The phrase Corpsman Up is a sound, a call, a yell that a wounded Marine is in need of medical care. It is not known to all civilian walks of life that the United States Navy Corpsman works and fights right alongside the US Marines. One of the flag raisers at the Battle Of Iwo Jima was a Navy Corpsman.
Where you find Marine grunts you will always find a US Navy Corpsman.
Who Are US Navy Corpsman?
“Corpsmen stationed with a Marine unit or far out at sea on a Navy warship often find themselves in volatile, life-threatening emergency situations. There are often no sterile operating rooms and equipment. Doctors and nurses are often miles, if not hours, away. As one author wrote, “Bunkers become operating rooms, shirts become tourniquets, and corpsmen become miracle workers.” (Source: thetandd.com)
Corpsman Up!
Up at the front and filled with fear, he pleads with God, don’t leave me here.
Wounded and bleeding and hunched with pain, thrown on his back in the mud and the rain
Others went down, some hit, all scared; no one moved, no one dared.
We’d moved swiftly through the paddy mire, and then it happened; enemy fire
It’s Corpsman Up,” when things get hot, the nearest thing to God, we’ve got
“Corpsman Up,” to save a breath. “Corpsman Up,” in the face of death.
Stop the bleeding, treat for shock; no time for hesitation “Doc”
Patch him up and get him back; back to the rear; call a medevac
Operating room well lit and clean; Doctors waiting, dressed in green.
Operate with speed and skill, experts with a determined will.
Save lives or limbs to save dreams, no matter how impossible it seems.
Work on in a sweat in mud and grime; to save a life . . . there’s not much time.
You joined the navy to learn your trade, went to school, and made the grade.
It’s “Corpsman Up,” when the rounds are flying; “Corpsman Up,” when men are dying.
You’re one of us, a grunt of grit; like it or not you just can’t quit.
“Corpsman Up,” step from the ranks. “Corpsman Up,” and accept our thanks.
Gysgt Tom Bartlett (Source: Corpsmanup.us)
Corpsman In Battle!
Vision-Strike-Wear.Com for years has designed military deployment shirts for Hospital Corpsman all over the United States Navy fleet and in hundreds of commands. It has been an honor for them to have been able to work with some of the finest men and women: the United States Navy Corpsman!
