Dedicated to the U.S. Marines

Dear Sir,

I happened to run across this poem on your site and found it interesting that Bob Denny claimed to have seen this poem in the 40’s. It so happens that I wrote this poem (Somewhat different version) in 1968 while under going training in Camp Lejune, NC where in fact we made it our company song and used it as we marched through the base in Charlie company. I did in fact copyright my version of the poem and I am attaching a copy of same with this email. I am not trying to discredit anyone nor do I wish to make a big deal of this issue. I do request that you add my version of the poem and to maybe suggest it is an updated version written in 1968 if you like.Your time is greatly appreciated on this matter. Semper Fi (USMC 1968-1971) Please advise if you receive this attachment.

Respectfully yours,
David L. Bell

Dedicated to the U.S. Marines
by David L. Bell

You can have your Army Kakiis,
And your Navy Blues,
But here’s a different fighting man,
I’ll introduce to you.
His uniform is unlike,
Any you’ve ever seen,
The Germans called him “Devil Dog”,
His title is “Marine”.

He was trained in Parris Island,
The place that God forgot,
The sand was fourteen inches deep,
The sun was blazing hot.
He awakened up one morning,
In front of his rack he’ll stand,
And in through the doorway walked,
A giant of a man.

He turned and faced this young Marine,
With eyes as cold as steel,
He said, “I am your DI,
And this is for real.
I’ll make your life as miserable,
As miserable as I can,
And when you finally leave this place,
You’ll be a fighting man.
You’ll be a rifle expert,
You’ll know your weapon well,
And when you encounter the Viet Cong,
You’ll send their souls to Hell.

Now gather around you young Marines,
And lend me all your ears,
And I’ll tell you of a few things,
We’ve conquered through the years,
We fought at Iwo Jima,
The land of fire and Hell,
We killed all those Japanese,
And took their land as well.

Now you can tell your ladies,
And this my Lad is true,
To get herself a young “Marine”,
There is nothing he can’t do.
He’s peeled a million onions,
And twice as many spuds,
Then you’ll find him in the slot chutes,
A soaking up the suds.

And when he gets to Heaven,
St.Peter he will tell,
Another “Marine” reporting Sir.
I’ve served my time in Hell.

Written and copyright by: David Lee Bell
1968

Used with Special Permission of the Author
Copyright ? 1968All Rights Reserved
and may not be duplicated without permission