You are the leaven//
which binds together /the
entire fabric /of our national system of
defense. //
From your ranks /come the
great captains /who hold the nation's
destiny in their hands /the moment the war
tocsin sounds. //
The Long /Gray Line /has never failed us. //
Were you to do so，//
a million ghosts /in
olive drab，//in brown khaki，//in blue and gray，//
would rise /from their
white crosses /thundering /those magic words: /Duty，/Honor，/Country.
/
This does not mean //that
you are war mongers. //
On the contrary，//the soldier，/above all other people，/prays
for peace，/
for he must suffer and bear /the
deepest wounds and scars of war. //
But always in our ears /ring
the ominous words /of Plato，that wisest of all philosophers: //
"Only the dead /have
seen the end of war." //
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