ALEX… Eulogy

Unlike most of you,
I knew Alex for only a brief time.
We met at a gathering of men
Who shared the common experience
Of combat as marines in Dog company
2nd Battalion, Fifth Regiment, 1 MarDiv.
In a nasty little war in Korea,
Long ago and far away
Ann that was the steel that bound us.

Somehow I knew
Alex was a man to go down a dark alley with:
Into a firefight with;
That Alex was a stand-up guy.

There is a saying
That parting is all we know of heaven
And all we need of hell.
The heaven part tho hard to articulate;
Is probably the upwelling of memories heard here.
The hell part is our loss.
Alex has gone.

For Alex’s family,
Take care of yourselves and each other.
Someway, somehow get to the other side of this
And go on as Alex would insist you do.

For Alex,
An FMF Corpsman,
Sayonara my friend;
Semper Fidelis Marine.