Sgt Grit is a place where Marines can come and meet other Marines, share tattoos and stories, keep up with Marine Corps news, or shop for USMC gear.
No Fences Which Contain this Weathered Word Man,
Broken, The Chains lays Before me, Buried Beneath
the Talcum Powdered sand.
Gone, Now are these Dreams Dreamt, Though I still
Awake in Cold Sweats, In My Home.
WHO ELSE FEELS THIS WAY???
I know I’m not alone, My boots now Track in mud
from the City Streets, and My body is Wiped clean,
Clear of a land that is Forsaken In the Eyes of
the Lord.
Welcome Home, my Hero, my boy, my Son
You’ve been through a lot, of this I’m assured.
For both of us it’s been a very long time
The good of what you’ve done yet to be heard.
I watched you as you gathered
the things you would need
Seeing your excitement,
innocence glowing in your eyes
Not wanting you to do this,
not wanting you to grow up
I sat in your room, biting my lip,
saying our goodbyes
Below the Manchurian boarder, Korea is the spot
We are doomed to spend our lives in a place God forgot
Through the paddies with our weapons, digging foxholes with a pick
Doing the work of a gosh darn Mule, to damm tried to kick
We sweat, we swear, we freeze, it is more than we can stand
We are really not convicts, we are defenders of our land
We are the troops of The Corps, earning our measly pay
Guarding our Country’s millions, for a lousy $ 4 a day
Living with our memories, wanting to see our best girl
Hoping to see her, before she marries our best pal
Nobody knows we are living, nobody gives a damm
Back home we are soon forgotten, as the nephews of Uncle Sam
When we climb that final mountain, right up to that Golden Bell,
St. Peter will say, “Welcome MARINES you served your time in hell!”
What do you say to a combat vet
When it comes to Memorial Day?
Have a ……happy?…a safe?…a sad?…a memorable?
None of those words can convey…
The emotions inside them….held in check, with the
memories and faces of brothers that gave all.
A human being…not a name that?s written upon a wall.
a life…..not a word that?s spoken at honor roll call.
Tempered by the fire of battle,
Tested by fear and doubt,
Held up by my God and my brothers.
I have suffered,
I have hurt,
I have bled,
I have lived,
And I have died.
I have wept for fallen brothers,
I have prayed for my family at home,
I have hoped,
And I have loved.
Dear Sgt. Grit,
Recently my mother in law was cleaning out some drawers and came across some of my father in laws things. (My father in law has been dead many years now). In it was a laminated code of honor, an old chauffeurs license and this poem my husband had sent him from Viet Nam. It came from a military news paper they had when he was over there. I want to share it with you.
The days are long sense you left home.
We know you are serving your country and
Making us proud but we can?t help but wonder,
Where Are You Son.
You?ve moved here and you?ve
Moved there so we wonder,
Where Are You Son.
We knew when you joined the Corp
That you would travel, but still we wonder,
Where Are you Son.
3rd Shore party Bn. A Co.
In the end, I found myself at the “Wall”
there for all the world to see,
asking myself, “why them and not me?”
The many names reminded me of how life was at hand,
to die in a foreign land,
Where life was given, and suddenly taken away,
for freedom has a terrible price,
for the spirit and the flesh,
where lives were thrown away,
like the throw of the dice,
Where the true hero in measured,
didn’t come home at all,
So here I am, standing before the “Wall,”
listening to their voices crying out,
OH America! have you forgotten?
For whom prays for peace more,
than the one who fights the war,
As I stood there with tears on my face,
a lump in my throat,
I could only remember what one great general said,
“Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away.”
To Sgt Grit and staff,
Thank you for all that you do in sending the newsletter out. It is an opportunity for me to keep my pride, patriotism and patience with these ignorant jerks that we have served for (not all, but wow there are a lot!).
I wrote this poem on my deployment to the Mediterranean Sea in 19992000. I hope you enjoy!
Who we are you ask
We live on our feet, definitely
Will not live on our knees.
When duty calls
We leave everything behind
Family, friends everything we love.
We will kill for those who cannot kill
Die for those too scared to
We fight for what many wont
We take the punishment and pay the price
For all that you enjoy.
Fear not our fate, enjoy your freedom
While it is not free, we will pay your share
Often ultimate sacrifice is the cost.
There is nothing you should fear.
We have your back, the bullets hit our chest.