20 November 1943: Tarawa

Chosin Reservoir, 1950

Crisp salute to the U. S. Marine Corps veterans of the 1st Marine Division, soldiers of the 7th Light Infantry Division, British Marines, and all other attachments who participated in this great and costly battle. Semper Fidelis.

'Nuff Said

Veterans' Day, 2009

Never Be Forgotten
By Leslie Lynn King

Champions of freedom meet
in patriotic ground,
while living hero tears
are dropped without a sound.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

With pounding, burning sulfur
sweat and blood mixes true;
while lungs breathe in shrapnel
hands carry red, white, and blue.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Chipping lives in weathered stones
History tells the story,
of common men and women
plunged into the extraordinary...
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Slow stepped, dirty sneakers
tramp on solemn, sunken graves;
novelty of cameras
flash only on certain days.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Their battles so long over,
some souls sit living guilty,
remembering and wondering...
why my friends and not me?
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

On foreign fields alone
blood soaks deeper in time,
telling stories of liberty
and making it truly mine.
Whispers sing softly--
Never be forgotten...

Memories and relics
service felt so true,
meet with haunting whispers...
I will never forget you.

Copyright Leslie Lynn King, 2009

The Hallmark of our Corps

Today is a day for remembering the Marines with whom I served during my career; it is a day of celebrating what the United States Marine Corps does for the American people, and what it did for me. To all Marines, past and present … I salute you.

Semper Fidelis,

Mustang out