The Charge of the Coalition Forces
With
apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Half a mile, half a mile,
Half a mile onward,
All in the desert of Death
Rode the 200 thousand.
Forward, the Coalition Forces!
Charge for the guns!ı he said:
Into the desert of Death
Rode the 200 thousand.
Forward, the Coalition Forces!ı
Was there a man dismayıd?
Not thoı the soldiers knew
Some one had blundered:
Theirıs not to make reply,
Theirıs not to reason why,
Theirıs but to do and die:
Into the desert of Death
Rode the 200 thousand.
Mortar to right of them,
Mortar to left of them,
Mortar in front of them
Volleyıd and thunderıd;
Stormıd at with bomb and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the Coalition Forces.
Flashıd all their M1s bare,
Flashıd as they burnıd the air
Savaging the natives there,
Charging an uprising, while
All the world wonderıd:
Plunged in the humvee-smoke
Right throı the doors they broke;
Shiite and Sunni
Reelıd from the chopper-guns
Shatterıd and sunderıd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the 200 thousand.
Mortar to right of them,
Mortar to left of them,
Mortar behind them
Volleyıd and thunderıd;
Stormıd at with bomb and shell,
While tank and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came throı the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of 200 thousand.
When can the carnage fade?
O the many deaths they made!
All the world wonderıd.
Dishonor the war they made!
Dishonor the decisions made,
Honor the 200 thousand.
Adapted by Thomas Gale Moore
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution