From my friend’s father who was a Korean War Veteran:
This United States Marine
It was his first night in Korea,
The stars were bright and clean;
The very first night of combat,
For this United States Marine.
The moon was high above the mountains
And glistened on the snow
That covered the rocky hillside
And the valley down below.
Then he heard their bugles loud and clear
That echoed through the night;
He saw the rocks turn into men
And he held his rifle tight.
The flares lit up the valley
And he saw the quilted men;
He raised and fired his rifle once,
And then fired it once again.
The human wave came up the hill,
Each step brought them higher;
They seemed to take no heed at all
To the land mines and barbed wire.
He fought them hand-to-hand
With knife and bayonet
Until the ground around his feet
Was dark and red and wet.
He drove them from the bunkers
Till up they came no more,
And twisted, quilted bodies lay
Upon the valley floor.
He stood there silently and looked
At sights he’d never seen;
He had held his ground against all odds,
This United States Marine
Mitch Stovall - USMC
Than you for sharing.