I was going through some old papers today and found this from my grandfather - I *think* he wrote it but cannot confirm that. He wrote it while part of the occupying force stationed in the Philippines after the war. He had been stationed State-side as an AAA gunnery instructor and always felt guilty about never having served in action.
Leyte Military Cemetery 1945
Beneath the blood-bought
battlefield
At Leyte Isle we lie,
To hear no more the grumbling guns,
Nor heed the battle cry.
We came in thousands from afar
Beyond the rolling sea
All gave their toil,
Some gave their lives
And gave them willingly.
The fateful (illegible) day,
Dawned on the fleet below
That day marks our initial thrust
Against a treacherous foe.
The naval batteries blast the beach,
Their salvos belching roar,
A prelude to the first onslaught
From the distant shore
Amid the tumult of the strife
Our aircraft fleet roared in
The boom of detonating bombs
Intensified the din.
We stormed the beach near Tacloban
And poured our troops ashore
The beachhead was secured at last
It’s sands were steeped in gore.
The Jap(s) in frenzied fury fought
In cave, ravine, on hill.
He left his mark upon us all
And many hearts are still.
It seemed the elements did try
To aid the harried foe.
The rains came down eternally
The progress made was slow.
Roads ran like rivers
Deep in muck
The swamp a mire dense
The fight was uphill all the way
Terrain the Jap’s defense.
But victory at last was won
In Leyte’s tortured soil
It marked a milestone toward the end.
Of battle’s gruesome toil.
And what price victory?
This the cost
Of Leyte’s battered isle
Our graves are marked out score on score
With crosses file on file
And to what end our fevered strife?
What profits have we gained?
Our nation’s flag above us waves
Undaunted!
Free!
Unstained!
Here now we sleep our long last sleep.
‘Neath sky and em’rald sod.
Mourn not for us,
Our loved ones dear,
We rest in peace with God.
Raymond Francis Bares
20 Sept. 1945 Leyte Island, PI
