Beachhead Scene, Marines at Tarawa
Kerr Eby #23
Charcoal & Pastel, 1944
Gift of Abbott Laboratories
88-159-DG

A Marine 

Author Unknown

Take a man and put him alone.
Put him twelve thousand miles from home.
Empty his heart of all but blood
Make him live in sweat and mud. 
This is the life l have to live.
And my soul to the devil I had to give.
You have your parties and drink your beer
While young men are dying over here.
Plant your signs on the White House lawn.
“Let’s all get out of Vietnam”.
Use your signs and have your fun
Then, you refuse to use a gun.
There’s nothing else for you to do
Then I’m supposed to die for you.
There is one thing that you don’t know
And that’s where I think you ought to go.
I’m already here and its too late
I’ve traded my love for death and hate.
I’ll hate you till the day I die
You made me hear my buddy cry.
I saw his leg, and the blood he shed.
Then I heard them say, “This one is dead”.
It was a dear price for him to pay
To let you live another day.
He had the guts to fight and die,
To keep the freedom you live by.
By his death, your life he buys
But who gives a damn if a young Marine dies.

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