From left, Andrew Beets, 32, the youngest Marine in attendance, receives a piece of cake from Sgt. Maj. Jesse Pacheco, 91, the oldest Marine in attendance, as U.S. Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins of Kansas, watches at the 23rd annual Marine Corps birthday celebration Wednesday at Kansas University’s Dole Institute of Politics.

Kansas University student Rhavean King’s reasons for becoming a U.S. Marine were on full display Tuesday during the annual U.S. Marine Corps birthday celebration at KU’s Dole Institute of Politics.

“Their sense of camaraderie — their sense of brotherhood and sisterhood — is what gravitated me toward them,” King said, adding that she was drawn to the military branch’s 240-year history as well.

King, a KU track athlete from Memphis, Tenn., is a first-year law student who plans to leave for officer candidate school in May, she said.

King was a future Marine in a crowd of primarily former and current Marines, veterans of other military branches, their families and other community members Tuesday at the Dole Institute.

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, marked the 23rd Lawrence celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps' birthday. A ceremony and cake-cutting took place at the Dole Institute of Politics on the KU campus.

More than 100 people attended the birthday celebration, which featured U.S. Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins of Kansas’ 2nd District as the keynote speaker.

Jenkins told the crowd that “an unbelievable debt” was owed the Marine Corps for its members’ years of service and sacrifice.

“Americans hold the idea of a strong and capable military in our hearts,” Jenkins said. “Wherever our nation needs its bravest to defend our liberty, we call the Marines.”

Jenkins has promoted legislation advocating Mental Health First Aid, training to help the public identify and respond to mental health issues and disorders, including in military veterans.

She stressed the importance of supporting veterans, from ensuring they have access to good health care when they return to active duty to ensuring they’re able to get high-paying jobs when they re-enter the workforce.

“I have made it my duty to provide them all the resources they need,” in battle and when they return home, Jenkins said.

Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins speaks during a celebration of the U.S. Marine Corps' 240th birthday Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015, at the Dole Institute of Politics on the KU campus.

This was the 23rd time Lawrence has coordinated a celebration for the “birthday” of the Marine Corps. According to organizers, the first was Nov. 10, 1991, with five KU veterans and a number of city employees at a small celebration with a simple cake.

After the cake was cut Tuesday by a Marine with a sword, the first slice went to Jenkins, the guest of honor.

The second went to the oldest Marine present, 91-year-old retired Sgt. Maj. Jesse Pacheco, of Lawrence. In a symbolic tradition, Pacheco then served the third piece to the youngest Marine present, 32-year-old Andrew Beets.

On Nov. 10, 1775, a resolution of the Continental Congress created a Corps of Marines. The Marines celebrate each year on the same date.

“As we celebrate the 240th birthday of our Corps, we pay tribute to all who have served and we remember our fallen heroes,” Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, said in a message printed in Tuesday’s event program. “We take great pride in our legacy and in the fine men and women who carry our colors into the future.”