Company B

Soundlessly, softly the curtain fell, sealing off the stage,
Within the great bronze time machine the battle broke to rage.

It was '51 in Songnap-yong -- he was Sergeant of Marines,
his head held high with Semper Fi, he proudly wore the greens.
The squad was pinned, almost done in, on hill six seven three
he knew it then, for all his men "this time it's up to me."

He chanced a glance, a quick survey, in hopes a plan would spark
but all he saw were young Marines, huddled in the dark.
Shells shrieked past in the hot wind's blast,
lead rain begin to fall -- he knew at once why "all for one" is
sometimes "one for all."

Suddenly, the midday sun came burningly alive,
three old Marines returned with shock to nineteen ninety-five.
Eyes sharp, heads held high, like eagles on the fly,
and in the wind you could barely hear a whispered "Semper Fi."

At the base of that time machine they left a tarnished star,
for at this place of remembering, it is who and what they are.

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Dedicated to Sergeant Frederick W. Mausert III, USMC, Company B,
1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, who gave his
life for his country at Songnap-yong, Korea on 12 September 1951
and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.