Marine Corps Poems

Marine Corps Poems
Del Abe Jones

A MARINE BIRTHDAY
(November 10)

Eight years after they were formed
At the end of the Revolutionary War
All the Navy?s ships were sold
Marines and Sailors were no more.

Then, in Seventeen ninety-eight
The Marines once more came to be
And they fought Barbary pirates
Along the ?Shores of Tripoli?.

During the War of Eighteen Twelve
They defended Washington
Along with many other Operations
Before that War was done.

They served in the Mexican War
And among Battles that they fought
One to the ?Halls of Montezuma?
Alongside General Winfield Scott.

?Bull Run? during the Civil War
And blockades at Cape Hatteras
At New Orleans and Charleston
And Fort Fisher toward the last.

The Spanish-American War
The Boxer Rebellion in China
Fights in Cuba, Mexico, Haiti
In Nicaragua and Panama.

On the Battlefields of France
The ?Devil Dogs? earned their name
And many thousands killed or wounded
In World War One?s deadly game.

And most of us know their stories
About the Heroes of WWII
There?s some seem impossible
But we all know they?re true.

During the War in Korea
Twenty-five thousand gave their all
Fighting many gallant battles
Answering our Country?s call.

?The Cold War? found them everywhere
In countries all around the Earth
Trying hard to keep the Peace
And showing all their worth.

In Sixty-Five they landed in Da Nang
With eighty-five thousand ?in country?
They served with Pride and Honor
Although our Country would not see.

On their Two Hundred Thirtieth Birthday
We have them serving in Iraq
As well as so many other places
To try to hold the Terrorists back.

Maybe someday there will be Peace
And Good Will on Earth and more
But until then lets all give Thanks
We have the United States Marine Corps.

Del ?Abe? Jones
11-07-2005

Semper Fidelis

On the tenth day of November
In Seventeen seventy-five
Two Battalions were formed
And the Marine Corps came alive.

The Continental Congress
Had passed a resolution
For a landing force for the fleet
A new Navy Institution.

Since that day so long ago
Through all conflicts of our Nation
They?ve fueled stories and folklore
And stirred the imagination.

They?re usually the first to go
The ?spearhead? of the fight
Some who heard they were coming
Have turned tail and took flight.

They?ve offered up, gave their All
And that continues to this day
Standing tall, marching forth
To show others, Freedom?s way.

THE MARINE CORPS WAR MEMORIAL
(Iwo Jima)

Said a Vet from Nineteen forty-five,
?Men were dying by the score.?
An eyewitness to a famous Battle
Immortalized forever more.
Quartermaster on a LST
?Eyewitness to a sad, horrible day.?
?A slaughter right there on the Beach?
Is what, this Veteran had to say.
Coast Guardsman Robert Resnick
Was more than just a witness there
He furnished the Stars and Stripes
In that picture all generations share.
A symbol for the Marine Corps
Cast in bronze for all to see
The Flag raised on that mountain top
Is part of our Nation?s History.
One of the bloodiest Battles of the War
Fought for thirty-six days and nights
More than twenty two thousand Japanese
In one of the Marines fiercest fights.
The first part of Japan we invaded
And as Resnick?s ship sat on the beach
Marine Gagnon asked him for a Flag
And a long pipe to raise it?s reach.
They lost their sight of the Marine
As he headed to that Mountain top
Amidst the gun?s bullets flying
That never, ever seemed to stop.
As they began to leave the Beach
A tremendous cheer went all around
And, ?Every ship tooted it?s horn.?
As they raised the Flag that he had found.
For years another was credited
Until the year, Two thousand-one
When at a Fifth Marine Convention
The Marines learned he really was the one.
A big, old Marine bellowed out,
?Do you really mean to tell me,
That you never realized that you
Won that Battle, single-handedly??
The President of the Fifth Marines
Made him an honorary member
And as they did some tears were shed
As they all began to remember
About that day sixty years ago
Up there on Mount Surabachi
When the Stars and Stripes were raised high
Was still a vivid, cherished, memory.

VETERAN?S DAY, 2005

We are set to Celebrate our Vets
In this year Two Thousand Five
Another year we wish them home
Each of them, Safe and Alive.

