( CNN ) -- Editor 's note : CNN 's Mike Rowe regularly attends an annual San Francisco ball which celebrates the birth of the U.S. Marine Corps . He wrote this essay about the event last year . The old theater looks like the one in Young Frankenstein -- the one where Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle sing `` Putting on the Ritz . '' Every seat is taken , and the air is filled with a weird mix of anticipation and familiarity . And maybe a faint hint of mothballs . I 'm in the mezzanine this year , sipping champagne and jammed into a tuxedo that 's undeniably smaller than it was last November . Behind me , a retired general is singing The Star Spangled Banner , along with the rest of the crowd . He is singing louder than I am , and I 'm singing as loud as I can . And that 's saying something . The anthem ends , and we take our seats . The champagne is cold in my hand , and as I look around I see that I 'm not the only one to have liberated a flute from the lobby bar . I take a sip , and observe the scene onstage . Like last year , and the year before that one , and the five years before that one , I 'm transfixed by what I see . Ten Marines in full ceremonial dress march out from the wings to the sound of trumpets and drums . They move like a synchronized machine , forming two parallel lines perpendicular to the audience . They stand 10 feet apart , staring straight ahead like statues in a deadly gauntlet . They do n't blink ; they do n't smile . They just stand there looking dangerous as hell . Then , a command is barked out . Ten swords are drawn as one , catching the light on their blades and sending it flashing through the audience like a thousand lasers . If Dr. Frankenstein 's infamous creature were in the vicinity , I suspect he 'd crap his pants . Upstage , the Color Guard enters , connecting the two lines at the top . They face the crowd directly - The Color Sargent and The Color Bearer , flanked by two riflemen . Under the hot lights , the Stars and Stripes are radiant , and the Marine Battle Standard glows like a crimson beacon . They 've been standing there for the last half hour , frozen in time , as the events of the evening unfold . Sometimes , that 's the job . To stand a post . To wait . To watch , as events unfold around you . The United States Marine Corps is 238 years old today , and last night , I helped them celebrate in San Francisco the same way I do every year . I attended their annual ball , ate a piece of their birthday cake , and assisted them with the important work of closing down the bar . In between , there was dinner and dancing and all the stuff you might expect to find at a formal ball . There were speeches and toasts . There were songs . And there were tributes of courage and sacrifice so unimaginable , you can only shake your head and marvel at the character of some . I met the oldest Marine present - 95 - and drank a beer with the youngest - 21 . I swapped some jokes with a Lance Corporal that I ca n't repeat . ( To anyone . ) And I chatted with some Gold Star parents , who spoke proudly and movingly about the sons and daughters they lost . For me , the whole affair is just so damn humbling . A kid with two purple hearts and three tours of combat comes up to me and says , `` Holy cow , Mike , how did you ever do all those Dirty Jobs ? What was the worst one ? '' A sniper with stories that would haunt your dreams listens wide eyed as I answer his questions about crab fishing on the Bering Sea . And a combat medic who has saved more lives than he can remember wants to talk to me about his F-150 . It 's the same thing every year , and every year I 'm surprised all over again . These Marines seem completely unimpressed with their own acts of valor . Their modesty and their courage seem to exist in parts both enormous and equal . They 'd rather talk about other things . About sports . About movies . About the world in general . About the things they fight for . Anything but themselves . Which of course , makes them all the more magnificent . Really - what can you say about people like that ? For now , I 'll go with Happy Birthday . Maybe next year I 'll come up with something more insightful . Semper Fi , Marines , and thanks . And of course , a very happy Veterans Day , to all who serve .
Mike Rowe at U.S. Marines annual ball : It 's `` just so damn humbling . '' Marines are `` completely unimpressed with their own acts of valor , '' says Rowe . The Marine Corps is the most decorated military service in American history and has been for more than a century. ` They 'd rather talk about sports and things they fight for . Anything but themselves . ''