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From: Ronald Paul Richoux reshoe@datasync.com GunnyG@hotmail.com
Subject: Something I wrote.
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 19:30:48 -0600
The United States Marine Corps Motto is Semper Fidelis (always faithful) The Marines Always Say Semper Fi
My wife, Becky, who teaches nursing, recently
invited me to
one of her classes? graduation ceremonies. After the
ceremony, she
introduced me to one of her favorite students. Her student
in turn
introduced me to her husband. To my surprise, she introduced
me to him
as a former Marine. He introduced himself as a sergeant on
active duty,
whose name is Sylvester Gordon . To my astonishment, he
greeted me with
a full hug and said, ?Semper-Fi, brother, Semper-Fi?. I
backed away a
couple of steps, and for the first time, looked into his
eyes. He
appeared to have just stepped out of a Marine Corps
recruiting poster.
We made small talk for a few minutes, and then he asked me
when and
where I had served in the Corps. I informed him that I had
been in the
long forgotten police action of Korea, with the First Marine
Division.
He looked at me with a surprised look and said, ?Sir, in no
way have you
or the Korean War been forgotten. I know you have not been
forgotten in
places that matter. Sir, you and Korea have not been
forgotten in the
Marine Corps. I know all about Inchon and the other great
battles.? He
then looked at me and said something I could not believe. He
said, ?Sir,
you honor me with your presence.? This was one of the few
times in my
life I felt as though a thank you was totally inadequate and
probably
sounded stupid.
We talked for a while, and I then asked him a question. I
told him
that most of my adult life, people had asked me, ?What does
Semper Fi
mean?? To tell them it means ?always faithful? leaves out
more than it
explains. He said, ?All I can do with that question is to
quote what
is perhaps an overused phrase. To those who know, no
explanation is
necessary, and to those who do not, no amount of explanation
is enough.
However, to me, it means Marines will never return to safety
without
their wounded and dead comrades. Sir, that, to me, is Semper
Fi?. I
could not answer him.
I told him that I was writing a book on the genealogy of my
family and
that some day I hoped to be able to write what Semper Fi
meant to me.
He gave me that same great smile and said, ?Sir, just think
about it, and in time, I am certain you will do just that.?
> >I do not profess to be a poet, or a writer, but today, for
reasons that
I will never explain to anyone as long as I live, I have
written my
definition of ?Semper Fi.?
I have written this in honor of every Marine of the First
Marine
Division who never returned from Korea. I have written this
in memory
of you
because:
©
{You Define Semper Fi}
You were all so young when you died
and with all my honesty, to this day I never knew why.
All of my life I have been haunted as to why it was you and
not I.
As God is my witness you define Semper Fi.
I saw some of you this very morning at 2:00 a.m.
You awakened me from my sleep screaming for help,
but as hard as I try I can never reach you.
Perhaps it?s because you look down from your place so high.
I know you are seated at the right hand of God,
You define Semper Fi.
From my same dream I saw an old man in the mirror of life
I questioned him carefully through a nervous cry
Why were they all so young when they died? Why was it them
and not I?
I recognized the old man as myself, and was shocked with his
reply.
Oh you fool, do you not know why?
They were so much greater than you and I.
They were picked by God to define Semper Fi.
There are those who tell me that because of war, I am cursed.
I tell them, I saw some give it all up only a few years after
their
birth.
Those who tell me I must forget, I just ignore.
Do you not see? I must live with their memory all the days
of my life
because out of it all they were the ones who made the supreme
sacrifice
I was fortunate enough to have known them in their strife.
They were heroes enough to have been picked by God,to define
Semper Fi.
I now know that in the twilight of my fall
I can live with it all, because once upon a time, in the
prime of my
youth
I knew a few good men who in honor stood tall.
They are the few and proud that I have known,
who made the sacrifice and answered the call.
As long as I live I will always have their picture in my
mental file
because it is them alone who were picked by God, to define
Semper Fi.
Written June -1998
Copyright-1998 ©
Sgt. Ronald Paul Richoux, Sr. 1182623 reshoe@datasync.com
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