Old Corps Poetry

Sgt. Grit:
Enjoy your newsletters very much. My father enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1915 and was a seagoing Marine aboard the USS Oregon. He then saw service with the 4th marines in the Santa Domingo, Haiti and then went on to France during WWI. He finished out his foreign service in China, Guam and the PI’s and ended his career as a recruiter in San Francisco. I have a few things from his service including his medals, discharges (Sheep Skin) and a scrapbook he kept during his time in the Marines. I thought I would share a poem from his scrapbook from the period before going to France to fight.

Our Corps
Submitted by: D. Cosbie

We’re United States Marines,
And proud of this old Corps
Wish we had a thousand lives?
We’d give then all and more,
We’re proud to wear the uniform,
We’re full of pep and vim;
We all belong to Uncle Sam?
We’re MORE then proud of him.

We’ve done a lot of drilling,
We’ve had our share of play,
We’ve ready to go to France now,
So send us any day.
Just give us a chance at the Boches
And see what we can do,
We’ll never give up till we’ve beat ’em
And riddle their carcasses through.

We’re tired of sentry duty,
Around the Navy Yard,
So give us a chance to make ’em dance,
We’re going to hit ’em hard;
Then when the big fight’s over,
And the battles have been won,
We’ll be proud of the flag, Old Glory,
And the things that we have done.