Just Give Me Tomorrow

Just Give Me Tomorrow

“Just give me tomorrow, it’s all that I want,”

  he said with a face that was haggard and gaunt.

The hills are all frozen here at the Chosin,

  I oughta’ be dozin’ but the grunt life I’ve chosen.

My carbine froze up, so I grabbed a Garand,

  sent some Commies to the Promised Land.

Got hit by shrapnel, the blood froze up solid,

  North Korea is cold, barren and squalid.

There’s Chicoms to the East, Chicoms to the West,

  we wiped out two divisions, gonna’ finish the rest.

Piled up their bodies to make our redoubt,

  they maybe figured we’d never get out.

Marine Corsairs with their whistlin’ death,

  so cold on this hill we’re freezin’ our breath.

Lost some buddies up on Fox Hill,

  they held ‘em off with all of their will.

Hell Fire Valley was bad so they say,

  too bad those Commies were in the damn way.

It’s 90 miles to the port of Hungnam,

  the First Division is in quite a jam.

We’ll take the ridges and pass down the road,

  with all of our wounded and dead in the load.

We’ll sing the Marine Hymn as we march on in,

  no need to ask where the hell we have been.

We’ll patch up our wounds and bury our dead,

  then we’ll fill those Commies with dread.

Marines don’t falter and we never quit,

  don’t ever question our guts and our grit.

LDT Nov 10, ‘22

The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir took place from 27 November to 13 December 1950. The Chinese had entered the war and the First Marine Division found itself outnumbered and surrounded. Strung out in the bitter cold over nearly 90 miles in treacherous mountain terrain, they fought their way back to safety while maintaining cohesion and morale saving most of their equipment. In the process, they destroyed several Chinese divisions. Fourteen Marines, two soldiers and one naval aviator received the Medal of Honor for actions at the Chosin Reservoir Campaign.

This poem is dedicated to CPL Virgil S. Thill, USMC (1940-2022)

Main Menu: http://www.azrockdodger.com

Blog Signup: Blog – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies (azrockdodger.com)