Every November, Marines around the world celebrate the Corps’ birthday with a cake cutting ceremony rooted in continuity. The oldest Marine present gives the first slice to the youngest, representing one generation passing its experience and traditions to the next.

That ritual became strikingly literal in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Nov. 6. A staff noncommissioned officer handed the ceremonial cake to his son, who had graduated from Marine Corps boot camp earlier that same day.

Master Sgt. Philip Joseph Bender, 42, shared the moment with Pfc. Noah Riley Bender, 18, during the Marine Corps’ 251st birthday ball held by Combat Logistics Battalion 26. Cpl. Salvador Flores Perez interviewed and photographed both Marines for a Marine Corps news article.

The ceremony capped an 18 year family journey through the Corps. Philip Bender graduated from boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in 2006, became a logistics and embarkation specialist, and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Noah Bender was born shortly after his father returned. Philip Bender was 23 at the time and could not have envisioned how closely his son would eventually follow the trail he had started.

“When Noah was born, I never could have imagined that he would want to follow in my footsteps,” Philip Bender said in the release. “I was a young Marine, but he quickly became my whole world.”

Over the next 18 years, the Bender family moved to Parris Island, South Carolina, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and Norfolk, Virginia. Philip Bender served and deployed with units across the Corps, including assignments aboard amphibious assault ships and a stint as a drill instructor at Parris Island.

Meanwhile, Noah Bender developed his own enthusiasm for the Marine Corps. He dressed in camouflage uniforms as a child, wore his father’s covers, pretended to be a Marine, and later joined the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Lejeune High School.

“He said from an early age that he wanted to be like dad and be a Marine,” his father said in the news release. Philip Bender said he always encouraged and supported his son’s dream of earning the title.

Noah Bender eventually stepped onto the same yellow footprints at Parris Island where his father had begun his Marine Corps journey 20 years earlier. Those footprints mark where recruits stand in their first formation after leaving the bus on the opening day of boot camp.

The younger Bender joined Echo Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion. It was the same company where his father had served as a drill instructor more than a decade before, adding yet another direct connection between their separate paths through the Corps.

“He wrote in a letter that after each event, he would look down at his name tape, the ‘BENDER’ name tape, and say, ‘Dad I did it, I passed the next thing,’” said Philip Bender.

Then came the Crucible, a grueling 54 hour ordeal involving obstacle courses, marches with heavy packs, and problem solving while drill instructors kept the pressure on. Recruits complete the challenge with little food and even less sleep.

As Noah Bender completed the final 15 kilometer hike, the tired young private first class was pulled from formation and greeted by his father. The meeting came as Noah received the Eagle, Globe and Anchor pin and formally earned the title Marine.

“I rushed to him and felt relief, like, I have the [Eagle, Globe and Anchor pin], I have the title Marine, I have what my dad has. Instead of wearing his name it felt like our name,” said Noah Bender.

“I finally made it to the point where I am not only representing my dad, but myself and the Marine Corps.” Philip Bender described feeling proud, happy, excited, and overwhelmed by several emotions at once.

Noah Bender’s next assignment is Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, followed by the signal intelligence career field. Before that next chapter, father and son had one more Marine Corps tradition to complete together.

“It felt amazing that I just graduated and now I’m standing next to my dad and having him pass the cake and the traditions to me,” Noah Bender said. This time, the passing of Marine tradition was not merely symbolic.