Comedian Bryan Callen was a warmup act Saturday at Camp Pendleton’s celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary. He praised President Trump for “bringing peace” to the Mideast for the first time “since Moses had a parting of the ways with Pharaoh.”
But Callen couldn’t hold a candle to the featured speaker.
Vice President J.D. Vance, citing what he called the “Schumer shutdown,” vowed to make sure Marines get paid. “As I told the president just a couple days ago, I said: ‘Sir, we have got to figure out how to pay these Marines,’” And not just for their sake.
“If we don’t pay our enlisted Marines, every bar in Southern California is going to go out of business, and we don’t want that,” he told perhaps 5,000 Marines and a few sailors sitting on plastic chairs near the base’s Del Mar Beach.
The former four-year Marine returned to the theme later in his half-hour remarks. He recalled the Philadelphia tavern where in 1775 the Marines were conceived before being authorized by the Continental Congress.
Vance called the Tun Tavern “the very first bar in America that would come to regret serving United States Marines.”
Self-described Secretary of War Pete Hegseth preceded Vance with an 8-minute talk, echoing critiques of the Defense Department by previous speakers and his own address to military leaders he summoned recently to Quantico.
“When other parts of the [defense] department wanted to go woke, the Marine Corps stood strong,” Hegseth said. “When other parts of the department wanted to lower standards, the Marine Corps stood strong.”
(One former Marine said the 250th Marine anniversary, officially Nov. 10, coincided with the “great unshackling.” She lauded “leadership this committed to the war-fighter. .. this moment to tear down bureaucracy in favor of speed, innovation and lethality.”)
Hegseth strongly denounced an element of wokeness.
“As I look out at this crowd, I see a lot of different types of faces,” Hegseth said. “The truth is: Your diversity is not your strength. Never has been. Your strength is in your unity of purpose.”
He added: “It’s in your shared mission. It’s in your oath to the Constitution. … You are set apart (from civilians). You are devil dogs, leathernecks, United States Marines.”
With every Marine standing throughout his talk (an organic move and not ordered), the vice president took his own shot at DEI.
He began by recalling his Marine recruit training, where on Sundays two lines would form for church services — one Catholic and one Protestant.
When a drill instructor spotted a recruit standing alone, he said: “Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
The recruit said he was an atheist, Vance recalled. The DI commanded him to get into the Catholic line.
“That didn’t work in the Biden administration,” Vance said. “But now we recognize it is not our diversity that makes us stronger. It is our common purpose. It is our common mission. It is the fact every person here bleeds Marine Corps green.”
Vance displayed his knowledge of Marine culture when he noted how those who train on the East Coast “have the sand fleas” while Pendleton Marines suffer hikes up hills with heavy backpacks.
“I don’t know which is worse,” he said at an event filmed by the White House for a primetime special set for airing Nov. 9.
On a serious note, Vance mourned the loss Friday of a Marine pilot (who he couldn’t yet name) when an AH-1Z Viper helicopter with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing crashed a few dozen miles northwest of the Yuma Proving Ground.
In a four-hour event under cool but sunny skies, Marines (some with kids in tow) heard themselves praised by a series of speakers and retired military, plus Marine Commandant Eric Smith and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
They were treated to live closed-circuit TV images of a mock amphibious attack on Red Beach, some 17 miles up the coast. And later, they saw a “world premiere” of an official video marking the 250th anniversary narrated by Smith.
“The ships, the aircraft and the Marines you see are part of a living legacy stretching back 250 years,” said the program narrator, Lt. Col Joshua Benson, citing ships including the USS Boxer and USS Comstock. Marine landing ships and hovercraft flanked the audience.
The aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt staged warplanes, which made ear-splitting fly-bys in repeated passes during and after the event.
“A force that remains, as ever, the first to fight,” Benson added in sonorous tones. “Marines go where others can’t. The reconnaissance Marines move out, disciplined, deliberate, light on their feet, heavy with purpose.”
And he previewed a phrase used by several others, calling the Marines “our national 9-1-1 force.”
