Well seems we've posted a lot of poems as of late, so I will share some poetry from "our" boys. Hope you enjoy it. From the Overseas with the 540th Engineers book:
What Did It Cost?
Well, the Gun and the
Assault Boat, the
Bailey Bridging, the
Halftrack and the
Fuselage come to a figure
Resembling the distance
Between Stars
High Octane and HE
Are high and K Rations
In the Aggregrate mount up
Also Atabrine and Battleships
Together with Jeep Tires and
Jump Suits...
But these costs are calculable
And there is always Fort Knox.
In the matter of the Dozerman
Killed when his blade stirred up
Those Tellers at St. Raphael,
There is no fixed price and
No amount of taxes,
No reparation, even in kind
Can return him to Elm street USA.
And yet Man fights and dies
Through the eons of Time,
Guided always by that Farthing, That Mite
Of Faith
That Freedom, next to Godlove
Is Man's most Righteous Hope.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
This was the editorial from the Eager Beaver (the 540th's official newspaper overseas), published VE Day, May 9 , 1945
THIS IS IT!
Today is Victory Day in Europe
Eagerly awaited by allied forces.
Military and civilian, the world over
THIS IS THE DAY which has been
"sweated out" for months which
stretched themselves into years
to cover the advances and the
movements in retrogression,
the shellings, the bombings
the strafings, the quick and
the dead, in the greatest war
the world has ever known.
THIS IS THE DAY which has been
awaited, never patiently. By the
doughfeet in the foxholes,...
By the engineers at their bridges,
the ackack men at their
gunposts, by the brass and by
the yardbirds, by the men and
by the women in Europe and at
home...Wherever home was.
THIS IS IT!
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
Song of the 540th Engineer-
This is a visual. Joel Minkoff, 540th Engineer and artist extraordinaire, placed the words of this poem by 1st Lt Fred Woods, and added his artistic flare.
Marion J Chard
Proud Daughter of Walter 'Monday' Poniedzialek
540th Combat Engineer - H&S Company
Do you know what the tune was?
Maj Todd O. USMC, Retired
Grandson of LTC John O'Brien
