THE SIXTEEN HUNDRED

NOT A BUGLE WAS HEARD, NOR A FUNERAL BEAT
NOT EVEN A DRUM TO SOUND THE RETREAT
AS OVER THE ICE, THE CORPS'S WERE HURRIED
TO THE HILL WHERE THE OTHER GI's WERE BURIED
SIX FEET BY TWO, BY ONE FOOT DEEP
ON A KOREAN HILL THEY STILL SLEEP
YOUNG AND OLD ALL WONDERING WHY
SIXTEEN HUNDRED HAD TO DIE
NO LITTLE WHITE CROSSES TO SHOW THEIR NAME
ALTHOUGH THEY LIE IN UNMARKED GRAVES
THEY ARE NOT BURIED IN ANY SHAME

SIXTEEN HUNDRED AMERICAN BRAVES
NO USELESS CASKETS ENCLOSE THEIR BREASTS
JUST GI CLOTHING FOR THEIR REST
ALL COLOUR OF MEN BROWN, BLACK AND WHITE
SIXTEEN HUNDRED FADED LIGHTS
NO PILL OR POWDER, MEDICINE OF ANY KIND
OR SHOULD WE SAY A STRONGER MIND
COULD HAVE SAVED THEM FROM YONDER HILL
SIXTEEN HUNDRED LAYING STILL

IN THEIR ILLNESS TOSSING AND TURNING
MOST OF THEM KNEW THERE WOULD BE NO RETURNING
SOME WENT EASY OTHERS WITH PAIN
SIXTEEN HUNDRED DIED IN VAIN
WHILE WE GO HOME TO ENJOY OUR FILL
THEY STILL REMAIN ON THAT LONELY HILL
REMEMBERED BY SOME, FORGOTTEN BY MOST
SIXTEEN HUNDRED REMAIN AT THEIR LAST POST

Jack Arnold ex Royal Artillery KOREA