by Cpl. Robert L. Cook
Jan. 1942-Sept. 1945
Ashore they were a rowdy bunch,
They took their time to play
But once they came aboard
It was business all the way.
They manned the fifties,
The twenties and forties,
And a five-inch gun or two.
They stood their watches
Like good Marines oughta,
Their breaks were far and few.
They stood a watch at the radio shack
And watches on the brig,
They stood by the captain
In all of the action
When he was on the bridge.
When the seas were high and heavy
And the wind came blowing in,
You’d find them on the gun mounts
Oft'times wet to their skin.
Although they wore the uniform
Of regular Marines,
They were of a different breed.
They didn’t have a foxhole
From which to fire a round
And nowhere to run if they could.
They took their place
In the scheme of it all
And did so remarkably well,
Sea-going Marines
Was the name of the team
And they served their time
In Hell.
* * *
The author: Robert Cook served with Regimental Weapons Co. (2d-2d) from 1942-44, at Tarawa
& Guadalcanal during a 33-month overseas tour.
Robert's latest
book: Poems By A Marine
Nobody Did It Better
Click here to
read a review of Robert's novel.