There?s some say, “The War is just!”
And some who say, “It?s just not right!”
But the ones we should be talking to
Are Those who Walk, not Talk the Fight.

Not all see things the way we do
In this good ol? U S of A
For they have lived for centuries
In a completely different way.

Our Troops there Work to show them
How a People Freed can live
And They put Their Lives on the Line
And for Some, that?s what They Give.

So, as we approach this Veteran?s Day
We know this War is the ?real deal?
We must all come together
And let Them all know how we feel.

For, to One and All we send our, “Thanks!”
And Pray for Their Quick and Safe return
And Hope Their Torch of Freedom lit
Will for Now and Always Burn.

And to Those who Served before Them
In all times of Peace and War
We owe them a Debt of Gratitude
For our Life of Liberty, and so much more.

NOVEMBER 11TH

There are so many little towns
That make up this great nation
And the heroes from them
Boggle the imagination.
Those who answer the call
In peace and wartimes strife
Who give of themselves
So, we can live this life.
Some go and fight those wars
Some die, some hurt, survive
But all that they believe in
Is what keeps freedom alive.
It is all those little towns
And people who live there
Who stand and fight for freedom
For people, everywhere.
Somebody’s dad or brother
Husband, daughter or son
Mother, sister, cousins
We all, know someone
Who, when freedom was threatened
Here at home, around the world
Were determined to insure
Freedoms flag remained unfurled.
They believe and fight for
The things this world needs
They might not always win
But they will have planted seeds.
In time of peace or conflict
There is always a price to pay
And today, we pay them tribute
On this Veterans Day.

ONLY NUMBERS?

Two hundred, twenty-eight years
That, we have been going to war
Eleven times we said, “For freedom!”
Was, what we were fighting for.

We’ve spent two, point, six trillion
But that was just a petty cost
Compared to all of the spent lives
Of those loved ones, who were lost.

Thirty-two hundred plus, a month
For more than thirty-two years
The total time fighting our enemies
And more time, shedding our tears.

One and one quarter million dead
That’s more than fifteen every day
Since we went to war, “For freedom!”
In our Revolutionary way.

One and one half million wounded
For this Country of the Free
Although some of these losses
Were the Union’s and Confederacy.

But, all of them are Veterans
Who fought for what they believed
In their own way, doing battle
For those Freedoms, they perceived.

As of late, a Veteran’s definition
Has come from a different kind of War
For which we all, are conscripted
To help guard, our Freedom’s door.

Let’s Honor, each and every one
And though we may not know each name
They were so much more than numbers
In every Wartime’s deadly “game”.

And, this November eleventh
In the year, Two Thousand Three
Let’s hope someday, all People
Live in a land, where they are Free.

Let’s make Veterans Day a memory
And a part of days gone past
Learn to live with our Fellowman
In a Free World at Peace, at last.

OLD GLORY IN 2001

Those “STARS AND STRIPES” gained new meaning
In the year two thousand and one
It flew prouder over our Country
Where a new war had begun.

On September eleventh
“They” tried to bring it down
Along with those “Two Towers”
That came crashing to the ground.

But, the American people caught it
And held it high for all to see
This is still, “THE HOME OF THE BRAVE”
And, “THE LAND OF THE FREE”.

Those people who do evil
Will shudder at the sight
As “OLD GLORY” catches them
In all it’s power and might.

We might not always do justice
Under it’s waving grace
But, it’s meaning to Freedom
Will always stand it’s place.

It’s always been a symbol
And hope, for people in this world
It sends a very special message
Each time, it is unfurled.

The “STARS AND STRIPES” will wave
Those colors, “RED, WHITE, AND BLUE”
As long, as there are Freedom lovers
Or all life on Earth, is through.

TWO THOUSAND AND COUNTING

Two thousand of our Finest Lost
And no matter how you Feel
If this War is wrong or right?
All those Losses are too Real.

Every State in our Union
Has Lost at least one Soul
And most of our Possessions
Has added some, to that Sad Toll.

As part of that Wartime Cost
Almost fifty Women Died
As their Duty to their Country
Stood with the Men, by their side.

