Marine Hymn
The Marine Hymn is the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps. It is also the oldest official song in the U.S. Armed Forces. It has an obscure origin. The words are dated from the 19th century, but no one knows the author. The music is from the opera, "Genevieve de Brabant" by Jacques Offenbach. That opera opened in Paris in 1859. The Marine Corps secured a copyright on the song on 19 August 1919. It is often mistakenly referred to as "The Marine Corps' Hymn".The initial verse is "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli". The Tripoli reference is an allusion to the First Barbary War, that also inspired the film The Lion and the Wind.
