“When Old Friends Part”
Remembering Jim Caroll and all other Iwo and WWI Veterans Memory.
We’ve been buddies since forty three
That old Marine and me.
We fought the battles of World War Two
On islands we never knew.
The Devil showed his hand to us
On every island beach.
He surrounded us with devilish hell
But we kept beyond his reach.
Through many a night we fought the fight
Thinking we’d never see the morning light.
More than once we knocked on heaven’s door
But we were turned away to fight the war.
Yesterday my dear old friend
Knocked on heaven’s door again
This time the door opened wide
And his soul passed to the other side.
Now I sit beside my friend,
Silent and rather sad.
But still I manage a little smile
Remembering the good times we had .
We’ve been buddies since forty three
That old Marine and me.
Now he has found a better place to be
But I know when I go he’ll be waiting there for me.
In death we come to life’s final end
Nothing will ever begin again.
Not the love of a woman
Nor the fellowship of a friend.
LAG
Major Leo A. Gildersleeve
February 2010