplest, most humble beginnings. To Marine Corps veteran Thomas J. "Tommy" Lyons, founder of the Semper Fidelis Society of Boston, simplicity has always been the key to the tremendous success of the luncheon, which has grown exponentially and will be held on Nov. 13 this year to honor the Corps' 240th Birthday.
The tradition began on Nov. 10, 1987, and it was as simple as Lyons gathering together 28 Marine veterans from South Boston for pasta and beer at Joe Tecce's Italian Ristorante to celebrate the Birthday of the Corps and to honor the memory of friends they had lost in Vietnam. They ate the obligatory birthday cake and sang along to the familiar tune of "The Marines' Hymn" as it played on a tape deck. By no means was their celebration grand or extravagant, but the opportunity to reconnect with their Marine Corps roots really made an impression on those who attended-most of whom were guys Lyons grew up with, played sports with, and enlisted alongside during the late 1960s.
The following October, Lyons began receiving phone calls from his buddies who had attended the luncheon at Tecce's, asking him if he was holding the luncheon again. He was taken aback by their enthusiasm, and until that point, he hadn't really even considered the idea of making it an annual gathering.
"You want to go out for lunch?" he recalls asking them in...