**Verse 1** We stepped off near the coastline where the breakers kiss the sand, Sun crawled up behind us like it had a grudge in hand. Civilians lined the highway, flags waving in the breeze, Their cheers cut through the morning like a blessing on our knees. For a moment pride swelled in us, rising fierce and high— The kind of fire carried long by the Manchu battle cry. Six hundred startin’ strong, though our guts were tight and sore, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry marchin’ toward that inland war. **Chorus** We were young, we were stubborn, carryin’ weight we didn’t choose, Walkin’ off the edge of reason with nothin’ left to lose. Hard miles made us brothers, in the dust where legends start— You can break a soldier’s body, but you’ll never take his heart. **Verse 2** Extra gear piled on us like a dare from Uncle Sam, Every strap bit deep and bloody, didn’t care who gave a damn. Fifteen meters stretched between us, marchin’ quiet, locked-in tight, Manchu boots on broken ground, still drivin’ through the fight. “**Keep Up the Fire!**” echoed somewhere, not on lips but in the chest— A promise carved by those before us to outlast the hardest tests. **Verse 3** Sweat soaked through our cammies till they clung like molten tar, Salt stingin’ eyes half-blinded as the sun burned like a star. Dust coated teeth and tongues until our mouths felt lined with chalk, And the pain in every step became its own unwelcome clock. But somewhere in that suffering, pride kept whisperin’ low and clean: “This is what you’re made of, kid—march harder than you think you can.” **Bridge** No yellow ribbon waitin’, no crowd to sing our name, Just the harsh, unpretty finish only agony can claim. When pain said, “Stop right here,” pride growled, “Push through the wall,” So we crushed that voice to gravel and refused to fall at all. **Verse 4** Night dropped cold and sudden, like the desert flipped a coin, And half the march was gone now—bodies broken, out of join’. Three hundred still were movin’, carryin’ ghosts of those who quit, Each step a vow to finish, limp or crawl or bleed through it. Then that final marker surfaced in the early morning gray— No applause, no celebration… but we’d finished anyway. **Final Chorus** We were young, we were stubborn, carryin’ weight we didn’t choose, Walkin’ off the edge of reason with nothin’ left to lose. Hard miles made us brothers, in the dust where legends start— You can break a soldier’s body, but you’ll never take his heart. Manchu… Keep Up the Fire.
