Category: Marine Corps Stories

A Marine

A Marine
by Cpl. Louis A. (Tony) Gilman

As you scrambled off the bus
And raced toward the yellow footprints
The Drill Instructors yelled at you to reach,
You began to change.

You suffered intense pain, physical & mental anguish
For the next 12 weeks and took it all, because you wanted to be
One of the best. You must have run hundreds of miles with those
Crazy men in Smokey Bear hats yelling at you to move your ass,
Pick up the pace, you maggot!
80 of you at the beginning, learning to work as a team,
to overcome, to adapt, to win. read more

All I want for Christmas

Sgt Grit,

My name is Sara Figgins and a Christmas poem I wrote for Cpl Mark Olsen who is stationed in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

All I want for Christmas
Sara Figgins

All I want for Christmas,
Although your far away,
Is for you to know I think of you especially today,

All I want for Christmas,
Although your boots are filled with sand, Is for you to know I care about you in a far distant land, read more

All In Vain

Thanks for your terrific news letters. The poem I?m sharing was written 3 days before I was critically wounded by a VC sniper near Quang Tin Vietnam in 1967. By the grace of God, I survived and after many months of recovery I was medically discharged from the Corps. I?m sharing my writing to honor those heroes I left behind so many years ago and to honor all the brave men and women who are now serving this great nation that we proudly call America. read more

13 Weeks of Goodbyes

this is a poem i made for a marine and i want to share it.

this poem was made for
Rct. Lauzier
Plt. 4033 Co. Oscar Bn. 4th
Box. 16435
Parris Island SC. 29905

made on Aug. 13th 2009

13 Weeks of Goodbyes
by Danielle Font

I knew it would be hard
when we got togetther, she told me
I knew it would happen.
“its only 13 weeks.”
I kept putting it off.
Its still a while away,
so I thought.
I was wrong.
So many love songs,
so many hugs,
so many kisses.
I miss them all.
I woke up,
it was the day,
the last day together.
I could feel it in the air,
a heaviness,
a chill.
There, outside
in the warm sun,
I held her.
I kissed her.
The words wouldn’t leave my mouth,
they left hers first,
“goodbye
I love you
its ony 13 weeks.” read more

Veterans Day Story

Somebody Had To Do It
Written by Lynn Johnston, Spring, TX 11/99

Just five insignificant words: Somebody had to do it. We use these words in various ways, such as when someone tells they take tour groups to Paris or sample Godiva chocolates for a living. “It’s a job,” they say, “and somebody’s got to do it!” I remember my husband saying those words recently, after volunteering to lick the praline pot at a cooking school in New Orleans. “Somebody’s got to do it,” he announced, cracking a huge smile. read more

Patriotic Poem of America’s Heroes

America’s Hero’s and Times Quiescence

Poem by Herbert G. Renner, Jr.,
Master Chief, Hospital Corps, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Photos by Gerald F. Merna
First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
Former Members of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Korea
(Note: Except for George C. Merna’s memorial stone, all pictures were randomly taken at monuments depicted on May 25, 2002). read more

General George S. Patton

Remarks of Gen. George Patton
to units of the U.S. Third Army between March and May, 1944.

Warning: If you’re offended by four-letter language, please read no further….

Though his speech seemed unrehearsed, Patton clearly knew it by heart; though he kept no record of it, all extant versionscopied by listenersare remarkably similar. A student of war, he gave the speech in phrasing intended to inspire the privates who would make the assault succeed. read more