Once a Marine, Always a Marine!

[thedrifter]

Once a Marine!
by Cpl. Robert L. Cook
1942~44


I have often heard this phrase,
While moving through the Corps:
"It wasn't 'til I'd left it,
I found 'twas evermore."


I tried to be a civilian
And do things as they do.
But I found I was doing
Much better than
I knew!


I was walking taller,
My head held erect.
I kept my leather shining,
It had a good effect!


The people with whom I worked
Were looking from aside.
They could not understand
Why I walked with pride.


They'd ask about my tattoos
And I tried to explain:
The Anchor, Globe, and Eagle
I'll always retain.


It is so much a part of me,
Those things that make Marines.
Sometimes I'm so stormy,
Some times I'm serene.


The things that make Marines,
I am proud to say,
Have stayed with me
A lifetime,
To this very day!


Once a Marine,
Always a Marine!




Once a Marine! (Part II)
by Cpl. Robert L. Cook
Jan. 42~Sept. 45


The years goes slowly
One by one.
And now that I am 81
I look back
And wonder why
I still walk
Beneath the sky.
Has life got more
For me to do?


I can list a thing or two
That I have been
Attached to.
Like war and peace,
The work I do
That has carried me through
The rough times
And the good.


Like folks of age,
And there's quite a few,
I find things often
Hard to do.
Like climbing stairs,
Or scrubbing floors,
Or doing other
Kinds of chores.
My shoes are getting
Further down.
I am sure that they
Have moved the ground!


Oh well! I'm sure
When my time comes
That I will be ready
To succumb
To a "Fall out"
Command.
And march right
Up the golden stairs
In cadence with
The DI there
Who is under God's
Command.


And keeps old Marines
Like me in hand,
And gives them each
Another stripe
And lets them know
They done it right!
Semper Fi!



Sempers,

Roger