36 U.S.C. § 140102: Purposes

to preserve the traditions and to promote the interests of the United States Marine Corps; to band those who, on August 4, 1937 , were serving in the United States Marine Corps and those who have been honorably discharged from that service together in fellowship that they may effectively promote the ideals of American freedom and democracy; to fit its members for the duties of citizenship and to encourage them to serve as ably as citizens as they have served the Nation under arms; to hold sacred the history and memory of the men who have given their lives to the Nation; to foster love for the principles which they have supported by blood and valor since the founding of the Republic; to maintain true allegiance to American institutions; to create a bond of comradeship between those in service and those who have returned to civil life; to aid voluntarily and to render assistance to all marines and former marines as well as to their widows and orphans; and to perpetuate the history of the United States Marine Corps and by fitting acts to observe the anniversaries of historical occasions of peculiar interest to marines.