Blue Devils; Dogfaces in the Sand

Blue Devils; Dogfaces in the Sand

©2012, Olan L Smith

Blue and White Devils on the march from Fedala,

Casablanca through Sicily; they are

Dogfaces in the sand, echoes of the dead

Depart silent hearts, for survivors ague entwines their gut;

Cassino rises, Anzio a setting sun for some.

Rome dawns, if they dare battle, for many it is their last breath.

But first they must assuage Cisterna, Cori and Valmontone they surmount all;

Rome will welcome them as liberators; it is occasion for respite but

Vesuvius belches molten rock from the depth of Hell, a caveat, demise foreseen?

Rest you weary bones soldiers of opportunity.  Shortly, determined soldiers charge 

The shores of Southern France; Operation Dragoon is underway.

Marseille awaits liberty as does Cogolin; Brignoles, Aix en Provence,

Montelimar, Besancon, Vesoul, Brouvellieres, Mutzig, Strasbourg;

The dread Colmar Pocket bulges ― Hitler’s hunger for Strasbourg mounts,

As the North Wind blows among Blue Devils numbers Audie Murphy, but Hades

Will not trump valor!  The Battle of the Bulge

To their north; now a pocket in a southern flank — they fight

Standing stand knee deep in winter’s Wrath — virgin snow runs red. 

They are the Third Infantry Division of the U.S. Seventh Army — Rock of the Marne

Clutching land amid immense resistance; Hitler’s forces defeated 

Is Colmar’s deliverance.  Awaiting is the Siegfried Line; Worms, Kaiserlautern,

Bamberg, Nuremberg, Munich, Berchtesgaden, and lastly Salzburg,

Their last station; the long two year march is ended;

Standing down they linger ― Japan must surrender;

Beyond lies a warrior’s reception — gates to the Elysian Fields flung open.