Glory.

LET ME TELL YOU HOW I DIED – IWO JIMA

It’s a small spit of land in the ocean so blue

But we must have it, it’s what we’ve come to do

We crawl ashore at this isolated place

And the tropical sun burns hot on our face

The sand is black, crafted in hell

The whole place is covered with a terrible smell

The enemy hides out in caves underground

It’s impossible to see them sneaking around

They hit us with guns, with artillery, and fire

Still, we blast up the hillside, we won’t retire

Men fall around me, blown all apart

We must reach the top, we must not lose heart!

Suddenly, I see something through the hellish smoke

Something I know, my passion invoked

There it is! Old Glory, waving on a flag pole

At the top of Suribachi, we’ve done it! Our goal!

But that glorious flag is the last thing I will see

Because it was then that the grenade with my name found me

Blasted me to pieces, I’m lost in the heat

Carry on Marines, for we do not retreat.

M.B. Henry

On February 23, 1945, during the battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines raised a flag atop Mount Suribachi.

Lest we forget.