Guitar-toting singer/songwriter John Rich played a Johnny Cash tune and sang Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” before crooning extra stanzas of the the Marines’ Hymn (with everyone getting up on their feet). He ended with what he called “the modern-day national anthem” — Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” (aka “Proud to Be an American”).
Despite laws, including the Hatch Act, prohibiting political remarks at military events, Vance said: “Now I know we’re here to talk about the Marine Corps, [but] I have to get a little political because congressional Democrats seem to want to keep the government shut down even though it would mean a lot of you would not get your paycheck.”
But Vance struck a bipartian tone while giving shout-outs to former Marine colleagues, including one that he said would be considered “far left.”
“Despite the craziness of our politics today,” Vance said the former Marine he served with “remains one of my best friends and is a man I would trust with my life.”
Vance didn’t weigh into the back-and-forth over the shutdown of Interstate 5 between Harbor Drive to Basilone Road from about 11 a.m. Saturday until about 1:30 p.m., causing a major inconvenience to Southland motorists, who lost the main artery connecting south Orange County to San Diego County.
(He and Hegseth also weren’t available for media interviews.)
The brief closure was attributed to the live ammunition discharges over the freeway. Caltrans warned drivers to expect delays on I-5 and other routes throughout Southern California before, during and after the event.
Passenger rail service on the adjacent rail line was also disrupted for a time during the afternoon.
The exercise was criticized by Rep. Mike Levin, D-Carlsbad, who said public safety and the reputation of the Marine Corps “are far more important than the political agendas of J.D. Vance or Pete Hegseth.”
“Unfortunately, reports confirming that artillery will be fired over Interstate 5 — requiring full freeway and rail closures — have caused understandable frustration throughout the surrounding community,” Levin said. “These actions pose unnecessary safety risks and significant disruptions for residents, businesses, and first responders.”
Republican Rep. Darrell Issa targeted the governor.
“Gavin Newsom – who never served a day in the military – is overruling the best-trained and most experienced leaders of our Marine Corps and shutting down the main interstate highway in the San Diego region for no other reason that a spiteful publicity stunt,” the East County congressman said in a statement.
“It’s a disgusting abuse of power. But not at all surprising,” he said. “Governor, stick to podcasting. Let our military, service members and the men and women who have volunteered to defend our nation do their jobs.”
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, another Republican, also blamed the freeway closure on Newsom.
“The Marines at Camp Pendleton have been firing live rounds and training beneath I-5 for over 50 years — without closing the freeway. There is zero reason for this sudden shutdown,” Desmond posted on X.
“This isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s going to cause medical emergencies to be delayed, workers to miss shifts and families to have their plans and events ruined.
“It sure looks like Gavin Newsom is trying to use the U.S. Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary to create chaos and score political points. If that’s the case, it’s a petty stunt that will only hurt Southern California drivers and families,” he added.
Said the Orange County Republican Party on X: “Newsom shut down the 5 today to cause chaos around a Marine Corps celebration. What a jerk.”
According to Los Angeles Magazine, the White House initially “intended to shut down part of the 5 Freeway between Los Angeles and San Diego” but later dropped those plans after receiving complaints from local officials and residents.
U.S Marines officials later said: “No public highways or transportation routes” would be closed.
Officials in Newsom’s office said they were notified Thursday that “the U.S. Marine Corps confirmed their exercise would be conducted on its training ranges, as it routinely does, but not over the freeway. That afternoon, the federal government also directed cancellation of train services, which run parallel to the I-5, on Saturday between Orange County-San Diego County.
“Late on Friday, the state then received notice from event organizers asking for CalTrans signage to be posted along the I-5 freeway that would read: ‘Overhead fire in progress.’ Also on Friday, state officials near Camp Pendleton observed live munitions being fired near the freeway, an apparent practice run.
Newsom’s office feared “extreme life safety risk and distraction to drivers, including sudden unexpected and loud explosions” and said the closure decision comes at the recommendation of traffic safety experts at the California Highway Patrol.
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