San Diego Reader

Friday night I ran into dozens of Marines at the Manchester Grand Hyatt downtown. They were attending the second installment of the Marine Corp Birthday Ball. The first was held October 13th, 2012 in celebration of Marine Corps November 10th, 237th birthday. The second was held on January 25th for those deployed during the first ball.

I found Jessica and Brad McCaw in the Manchester Grand lobby. 18-year-old Jessica is a lifeguard while 20-year -old Brad is a anti-tank missile man. Jessica purchased her dress from Prom Girl.

Corporal Cory Winter and Laura Crump are not dating. Laura reiterated that a few times. The 21-year-old is a nursing student. Her and Winter have been friends since childhood. Her dress was borrowed from a friend of hers who wore it as a prom dress.

27-year-old Alina Anaya also borrowed her gold-toned dress from a friend. Her date introduced himself as Dustin Awesome.