PHILADELPHIA, PA

Meeting The World At the Birthplace of America

Philadelphia – It was a day of historical significance, and cultural good will as the silent drill platoon lined up in Independence Square to continue filming America’s Marines.

It was, in a sense, a homecoming, since Philadelphia is the birthplace of the Marine Corps. In fact, more than 230 years ago, the legacy of the Marines began in a place called Tun Tavern.

The morning rain gave way just in time to start filming the Marines in front of Independence Hall, which is only feet away from the Liberty Bell. Nearly 400 people gathered on the lawn across from the hall to watch the production. Hundreds more passed by, as they moved from one historic location to another, all coming to a halt to see the Marine Corps’ ambassadors.

Among those gathered, were 10 tourists from China, part of a group from “Friendship Across Frontier" including several businessmen and the mayor of Jiamsui, a port city in northeast China. They all posed for photos with our Marines.

“This was a trip for learning more about the American culture,” said organizer Lulu Zhou. “But this? Wow! No one ever imagined we would see something like this.”

Throughout the crowd were visitors from more than a dozen countries, including: India, Korea, Mexico and Australia. Production crews handed out 1,000 t-shirts, posters and tour cards.

On a busy day more than 12,000 people enter the Liberty Bell museum to look at a real symbol of America, according to the National Park Service. But on this special day, many visitors turned to look through the glass at the Marines spinning rifles under the outstretched arm of George Washington.

Jesse Cheyney came from nearby Boothwyn Township. The former artillery sergeant brought his three-year-old grandson Blake Macera. It was hard to tell who was having more fun, Blake or the Marines who came up to swap high fives and hand shakes.

Of course it probably helped that Blake’s t-shirt proclaimed him to be “Lean and mean, like Grandpa,” and showed a Marine-inspired bulldog pup dreaming of Chesty the USMC bulldog mascot.

“It’s so easy to start talking with other Marines. You say ‘Semper Fi’ and it all just flows from there,” said Cheyney, who left the Corps in 1971. “That’s my greatest regret, not making a career out of it.”

Watching the commercial shoot, people seemed surprised that these were not actors in front of the cameras. That was the case for Emi Miura, who is visiting from Japan with her parents and one-year-old daughter, as they tried to make sense of it all.

“Marines? Real Marines?” she asked. “So cool.”

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