No cake. No candles. Just sweat, grit, and respect. 🎂💪
U.S. Sailors and Marines with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a physical training event for the 128th U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsmen birthday in the hangar bay of Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the South China Sea.
The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group is underway with the 11th MEU in the @US7thFleet area of operations, helping to preserve a free and open Pacific.
📸 U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Trent A. Henry
#BlueGreenTeam #USNavy #USMC
It was in the charge I took the eagle off the enemy. The officer who carried it [the eagle of the 45th Regiment of Line Infantry] and I had a short contest for it; he thrust for my groin, I parried it off and cut him through the head; in a short time after whilst contriving how to carry the eagle and follow my regiment I heard a lancer coming behind me; I wheeled round to face him and in the act of doing so he threw his lance at me which I threw off to my right with my sword and cut from the chin upwards through the teeth. …I was next attacked by a foot soldier who after firing at me, charged me with the bayonet; I parried it and cut him down through the head; this finished the contest for the eagle which I was ordered by General Ponsonby to carry to the rear.
- Ensign Charles Ewart (1769 – 1846) Royal North British Dragoons (the Scot's Greys)
Sergeant Charles Ewart's capture of a French eagle at Waterloo stands as one of the most celebrated individual acts of heroism in British military history.
Ewart's daring exploit was immediately hailed as a symbolic triumph: the loss of an eagle represented not just a tactical blow but a profound humiliation for the French. Ewart was promoted to ensign for his bravery, and the captured eagle became one of the most famous trophies of the Napoleonic Wars, still displayed today with great pride by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. His feat encapsulated the courage, shock action, and regimental spirit that helped Wellington’s army secure victory at Waterloo.