Then You're an Infantry Soldier

By Robert L. Coppock

Have you ever stood in the driving rain,
With your rifle "at sling" on your shoulder?
With a backpack that creaks, and a poncho that leaks?
...Then you're an Infantry soldier. 

Have you ever stood in snow to your knees,
Knowing you'll never be ten minutes older?
When your hands have no feeling, and warm Hell sounds appealing?
...Then you're an Infantry soldier.

Have you ever stood on a pitching deck,
With the sun blood hot on your shoulder?
And know you'll soon charge, from a landing barge?
...Then you're an Infantry soldier.

Have you ever crawled through a field of mud,
And hidden behind a small boulder?
While the BAR roared, against the oncoming horde?
...Then you're an Infantry soldier.

Have you ever crept through the jungle thick,
With a mortar tube high on your shoulder?
While the base plate man follows as close as he can?
...Then you're an Infantry soldier.

When you finally stand at Heaven's Gate,
And Roll Call goes slower and slower,
Don't worry or fret...there'll be room for you yet,
...For you're an Infantry soldier.