A Soldier’s Story

It began on November 1, 1938

For that’s when Marion C. Smith

Joined the Marine Reserves

Was told he’d stay at home with his job

Unless war broke out that is

We all know what followed thereafter

Marion saw Mrs. Roosevelt when she spoke

To soldiers at the hospital in New Zealand

Noticed her hair was grayer than her pictures

His hospital stay was due to contracting malaria

And a perforated left eardrum

He was a recipient of the Presidential

Unit Citation for services with the second

Marine Division in Guadalcanal

His only regret was not being there when

The famed cannon “Pistol Pete” was knocked out

It seems that “Pistol Pete” once dropped a shell

Too near Sgt. Smith, a piece of hot shrapnel

Fell on his tummy as he laid on his back in a foxhole