The Parris Island Marine Band played the national anthem

The Parris Island Marine Band played the national anthem before a football game at Whale Branch Early College High School in Beaufort, S.C., on Sept. 20, 2013. The band is focusing their musical talents on the local community due to budget constraints, which limit their ability to travel outside the area. The ceremonial band, which plays at the graduations on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., is comprised of 35 Marine musicians. Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915. Today, approximately 20,000 recruits come to Parris Island annually for the chance to become United States Marines by enduring 13 weeks of rigorous, transformative training. Parris Island is home to entry-level enlisted training for 50 percent of males and 100 percent of females in the Marine Corps. (Photo by Lance Cpl. MaryAnn Hill)