The Statue Speaks

I bid you welcome to this place of grace
What you see here is done for memory
Though most may think it inspired by bravery
I believe it came from love

Here you see the artist’s craft
taken from a living form
to stand in perpetuity
on sunny days, in wind, and storm

This sculpture honors all Marines
And honors this community
A perfect home, an ideal clime
And with all this, a people free

Today you see a bronzed skin
Saluting all who went before
You cannot see what lives within
The patriot’s soul and something more

We left these shores on your behalf
who valued duty more than life
we were no mercenary troops
Who make a business out of strife

I am not one but many here
we left this coast for distant lands
I served in steaming jungles there
In wintry wastes and desert sands

We did not know when we were young
We changed when we went through the door
The D.I. and the uniform
They made us members of the Corps

I’ve walked my post in rainy night
And stood the watch in icy cold
I’ve done my best in every fight
And lived with brothers, young and old

We did not go to serve a king
Nor stake a claim for nation’s pride
Our empire lives in manhood’s dream
Of peoples living side by side

We came in peace where ere we went
Prepared to do what must be done
Warriors by a nation sent
To walk the line, to use the gun

We fought a nation’s enemies
And sent them to their final rest
We saved a child from famine’s grip
And freed a people long oppressed

I have seen my brothers fall
And I have brought them home again
Their families’ tears were like my own
Who lived to see a bitter end.

Many cannot hear me speak
On a hundred posts, far away
Others there are, you cannot see
Marines in spirit here today

If they could tell you all they feel
Then you would know what’s in their heart
Their actions made their beliefs real
They only sought to do their part.

We who serve now honor them
With everything we say and do
We will not shirk the nation’s call
It is our job, we go for you

I will not keep you longer now
To listen to a statue’s speech
I bid you well this Veterans Day
Enjoy the park, the sun, the beach

And now I close, I take my place
Upon the watch that never ends
And so I join fellow Marines
Some call them heroes, I called them friends

Stewart Navarre, Colonel, US Marines

Park Semper Fi Marine Monument San Clemente &

The National Moment of Remembrance at 3 PM

San Clemente, California
Memorial Day Ceremony
Monday, May 25, 2009
starts 1:30 p.m.

Honoring the 1st Marine Division
Guest Speaker Major General Waldhauser
1st Marine Division Band
Static Marine Displays
Seating Limited