The First took eighteen months
The Second thousand, in one year
There?s not a sign of winding down
But, it?s getting Worse, I Fear.

There are fifteen thousand Wounded
Many of them Maimed for Life
Some Lost Limbs, some, Peace of Mind
To the Waste of Wartime?s strife.

Thousands of Loved Ones and Friends
Are Mourning, aching with that Pain
Knowing there are only Memories
Of those they?ll never See again.

Close to three hundred Contractors
?In Country? of their own volition
But for those Grieving Loss at home
It doesn?t change the Pain?s Condition.

And, then there are those Estimates
Of maybe thirty thousand more
Innocent Men, Women and Kids
Who have passed through Allah?s door.

Two and one half years so far
That?s at Least one thousand each Day
And with no Ending within Sight
I wonder what Price we will Pay?

Some will argue, it is Worth it
And some will say the Cost, too High
But I just wonder Why, for Freedom
So Many always have to Die?

TIME TO GO

I could see the flash of cannon
Over the ridge of the hill
Could hear the shots over my head
As I lay deathly still.

I looked up at the twinkling stars
Through the haze of the gunsmoke
And I could hear my comrades
Whispering as they spoke.

There was a quaking in their voice
That betrayed their mortal fear
And as I gazed into the sky
I asked, “What am I doing here?”

I thought of all those buddies
Killed on this foreign shore
And of loved ones back home
And then, I knew, “What for!”

To fight for God and Country
Is a calling, most will heed
To keep freedom safe from those
Who would plant an evil seed.

I lay there in my foxhole
Gripped by the numbing cold
But then, felt a warmth, from inside
Like I was held in the “fold”.

I felt my best friend touch me
And couldn’t believe he said,
“No need to call the corpsman,
‘Cause he’s already dead!”

And then my head felt light
As I looked down below,
Whispered, “I’ll see ya’, Bros
Because it’s time for me to go!”

POW/MIA STORIES

It’s hard to find, the stories
That, they won’t talk about
It’s hard, to realize the things
That they had, to go, without.

How can they let the feelings
(Even, they don’t understand)
Show to, any other people
In this, Freedom’s Land.

We can’t know, the hardships
Unless, we were there
Especially, when they came back home
To those who didn’t, seem, to care.

Unless you had, lived through it
Watching, Comrades that had died
Why should they, talk about it to us
Of, the tears, inside, they’ve cried?

Even, if they chose to tell us
What difference, would it make
Would it be worth the chance
That they, would have to take.

Why should they bare their soul
That’s already been, stripped, clean
Because, even with, a picture of it
We couldn’t see, what they have seen.

Sometimes, all we have to do
Is, to look into their eyes
And think that we might see or hear
Their, mournful, pain-filled cries.

That POW who came home
Who lived, through that Hell
Can’t tell the stories, of the MIA
Who never had, a chance to tell!

So, we may never, ever, know
Of, the horrors, they have, known
And, if we think about it
It’s probably best, that they aren’t shown!

But there is, always an end
To every, never-ending story
Although sometimes, they’re never told
In, all their Truth and Glory.

So if you ask about it
And if you ever wonder why
They won’t talk of that nightmare
Maybe now, you might know, Why

VETERANS ALL

Well! We?re in a different world
Than, what, we ever knew
It will never, be the same
As it was, for me and you.

I think that, since 9/11
Some words forever changed
Like the meaning of ?Veteran?
Has been, re-arranged.

Now, we all are fighters
For our ?freedoms? cause?
If we don?t stand, be counted
We?ll have lost, ?the cause, that was!?

On this Veterans? Day
In this ?land of the free?
We honor those, who gave all
Those with us, and those, yet to be.

We honor those who perished
In attacks upon our shore
And those hunting evildoers
Who came through our ?open door?.

We honor all Americans
And freedom lovers of the world
Where flags like, ?The Stars And Stripes?
Fly in the breeze, unfurled.

I think from this day forth
All patriotic celebrations
Will always give us pause
To these new, realizations.

We must rid this Earth
Of those ?Devils? and their goals
With terror on their minds
Within their hateful souls.

So, here?s to all the Veterans
Who have made ?Freedom Ring?
And, those around the world
Who know! We have a ?special? thing.