Scene: Tun Tavern, Philadelphia. Date: 1776. Time: evening.
Lt. O'Bannon was sitting at a candle-lit table with a feather pen and an open ledger
before him.
He was recruiting the world's first U S Marine Detachment.
The first potential recruit, whose name has been lost in antiquity, walked up and said,
"What's the deal?"
O'Bannon said,
"Just sign this book, and I'll give you $5, which is your first months pay, a bottle of
whiskey and you're in. Of course you have to have your own musket.
The recruit thought for just a second and said,
"OK. I have a musket", signed, became the USA's very first Marine recruit, took
his $5 and bottle into the back room to wait.
Second potential recruit walked up and asked,
"What's the deal?"
O'Bannon said,
"Just sign this book, and I'll give you $5, which is your first months pay, a bottle of
whiskey and you're in. Of course you have to have your own musket."
Looking sad, the second recruit said,
"I'd really like to be a Marine, Sir, but I don't own a musket."
To which O'Bannon replied:
"Don't worry about it, son, we'll find you one."
(. . ...which meant he was going to steal one from the Army.)
So he signed, became the the USA's second Marine, and walked to the back room
with his $5 and bottle of whiskey.
The first Marine looked the second Marine over and, by and by, asked,
"So what was your deal?"
The second Marine said "Well, I got $5, a bottle of whiskey and a musket."
The first Marine thought on it for a while and finally said:
"Yeah. I figured, but you know, back in the Old Corps,
you had to bring our own musket."
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