Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk Wake Island 
Wake Island 
December the seventh we heard about Pearl, We knew we'd be next on the list. The men of our Corps four fifty no more All swore to the death to resist. 
Cho: Wake Island, Wake Island, It's not even marked on the map Our Corps raised her name into honor and fame When they stopped the advance of the Japs. 
Cut off from supplies with no hope of aid We sighted the first Japanese, With thousands of troops and a task force of ships They thought they could take us with ease. 
They sent in their subs, their ships and their planes They shelled us by day and by night, Surrender they said, we laughed at their threats We're only beginning to fight. 
Our four hundred fifty cost six thousand Japs Our fighters downed twenty eight planes, We sank two destroyers and one submarine Six others got shelled for their pains. 
Our plan was to fight to the very last man But Deveraux gave this command, There's a thousand civilians I can't sacrifice We'll have to surrender our band. 
As we lay down our arms on the twenty third day The Japs cheered the news of defeat. But they could not believe a few crummy Marines Had stopped the whole Japanese fleet. 
From "Tell it to the Marines", Oscar Brand