250 YEARS

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS                 
                     250 YEARS

Two hundred fifty years have passed
and still the Eagle stands,
its talons wrapped in courage,
its gaze set on distant lands.

From Tun Tavern’s blazing birthplace
to the halls where legends soar,
from Belleau Wood to Fallujah’s streets
Marines remain forever more.

They rise where others falter,
they advance where others break;
when the world cries out for courage,
it is the Marines who undertake.

They’ve carried freedom on their shoulders,
through fire, storm, and sand
with discipline that does not waver,
and honor carved by hand.

They have guarded every ocean,
they have crossed each foreign shore;
where the flag has needed defenders,
the Corps has answered—and more.

The drumbeat still is thunder,
the cadence never fades;
the lineage of warriors echoes
in every Marine Brigade.

No fragility of daylight,
no darkness thick or deep,
can break the vow they swore to keep
nor silence what they speak:

“In every clime and place
we stand.
With steadfast heart
we fight.
For God, for Corps, for Country
we carry freedom’s light.”

So raise the colors high today,
let them snap against the sky;
for the blood that built this legacy
did not fear to bleed or die.

United States Marines
past, present, and still to be
your oath has shaped a nation,
your courage keeps it free.

Semper Fidelis.
Now and forever
the watch is yours to keep.

Mark C. Waldrop