Korean War—1951–1953

Korean War Poem

 

We didn’t do much talking,
We didn’t raise a fuss.
But Korea really happened
So please – remember us.

We all just did our duty
But we didn’t win or lose.
A victory was denied us
But we didn’t get to choose.

We all roasted in the summer
In winter, we damn near froze.
Walking back from near the Yalu
With our blackened frozen toes.

Like the surf the Chinese kept coming
With their bugles in the night.
We fired into their masses
Praying for the morning light.
All of us just had to be there

And so many of us died.
But now we’re all but half forgotten
No one remembers how we tried.

We grow fewer with the years now
And we still don’t raise a fuss.
But Korea really happened
So please – remember us.

—Lt. Cmdr. (Ret.) Roberto J. Prinselaar, U.S. Coast Guard

 

Poem from General Douglas MacArthur’s Honor Guard Association, http://generalmacarthurshonorguard.com/wordpress/the-stories/the-stories-korean-war-poem.

 

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March 2023