In DropShips ringing with Kearny singing, To Mira singing they journeyed away; With bagpipes playing, none there was saying, That men o' the Kearny would fight their last fray. To jungles steaming, with lush life teeming, In swamps a-teeming they dropped on on that day; BattleMechs striding, skulking and hiding, The men o'the Kearny crept through the soft clay. High Command doubting, ordered the scouting, Sent them in scouting for foes on the way; Commandos stalking, listening, walking, The men o'the Kearny moved out to obey. But foes were keeping watch o'er their creeping, Kearny troops creeping through mud and soft clay; Davions striking, 'Mechs all were firing, On men o' the Kearny from ambush that day. Under that mauling the Northwind was howling, Highlanders howling as Death ruled the day; Lasers came flashing, explosions crashing, As men o'the Kearny stood fast in the fray. DropShips came landing, rearguard was standing, BattleMechs standing to hold foes at bay; Kearny men fleeing, all of them seeing, The men o'the Kearny could not win that day. Two companies holding, as battle unfolding, Pincers unfolding in savage array; The time they were buying while DropShips went flying, Won some o'the Kearny their lives on that day. Kearnys' last fighting, flame and bright lightning, Warriors' lightning flashed through the last fray; 'Mechs fell there smoking, pilots all choking, But men o' the Kearny stood fast to obey. After their scouting, Generals doubting, Held to their doubting and thus threw away, Hopes of the dying, so many lying, Lost men o'the Kearny who fell on that day. Now hear the groaning, sobbing and moaning, Highlanders moaning through night and through day; Join in the crying, mourning and sighing, For men o'the Kearny who've fought their last fray. One of a handful of survivors of the ill-fated Miran Recon Expedition, MechWarrior David MacNeil, put his feelings of anguish over the wasted lives and lost opportunities of the disastrous mission into a bitter song. Using the tune of the mournful Scots ballad, "The Flowers of the Forest," MacNeil's "The Kearny Lament" reflects the depth of feeling one Warrior could reveal for the needless deaths of others. Back to BattleTechnology 5 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com