Gunny Bush's Poems
These poems were submitted by Gunny Bush and are copyrighted Gunny Bush. These poems have been used with permission and may not be copied or reproduced anywhere else without the written consent of Gunny Bush
A Band of Brothers
We were a band of brothers whose blood ran thick,
we stuck together like glue on a stick.
Three lance corporals and Sergeant Mike McNair,
When we got into trouble Mike was always there.
We would protect each other’s back in a fire-fight,
Protect our flanks to the left and the right.
Then when we went back to rest for a day,
We would clean our weapons then kneel down and pray.
We were a group of Marines like no others,
A band of Marines, a band of brothers.
Sergeant McNair would sit down and write to his wife,
For, she was the love and joy of his life.
The lance corporals would sit down and write to their mothers,
Tell them that they shouldn't worry, they were protected by a band of brothers.
Thirteen months they served in this God forsaken land,
Some people back home couldn't really understand.
Then when we came home they would burn the flag that we fought for,
In that land far away and on that distant shore.
We would look at them with posters in their hands,
Look with pity for they didn't understand.
They asked why we would fight a war like we did,
They said that we were killers of women and kids.
We fought for you, your fathers and mothers,
We are proud Marines, a band of brothers.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired
Do we have any Rights?
When I enlisted I was only seventeen,
I couldn't wait to become a Marine.
I joined the Corps in nineteen and forty six,
I signed up for a two year hitch.
I was discharged and went home with a friend,
Within eighty five days we reenlisted again.
Then came the war in Korea and I was sent there to fight,
by those in power who said that it was our duty to go, so it must have been all right.
To go fight in a land to starve off Communist aggression,
We were sent to South Korea to teach them a lesson.
Did I really want to go, I didn't have much of a choice,
When I joined I took an oath, in the Military you have no voice.
Then came Vietnam and we were sent once more to go and fight,
They said that it was to protect our freedom and our rights.
Back home we had protesters holding up signs,
calling us murders and saying we were out of our mind.
They were long hair hippies with a yellow streak down their backs,
Courage and patriotism was what they lacked.
They hid behind the U.S. Constitution Amendment 1, The Bill of Rights,
freedom of Speech they screamed , we don't have to fight.
Over forty seven thousands Americans gave their lives,
So that they could stand on soap box and still spread their lies.
Now they are back at it again singing that same old crude,
While our Arm forces fight in Iraq and shed their blood.
Now I think that it is time that we stood up for our rights;
tell them to leave our country if they are too yellow to fight.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired: Author
Blue, White, Brown and Green
We fly our planes high in the skies, our job is to protect you;
we are the United States Air Force and we wear the color Blue.
We man the guns on our ships and are always ready to fight;
we are the United States Navy and we wear the color White.
We fight our battles in mud and snow where ever the enemy is found,
we are the United States Army and we wear the color Brown.
We never retreat from a damn good fire fight and we are lean and mean;
we are the United States Marine Corps and we wear the color Green.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired: Author
He was only 19
He was an only son and he was only 19,
as long as he could remember he wanted to be a Marine.
Then one day he decided to enlist, in the service of his choice,
his parents weren't too happy, you could hear it in their voice.
Mom and dad, this is what I have dreamt to do, so please do not try to stop me,
I will make you proud that I went, you just wait and see.
He finished at the top of his platoon, his graduation was really loud,
When he came home on leave, his parents were very proud.
When he got orders to go to a land that he had never seen,
to a land very far away, he was only 19.
When he arrived in Vietnam, the weather was cold and damp.
The helicopter landed on the pad and the Marines ran down the ramp.
They looked around and saw the terrain was dark and green,
Just a bunch of raw recruits, they were only 19.
They were sent to an outpost, up on top of a hill;
they were told to store their gear and take cover if they didn't want to get killed.
They were issued ammunition and two full canteens,
a bunch of gung ho grunts, they were only 19.
Then when the battle began, he took a shot to the head,
The Corpsman went to his aid, but he was already dead.
Now he's on his way back home, from the land that he had never seen,
From the horrors of a war, he was only 19.
When the aircraft landed at the airport, they offloaded his casket draped with an American Flag,
A detachment of Marines were there to honor their fallen comrade.
He was laid to rest in a place that honored our brave Marines,
On a spot high on a hill, he was only 19.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired
The Color Green
Let me set things straight, between you and me,
Things for some reason, you cannot see.
You point your finger and you stare,
you call me names that I do not like to hear.
Let me tell you what I go through,
doing my job just to protect you.
I took an oath to defend my land,
to stand and fight to the very last man.
First I'm a Marine, then an air-dale;
I load my ordnance to protect your tail.
I never looked at another man and shot him dead,
but my bombs can sure turn the ground red.
Yes I work behind the lines,
that the MOS that I chose to be mine.
You may say, your lean and mean, but damn it,
I also wear the color green.
The enemy is in the front and in your rear,
then that familiar sound of a Marine aircraft you do hear.
When you get pinned down and cannot fight,
that low flying Marine aircraft is a lovely sight.
Flying fifteen feet off the ground,
hitting their mark with every round.
