Pass the cake!: Father-son duo celebrate Marine Corps’ 251st birthday together

As the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and that’s true in the case of Pfc. Noah Riley Bender, who graduated from recruit training just in time to share a piece of ceremonial birthday cake with his father, Master Sgt. Philip Joseph Bender, at a U.S. Marine Corps birthday ball. On Nov. 6, the father-son duo played out part of the Marine Corps tradition “where the oldest Marine present receives the first slice of cake and then passes it to the youngest Marine, symbolizing the transfer of experience, wisdom, history and the enduring brotherhood of the Corps from one generation to the next,” writes Cpl. Salvador Flores Perez of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group. It marked many “firsts” for Bender the younger, who earned the title of “Marine” just hours before digging into the birthday cake to celebrate the Marine Corps’ 251st birthday. According to the release, Noah Bender graduated from recruit training that very same day — in Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion (the same company his father was a drill instructor a decade ago) — at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. “I was so proud, happy, excited, and so many emotions all at once,” said Philip Bender, according to the release. “When he said, ‘Dad, I did it. I am a Marine’ … the emotions can’t be described.” Bender himself joined the Marine Corps in 2006, becoming a logistics embarkation specialist with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, Marine Aircraft Group 29, deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bender and his wife, Nicole, welcomed Noah when the Marine was just 23. “When Noah was born, I never could have imagined that he would want to follow in my footsteps,” said Bender. “I was a young Marine, but he quickly became my whole world.” Bender deployed a second time with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit before moving the family to Parris Island, where, from 2012 to 2015, Bender became a drill instructor assigned to Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, according to the release. Bender continued to deploy, serving aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp and the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge. “My family sees all the sacrifices that I have made with countless field operations, four deployments, traveling the world, helping Marines along the way, and the family that the Marine Corps really is,” Bender said in the release. “My family loves this lifestyle. It has sent us places and given us experiences you would never find anywhere else.” For Bender, the Nov. 6 ceremonial cutting of the Marine Corps’ cake was just, literally, icing on the cake. “Having him join me for the cake cutting ceremony was a once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Bender. “I know there are many Marines whose children are serving at the same time as they are, but being able to pass on tradition, knowledge, and experience from one generation to the next was an emotional moment.” As for Noah, the young Marine is slated to attend Marine Combat Training at Marine Corps Base Camp Geiger before going into signal intelligence.