Here’s to Us

by Andrew Jones

Here’s to you, my famed big brothers of ‘Nam.
Of Belleau Wood, the Chosin Reservoir
Tripoli and Beirut, Mog’ and Inchon.
Here’s to you, to us and to the Corps.

To Chesty and Smedley and Dan Daly
To the giants and the legends of lore.
Though moving forward has been hard lately
Here’s to you, to us and to the Corps.

Here’s to the ones who did not make it home.
Whether in the sands, a jungle, a shore,
We live in your honor—never alone.
Here’s to you, to us and to the Corps.

We’ll meet at The Gates, with wings we will soar
Here’s to you–to us–and to the Corps.

Andrew R. Jones is a Marine Corps combat veteran of the Iraq War and has been featured in over a dozen publications, including International War Veteran’s Poetry Archives, War Writer’s Campaign, Outrageous Fortune, and The Blue Guitar and has authored two collections of poetry titled Healing the Warrior Heart and A Warrior’s Crown. He is currently pursuing an English Creative Writing degree with Arizona State University and lives in Phoenix, AZ with his wife and two children.