Trail of the tide pool soldier, a poem by Mike Marcellno

Pebbles with poppies painted on are seen on the beach of Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer on June 5, 2009 during a ceremony in memory of Canadian troops which landed in 1944 at the Nan Red point on Saint-Aubin beach. Each poppy painted by students represents a soldier killed here during World War II. Preparations are underway for the upcoming D-Day celebrations to mark the 65th anniversary of the June 6, 1944 allied landings in France, then occupied by Nazi Germany. (DANIAU/AFP/Getty Images) (from denverpost.com)

Trail of the tide pool soldier
by Mike Marcellino

Once a man marched on the beach
at the last glow of day,
each and every day.
They called him the tide pool soldier,
for short.
As he marched, he cast his eyes
upon the sand,
reading colors
in the tide pool canyons.
Coppers,
gold, grey, cream,
black and silver reds.

The winding trail carried far off seas,
little ripples, tiny swells,
along these shores for many a mile,
as far as the eye can see.
Slight beach canyons on the ground
reminded him
of some old Irish glenns he'd seen,
in fall.

On and on he marched, but not till dawn.
He wore no steel pot, no bearskin hat,
no jungle, no desert fatigues.

"One two three four
sound off, "
he whispered to himself,  somewhat bitterly.
"The streets of heaven are paved with gold.
Sound off."

On and on he marched, but not till dawn.
"Do people ever catch any big fish here,"
he asked a fisherboy.
"Yes, we caught an eight pound red fish,"
his dad said proudly.
"Are they good eating?" the hungry soldier asked.
Then a yellow lab
came into the conversation,
suddenly.
But Matt heard his master's call
and ran away from it all.
The father smiled,
and looked back out to the sea.

The tide pool soldier
skirted a dribble castle,
it was too well fortified;
he knew the tide would take it
anyway.

On and on he marched, but not till dawn.
He stepped out gingerly,
his automatic reflex
designed to protecting some empire.
But was always careful
not to get into a real
goose step
invented by the first Leopold
a prince
of the 18th Century.
It was to keep the troops in line.
They tried it once on him.
It didn't work;
He was a soldier for liberty.

Billowing clouds, with a tint of
rainy grey
blocked the sunset,
marring a perfect day.

On and on he marched, but not till dawn,
noting all he encountered -
a blond boy tinkering
on his tide pool journey,
his mother pushing a carriage
of a sleeping dark skinned baby.

"Have you ever seen a tide pool trail like this,
going on as far as the eye can see?" he asked.
"No, I've never seen this before," the mother said.

On and on he marched, but not till dawn,
about facing,
just in time
to see
a yellow chartreuse
neon surfer
setting out to sea.

Trail of the tide pool soldier by Mike Marcellino, copyright 2012

America's wars: "Cold Mountain" to "Ohio"

"You Will Be My Ain True Love" is a song written and performed by Sting and Alison Krauss from the 2003 film Cold Mountain The song was nominated for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.


America's wars:  Struggle for our national conscience
By Mike Marcellino


The last in a Memorial Day series on war in music, words and images

Doc and The Lady perform "Ashokan Farewell" at Cowboy Poetry in Elko, Nevada in 2009.  This haunting and beautiful song, written by Jay Unger in 1982, was the opening music in Ken Burn's remarkable PBS television mini-series "The Civil War."  


(An interesting note:  the annual Cowboy Poetry Festival was in the news this spring because politicians argued over the nation's $14 trillion debt while the festival is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Some Republican leaders want to eliminate federal funding of many of the government's program that help fun the arts, including music and Public Television.  It's a sign we as a nation are in serious trouble when our leaders want to take away our music and other art and humanities programs.)


Cold Mountain, an historical fiction novel, written by Charles Fraiser, won the National Book Award in 1997. It was later adapted for the screen by director Anthony Minghella in the 2003 film "Cold Mountain," starring Jude Law, Nichole Kidman, and Rene Zellwager. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Jude Law, and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Renée Zellweger.  I highly recommend both the book and the film.


The Civil War, 1861-65, counting both Union and Confederate deaths, was the bloodiest war as far as American deaths in our nation's history.  There were a total of 625,000 deaths, more than the 405,399 American troops who died in battle or otherwise in World War II.  The Civil War saved the union and set the wheels turning to abolish slavery, though our nation still struggles to achieve equality.  World War II saved the world from oppression and dictatorship and halted the Nazi slaughter and extermination of 20 million people, including six million Jews.  World War II claimed the lives of 73 million people.  There were many opportunities for nations, including the United States, to stop Hitler and the Nazis but nothing was done.


When I checked with the U. S. Department of Defense data on U. S. military deaths in the nation's wars, they identified the Vietnam War as "the Vietnam Conflict."  As a Vietnam veteran I wish DOC would finally change its terminology and admit Vietnam was a war.  A total of more 58,000 American troops died in that war, in battle and otherwise.  

Search and Destroy, Vietnam War, TET Offensive, 1968, photo by Mike Marcellino

Here is "The Walls of Fire," Mike Marcellino's poetry music ode to the sacrifice of American soldiers form the Civil War to Afghanistan -


"The Walls of Fire" on Reverbnation


The United States could have talked to Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Vietnamese nationalist movement, after World War II but we didn't.  Minh had used much of the American Declaration of Independence in framing the Vietnamese Declaration of Independence.  To learn more about the Vietnam War, including its origins and the history of the Vietnamese people who had defeated the Chinese as well in the 15th Century, read, Fire in the Lake by Frances Fitzgerald in 1972). Instead we bankrolled the French war in Indochina against Minh's Việt Minh defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.  American government officials, including President Eisenhower would late admit that the Vietnam War was about protecting U. S. interests in the raw materials in Southeast Asia.  Eisenhower said if Vietnam fell other counties would fall to communism like dominoes.  Later, President Eisenhower, who as an Army general led the U. S. forces to victory in World War II, warned the American people of the danger of the growing power of the industrial-military complex in the United States.

