salute2

This 48" X 72" board hangs on wall in the USSVI National Office.
52 WW2 lost boat patches by John Clear with $ help from many
Subvets including Gary Cowboy McLaughlin - Now on eternal Patrol

Sailor, rest your oar
________________________________________________________

When you're final dive is made, and your battery's running low,
You'll know there lies a boat for you many fathoms here below,
With your annunciators jammed on full and your depth gauge needles bent,
Your accumulator's dry of oil and your air banks all are spent,

It's then you get to wonderin', "is my life's boat rigged for dive?"
Your guessing drill commences, "am I dead or still alive?"
You pace the flooded decks with scorn and curse the flaws of man.
Into realms of Rex you've stepped, and here you'll make your stand.

To live your life, as sailors must, at the bottom of the sea,
There's one you'll have to reckon-that one, my friend, is thee.
Will your conscience do you justice when the final muster's in?
Did you lead the kind of life you should in every port you've been?

The answers to these questions and many, many more, are locked in the hearts
Of sailormen from Cannes to Singapore. So, when your day for mast rolls
'Round. The choice is up to you, sailor chart your course of life right now.
Chart it straight and true.

Now's the time to flood your tanks and trim up 'fore and aft. It's a trifle
Late when the klaxon sounds to square away your craft. Your final billet
Lies below, on "Old Ocean's" floor. So, be ready when that last word's
Passed. Sailor, rest your oar!

(author unknown)

If you know author, please send to webmaster and
I will give credit where credit is due

A Submariner's Prayer

Almighty, Everlasting God,
the Protector of all those who put their trust in Thee:
hear our prayers in behalf of Thy servants who sail their vessels
beneath the seas. We beseech Thee to keep in Thy sustaining care all
who are in submarines, that they may be delivered from the hidden
dangers of the deep. Grant them courage, and a devotion to fulfill
their duties, that they may better serve Thee and their native land.
Though acquainted with the depths of the ocean, deliver them from the
depths of despair and the dark hours of the absence of friendliness
and grant them a good ship's spirit.
Bless all their kindred and loved ones from whom they are separated.
When they surface their ships, may they praise Thee for Thou art there as
well as in the deep. Fill them with Thy Spirit that they may be sure in
their reckonings, unwavering in duty, high in purpose,
and upholding the honor of their nation.
Amen

Above prayer "Author Unknown" and from this web page:
Click on line below to go to web page
http://www.howdydave.com/subs1.html

Webmaster appreciates all those that contributed to this page.
Credits available - Honors rendered to those intended.
This page is done in respect of our shipmates on Eternal Patrol

Click HERE for USSVI Chaplains page

"No matter where you travel, when you meet a guy who's been...
There's an instant kind of friendship 'cause we're brothers of the 'phin."
Robert Reed, USS George Washington Carver SSBN-656

Hand Salute

Click HERE to listen to "TAPS"

Two

A Sailor's Poem
by Al Alessandra, July 3rd, 2005

Run silent, run deep
For freedom we fought to keep
How we spent so many days
Beneath the shimmering waves

A terrible foe we fought
And gave our lives; and freedom bought
Now our souls forever lie
Restlessly beneath the waves
So silent now, so deep

For it is not enough for you to weep
For we shall not have died in vain
Lest you forget for what we gave
We gave our lives, freedom to save

For if you forget our deeds
Then we shall never sleep
Though we lie so silent, so deep.

Above poem used with Author's permission
Al's web page has more of his work.
Click HERE to go to Al's site.

On all the oceans white caps flow
you do not see Crosses Row on Row
But those who sleep Beneath the sea
Rest in Peace For your Country is free

America
home of the free
because of the brave
Have you hugged a Veteran today ?

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