Sunday will be the U.S. Army's 223rd birthday.

The force started from a few men fighting for independence and grew to the massive force that spans the world today.

The idea was born with a heated debate through the spring of 1775. The Continental Congress passed a resolution calling for the formation of "10 companies of expert riflemen; six from Pennsylvania, two from Maryland and two from Virginia." Thus was born the United States Army, the oldest of the nation's armed forces.

After gaining independence from the British, the country began building and expanding, but it would not be long until the Army would be called on again.

The War of 1812 again pitted the United States against Great Britain, with the Army rallying to victory.

As the country's expansion continued, the Army protected the settlers moving west and was called on when relations with Mexico soured in the 1840s. Traveling great distances, the Army landed on Mexico's east coast and advanced to Mexico City, finally forcing a surrender.

The 1860s saw the darkest days of the United States when, in 1861, the country was plunged into a civil war. Across the country, from Tennessee in the west, Atlanta in the south and Gettysburg in the north, the Union cause was maintained countryman against countryman, sometimes brother against brother.

In the end, the country still stood as a single entity and "a rebirth of freedom" included those once under bondage.

When Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, the country got to the task of rebuilding, and continuing expansion westward with the Army leading the way.

The Indian campaigns of the late 1800s saw many bloody battles. During one fight one company of the 27th Infantry held off more than 1,500 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors in what became know as the Wagon-Box Fight.

The 7th Cavalry became etched in the Army's history when Gen. George Armstrong Custer and his men were wiped out in the Battle of Little Big Horn.

With the dawning of the new century the Army, volunteer and regular-army units alike, were spread from Cuba to China, helping protect the country's interests.

Early in the 1900s, the National Guard was organized to better integrate state militia regiments with active-duty forces.

If needed in the future there would be better coordination and a standardization of training, doctrine and uniforms.

World War I put the new system to the test. Almost a million young men, active-duty regulars, National Guard and draftees, served in the trenches of Europe. Under the command of Gen. John J. Persian, the Army showed the world what the American soldier could accomplish.

Slightly more than 20 years after the end of "The War to End All Wars," the United States was again thrust into battle when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

From the heat of North Africa to the ice of the Aleutian Islands, the Army deployed, destroying the fascist and imperial expansion of Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan.

When the final shots were fired and Gen. Douglas MacArthur signed the peace documents in Tokyo Bay, the Army began demobilizing rapidly, but there was a new threat on the horizon, communism.

During the Cold War, soldiers stood on the edge, protecting against the spread of the Soviet Union and her puppet states. Sometimes the words turned to shooting.

From 1950 to 1953 American soldiers found themselves in Korea, helping repel the North Korean Army, and later Chinese, who were determined to unite the north and south through force of arms.

The attempt failed, and the Koreas still stand divided, with the 2nd Infantry Division on the border showing U.S. determination to keep the North Koreans at bay.

The Army was called on again in the 1960s to stem the spread of communism -- this time in South Vietnam. During the war, the Army adopted new tactics, like the introduction of the helicopter as a means of inserting large numbers of troops onto the battlefield.

The 1980s saw the Army rebuild with new equipment and doctrine. It wasn't long before soldiers were called again, blocking a communist takeover on the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada, and ejecting a dictator in Panama.

When the USSR collapsed in the late-1980s, the Army began to draw-down, but when called to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi invaders, it was there. In a 100-hour ground battle that followed more than a month of air bombardment, the Army rolled across the deserts of Iraq and Kuwait, crushing all opposition in it's way.

Today soldiers are deployed across the globe, from Korea to Bosnia, standing ready to serve if called.