President George Bush speaks to the Marines and sailors during a stop at a desert encampment. The president and his wife are paying Thanksgiving Day visits to U.S. troops who are in Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield

George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. A member of the U.S. Republican Party, he was previously a congressman, ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush postponed college, enlisted in the U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday, and became the youngest aviator in the U.S. Navy at the time. He served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, becoming a millionaire by the age of 40. He was chosen as a running mate by party nominee Ronald Reagan, and the two were elected. In 1988, Bush ran a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as President, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Under his presidency wars were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. He lost the 1992 presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton. Besides being the 43rd president (2001–09), his son George also served as the 46th Governor of Texas (1995–2000) and is one of only two presidents—the other being John Quincy Adams—to be the son of a former president. His second son, Jeb Bush, served as the 43rd Governor of Florida (1999–2007).

The United States Marine Corps traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the American Revolutionary War, formed by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775. That date is celebrated as the Marine Corps's birthday. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers. About 600,000 Americans served in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, performed a central role in the Pacific War. The Pacific theatre battles saw fierce fighting between Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army. The Battle of Iwo Jima was arguably the most famous Marine engagement of the war with high losses of 26,000 American casualties and 22,000 Japanese. By the end of WWII, the Corps expanded totaling about 485,000 Marines. Nearly 87,000 Marines were casualties during World War II (including nearly 20,000 killed), and 82 were awarded the Medal of Honor. The Korean War saw the Corps expand from 75,000 regulars to a force of 261,000 Marines, mostly reservists. 30,544 Marines were killed or wounded during the war. During Vietnam War Marines evacuated Saigon. Vietnam was the longest war for Marines. By its end, 13,091 had been killed in action, 51,392 had been wounded. Marines participated in the failed 1980 Iran hostage rescue attempt, the invasion of Grenada, the invasion of Panama. On 23 October 1983, the Marine headquarters building in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed, causing the highest peacetime losses to the Corps in its history. 220 Marines and 21 other service members were killed. Marines liberated Kuwait during the Persian Gulf War, participated in combat operations in Somalia (1992–1995), and took part in the evacuation of American citizens from the US Embassy in Tirana, Albania. Following the attacks on 11 September 2001, Marine Corps, alongside the other military services, has engaged in global operations around the world in support of War on Terror. Marines were among first sent to Afghanistan in November 2001. Since then, Marine battalions and squadrons have been engaging Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces. U.S. Marines also served in the Iraq War.