<strong>The</strong> Poets’ Place... Investing Blood 1950-1953 <strong>The</strong> cold war needed our attention So long ago we seldom mention <strong>The</strong> first to go, fought and died With weapons we then decried <strong>The</strong>y couldn’t win, they could only hold <strong>The</strong>y gave their blood, the brave and bold. We pushed north and went south and north again Spilling blood and killing men When we stopped at an invisible line We were fighting and gouging on mountains’ spines Peace talks were not about peace <strong>The</strong> only concern was the fighting should cease <strong>The</strong> blood ran until it seemed a call from heaven Ended the shooting on July Twenty Seven We who were there, now gray and getting old Shall never forget the blood and the cold <strong>The</strong> hills, the mountains, the rivers to cross Stay In our dreams as we turn and loss America remembers Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria Let history’s pages mark its war in Korea. By <strong>War</strong>ren Eckman Poems printed on this page are not excluded from use on back page. HARM’s WAY It happened in Korea one day Company “C” stood alone in “‘Harms Way” <strong>The</strong> 728 MP’s got the call to cover the retreat of infantry and all <strong>The</strong> order came to hold at the bridge As infantry and armor disappeared over the ridge <strong>The</strong> 728 MPs were to hold at all cost Only the angels knew that all but three would be lost <strong>The</strong> North <strong>Korean</strong>s needed to cross at the bridge to advance If not slowed there our infantry had no chance To have a courageous unit hold, that was the key Selected were the brave men of 728 MP’s, Company C With gunfire blazing and ammo supplies low <strong>The</strong>y gave their lives bravely, they refused to go Of the battle and bravery much has been said about the glory and blood that made the river run red Today if you go to the Haun river Bridge and sense something you can’t see It’s the souls of the men still holding. . . . .the men of Company C By John R Deppe 728th MP Bn. <strong>The</strong> Seventh and the Chosin South of the Yalu River, Chosin Reservoir was the spot, carbines and rifles were blazing and machine guns were all red hot, <strong>The</strong> mighty Seventh were fighting, two battalions left to die. <strong>The</strong> wounded GI’s were many and the dead Chinese were stacked high. <strong>The</strong> ground around our foxhole was bloody, we fought five days without rest. For hours they kept coming at us, sometimes hundreds abreast, <strong>The</strong> tactics they used were simple, they came rushing on like the wind. we fixed bayonets to repel them and we knew we wouldn’t give in. <strong>The</strong> odds were eight to one! <strong>The</strong> Chinese thought we were lost, but the men of the Seventh would fight on, no matter how heavy the cost. <strong>The</strong> Marines and the Navy sent fighters to give us close air support. <strong>The</strong> weather was dismal and foggy and the pilots vision was short. But they turned loose their bombs and their rockets and sped swiftly down to their mark. And the weapon the Reds call the fire bomb, kept the mountains ablaze until dark <strong>The</strong>n the order came to withdraw! Item Company was picked for rear guard. <strong>The</strong> wounded were loaded on six-bys, for we knew the going would be hard. <strong>The</strong> Chinese had set up four road blocks, for they knew of our escape route. As we broke through the first three positions, we knew very few would get out. <strong>The</strong> story I tell is soon finished, the story of three thousand men who laid down their lives for their country and would do it all over again. Of the men who fought in that battle three hundred are living today. Though the enemies loss was much greater, it was too great a price to pay. But we who are living remember. Those men didn’t die in vain. And to keep Communism from our country we’ll gladly do it again By Harold J. Rawls, Gerald R. Wolters and an Unknown Soldier, all ex-POWs of the <strong>Korean</strong> <strong>War</strong> <strong>The</strong> Crow Cold rain hung a bleak curtain Of dirty grey early morning mist O’er the fields endless rows White headstones, fleshless bones. A breath of wind swirled to show Eyes black as sin upon his perch <strong>The</strong> eerie smiling beak of crow ‘Twas there I heard his speech: “Here, the sound of guns is mystery, <strong>The</strong> bombs have ceased to fall But the loudest wail in history Comes from heros’ hallowed mall– Remember us, we are the dead Remember us, we fought and fell Remember us, we have all bled Remember us, we died in hell!” Remembered the horror so long ago My best friend Walter K.I.A. I salute my brothers and the crow His message taken, as I go away... “Remember us, Remember us, Please, Remember us...” By Andrew Lynch At the time of this printing I have many more poems sent in by members and friends. I intend on printing them all. Some are hand written which will take some time putting into type. I am trying to print the oldest postmark first of those that are typed. <strong>The</strong> non-typed ones will be intermixed in order to not delay this and other issues. Please try to type all poems and articles if you can.—Editor. Page 48 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Graybeards</strong>
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