The eagle born to those who pledged their lives and sacred honor
was smiled upon by God and freed from chains and iron collar.
He is held aloft on unity and by history revered;
for preserving peace through strength his wings now reach across two hundred years.
But for each of those and one year more,
God has smiled upon The Corps,
from the Barbary Coast to the Eastern Sand,
by sword, by gun, or by bare hand.
So it's been, and shall be weighed:
though many are born, few are "made".
Faithful Always, they shall remain,
dogs to loose when war is waged.