Why are Marines sometimes called leathernecks?
The original Marine uniform had a tight leather collar, thus
Leathernecks. The Marines in the days of pirates, boarded ships and
fought with sabers, the leather around there neck, was protective
gear, a saber slash to neck a man could bleed out in seconds.
The phrase comes from the early days of the Marine Corps when
enlisted men were given strips of leather to wear around their
necks to keep them from slouching in uniform by forcing them to
keep their head up.
They used to wear these leather neck protectors in combat to
keep people from beheading them.
The Continental Marine Corps was commissioned on November 10,
1775, by the Continental Congress. In 1798, Marines were issued a
collar of stiff black leather annually as part of their uniform.
Measuring approximately 3.5 inches high and fastened at the back of
the neck by metal clasps, the collars forced a haughty military
bearing. According to the Marine Corps Association, "Legend and
lore have it that the term "leatherneck" was derived from leather
neckbands worn in the late 1700s to protect Marines from the slash
of the cutlass."