"My Girls" Vietnam War, 1968 

Photo by Mike Marcellino, copyright 2011

To date the war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of 1,219 American troops in battle and otherwise.  In the various Gulf wars since 9-11 in 2001, we've lost a total of 4,847 troops.  We still have 50,000 American troops in Iraq and 100,000 in Afghanistan.  


Here is the latest U. S. soldier to die in battle in the war in Afghanistan as identified in a news release from the U. S. Department of Defense.  I couldn't help noticing that Army Specialist Adam Hamilton, 22, was from Kent, Ohio, scene of 
May 4,, 1970 shootings of students on the Kent State University campus by Ohio National Guard troops.  The National Guard soldiers were called in to the campus by then Governor James Rhodes in response to student demonstrations against the Vietnam War.  Four students were killed, nine wounded, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis.

U.S. Department of Defense Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) News Release

On the Web:  http://www.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=14526 Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132 Public contact: http://www.defense.gov/landing/comment.aspx or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 451-11 May 29, 2011

DOD Identifies Army Casualty             The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.             Spc. Adam S. Hamilton, 22, of Kent, Ohio, died May 28 in Haji Ruf, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.  He was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.             For more information, the media may contact the Fort Riley public affairs office at 785-240-1893, 785-239-3033, or after hours at 785-210-8867. As Memorial Day 2011 nears and end, I leave you with this powerful song, "Ohio," written by Canadian folk rock  singer Neil Young.  It was probably the best known anti-war song and deals with the shootings at Kent State.  Here's Crosby, Still, Nash and Young and "Ohio."   It reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941

USS Cod 

A memoir: War and remembrance

by Mike Marcellino

I remember December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese fleet's surprise attack on the U. S. base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in several personal ways, each one I treasure.

I remember friends who served in World War II, some living, most dead... attending Pear Harbor Day ceremonies at the U. S. Naval Reserve Center in Cleveland, representing the city of Cleveland and Congress as Liaison for Veteran and Military Affairs.

Each ceremony was a unique moment in time of war and remembrance.  I remember each occasion over 13 years, sometimes in sunshine, sometimes in snow, looking down from the deck of the USS Cod, the last intact submarine from World War II at wreaths of flowers floating on Lake Erie.

At times, the sunlight would flicker on the waters as the flowers were carried out to sea, a beautiful tribute to those lost at Pearl Harbor.

USS Cod today in Cleveland harbor.

“The Walls of Fire. What a powerful piece"

Search and destroy, South Vietnam, 1968, photo by Mike Marcellino copyright 2009 

"It's like listening to time as it passes over the dead and damaged of wars past and present. It's a voice for peace, no a cry for peace and for the carnage to end...This (The Walls of Fire) lovely and haunting piece of poetry should be a world wide sensation" – Paul Donohoe, writer/editor, Tasmania, Australia

The walls of fire

By Mike Marcellino

The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
rock cliffs and open fields -
Hornet’s Nest at Shiloh
Devil’s Den, Gettysburg.


The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
sea to shining sea -
lost in the Argonne Forest
face down on beaches at Normandy
frozen by the waters of Chosin Reservoir.


The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
paddies, highlands -
Nui Ba Dinh, the Black Virgin Mountain
the Ashau Valley
along the perimeter of Khe Sanh.


The walls of fire
grow higher, higher
pools of blood, carnage
bodies of brothers
touching
empty deserts
filled with giant rising suns -
Fallujah rooftops
unknown streets of Sidr City
barren mountains, caves of Tora Bora.


The walls of fire
grow higher, still higher
pools of blood
carnage
bodies of brothers
touching. 

The walls of fire copyright by Mike Marcellino 2009

I wrote this song earlier this year, but it seems the moment to share it as I feel the loss of my US Army brothers and sisters and the police officer at the Fort Hood massacre. It is also the eve of Veterans Day and I remember my brothers in arms that did not return from Vietnam and those living with the wounds, physical and mental, from our nation's longest war. I only hope that our soldiers can return home soon. 

Our new folk band, Mike Marcellino with Ensor expects to release a recorded version of this piece tomorrow, Veterans Day on ReverbNation and MySpace.

Our new folk band members are Mike Marcellino songwriter, vocals and Texino, mandolin, production - two Army "brothers" who served in the Vietnam War together and lived to make music together many years later. Musician Randall Leddy from Brooklyn played bass guitar and did the production of "Flatbush."  

To listen to our first three (now five) songs, recorded this fall in Brooklyn NY and St. Augustine Florida, go to My Band on Facebook or to ReverbNation and be a fan, help get our band off the ground (or beach).

Mike Marcellino on ReverbNation

My Band on Facebook

Listen now to our debut songs - "Flatbush" (with Randall Leddy on bass guitar and production) "Las Cruces" and "Amelia Earhart, soft silver wings" (with David Dowling on guitar) 

A listener says we're "unique" and I take that as a compliment. Listen for yourself, if you like, message your friends. And, remember Veterans Day is 365 days a year because our troops protect us every day and many give their lives or pay the price every day.

Since this was written our band has also recorded and released "Bondi beach" a poetry music story of a Yank's flight from Vietnam to Australia and facing big waves in the third most shark infested surfing beach in the world.