"The Men of Spring" ... RIP (tribute to Marines I knew) Can you relate?

Question

"The Men of Spring"

Midnight at Paris Island,

met by drill sergeants screaming threats.

we marched through the gates to h**l;

humid walls cover us in sweat.

Eight weeks of punishing training

and we become the few, the proud,

brothers unafraid to challenge death

heading toward war riding on a cloud.

I remember the men of spring,

young soldiers outfitted in green;

raw inexperienced and lean,

with plans and hopes and dreams.

Forty years since that time they passed

and I know where they have all gone

Seventy names on a Washington wall

they were the Marines of Viet Nam

If summer, autumn and winter

were theirs I wonder who they would become

To their mothers, fathers, sisters

they're Marines that never came home.

note: Seventy two of us were in that platoon; only

two survived.

Answer 1

My son was in the Marine Corps and I will send him a link to this poem.  Thank you for your sacrifices for all of us, and for such a loving tribute to your brothers who paid the ultimate price.

May they rest in peace.

Answer 2

This is compelling and poignant.  The story has a depth of emotion and power I have rarely read. Perhaps it gets that power from the expression of your personal experience, from the fact that it speaks the tragic truth of your experience. It takes courage to share an experience like this.  You have my appreciation.  Thank you.

Answer 3

As the Last Post is sounded

we think of all of our friends.

Buddies; their knell sounded,

at peace with their dead friends.

A wonderful tribute to all of the fallen, who have passed on to a place where there is no war. May all of us remember those who fought so that others might live in peace.

Robert

Answer 4

I went to boot in San Diego, on the Navy side of the fence. We could hear the DI's yelling, "You want to go over there and drink Coca Cola with those a*****s!"

Answer 5

This definitely had to be emotional to pen.  My compliments.  Take a look at the last stanza, the rest of the poem deserves a stronger close in my opinion.  Something like: "though they went to war as Marines, they came home as sons and memories, only springtime memories..."  Again, my compliments.

Edit: the last sounds good.

Answer 6

A star for you because I answered the previous post.

Have you seen my most recent?

Answer 7

This is a very beautiful hear felt poem, fortunately I have never had a loss!  My son is home now from the Marines (which I am very proud of) lives in Atlanta Ga.

I am sorry for you and the loss of your platoon, what a horrible thing to have to go through!!  War is a horrible thing, wish there was a different way of accomplishing issues that doesn't involve people dying !

Cheers!!

Answer 8

And it continues. What is it with men and war...

"The Men of Spring," a poetic, imaginative title--men who died in the "springtime" of their lives.

Answer 9

A wonderfully written tribute. I can only began to fathom but cannot completely relate as I have been fortunate enough to have never lost any companions or family members to h**l. This piece is as close as I hope to ever get to that horrible experience. I thank you sir for being one of the few who keep the rest of us safe. My father, uncles, and grandfathers would, I'm sure, be brought to tears by this. Well done.