The most beautiful sight you have ever seen,
an Air Wing Pilot who also wears green.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired: Author
Is It Worth It?
Again we send our young men off to war,
as we bicker to each other and say what the hell for.
Again we leave our shores to fight in someone's else's land,
Mothers, father and wives say that they can't understand.
We ask our leaders as they fight among each other, trying to decide just what to do,
Some leaders says it wrong and other leaders says this wars is for you.
Now every day we read that more of our young men dies,
Then their loves ones gets the word that they gave their lives.
Just how many more young men must we loose each day,
we are Americans and we will bow our heads and then we will pray.
They are brave young men who answer their President when the call came to go,
Packed up their gear they knew that they were headed to one hell of a show.
The enemy was dug in and thought they were ready for a fight,
Then we hit the battlefield with force it was late at night,
The enemy turn tail and ran when we started our attack,
We are now driving at top speed headed towards Baghdad, Iraq,
It didn't take the Army very long to take the airport from the Republican Guard,
They drove with speed and they hit damn them hard.
now it has been a year that we have been in this war,
and a lot of people are still saying what the hell for.
They must be wearing blinders and maybe a little touch in the head,
Don't you remember 911 and all of our love one who are dead?
No one knows just how long this war will last,
some believe like the one that we fought in the past.
Now the Marines are there fighting the terrorist who hides in their holy shrines,
come on you yellow Shiite show your face your ass is mind.
This is for the protester who too yellow to fight, hold up their signs get out of Iraq they demand,
If you are so determined to protest over there, them pack up your belonging and leave my land.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired
Air Wing Warriors, We Are Marines too.
From the air fields of Chu Lai and Da Nang,
We worked our ass off, in the heat and the rain.
Humping bombs on the wings of our Attack planes,
While our brothers Grunts, are holding their terrain.
We get the word to launch our flight; it’s dark, hot and late at night.
Our brother’s call, they are pinned down, got these gooks all around.
The pilots run to their planes, to answer that mission call again.
They taxi out to the end of the strip, waiting to go on this important trip.
Their planes rises off the end of the runway, we watch and pray,
That they will return to fly another day.
Then it back to loading another flight, we will do this all through the night.
100, 500, 1000 lbs bombs, is on the list for the next bombing run.
8 planes will be loaded, before our job is done.
When our aircraft returns, we put in the safety pins; send them to the flight line to be loaded again.
Rockets and gun pods are on this list, with this load our Pilots will never miss.
So brother Grunts just set back, enjoy the air show when the Air Wing attack.
GySgt Marvin Bush: USMC Retired: Author
MOFAK - The flying Devil Do(. Col. Ed. Cathcart, USMC)
I knew this Marine Pilot who went by the call name of Mofak,
When he was in a dog fight he would always cover your back.
He was also a Marine attack aircraft pilot one hell of a flying fool,
he could really jockey his big Able Dog now this guy was really cool.
Then one day when he was catapulted off of an aircraft carrier,
This aircraft that he was in sure wasn't a McDonnell Douglas Harrier.
After saluting the catapult officer he raised the gear handle,
Now this little maneuver wasn't in his flight instruction manual.
Then he pushed the stick over against his left thigh,
sat waiting with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye.
The catapult sent him from inert to 200 mph in two seconds,
If this little trick didn't work his plane could come down in two sections.
At the end of the stroke the crusader snapped into a 45-60 degree,
He held that stick as tight as he could against his left knee.
Left bank while the landing gear thumped into the wheel wells chased by the rapidly slamming gear doors,
After burner and full throttle he applied he shot off with one hell of a roar.
The F-8 shot out so fast and out of sight of the left side of the television screen,
it startled everyone, including the Admiral, now the F-8 couldn't be seen.
No one could remember which plane had made the erratic clearing turn that day,
then Mofak knew that when he landed he surely would have to pay.
Of course, the pilots weren't volunteering any information,
and for that Mofak bought the rounds to show his gratifications.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired
Who Is This Guy????
Who is this guy call George W. Bush?
Is he some cowboy with a mouth full of mush.
He struts around America in his big 10 gallon hat;
Growling just like he's a big pussycat.
Dubya is his God’s given name,
Bubba would sound about the same.
Now a Texas redneck who works on his ranch.
He used to climb a tree just to set on the branch.
He didn't go and fight, like you and me.
He stayed home, he's a lover don't you see.
Now he struts around the White House in Washington D.C.
He tells us he wants to stay President to make sure that we stay free.
Just who is this guy they call George W. Bush?
He kneels by his bed ever night and makes a wish.
Now we hear all of the Republicans say “now you listen here,
Go and elect George W. Bush for another 4 years”.
Now who is this guy called John F. Kerry,
Always finds a rich woman to marry.
He went to Vietnam and got 3 Purple Hearts to wear on his chest,
Came home in 4 months, then went to Paris France to protest.
He call us murders and rapist when he got in with Hanoi Jane,
Now he wants to be our CMC, isn't that a shame.
Now we hear all of the Democrats say "Now you listen here,
go and elect John F. Kerry, he's the one that the UN will cheer.
Now after this election is all finish and done,
I sure do hope that we elected the right one.
GySgt Marvin Bush USMC Retired
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