Prayer from World War II Sailor

submitted by Alex Gondola

December, 2007

Alex Gondola Written by a World War Two Sailor Come gather round me lads and I'll tell you a thing or two; About the way we ran the Navy in nineteen forty two. When wooden ships and iron men were barely out of sight; I am going to give you some facts just to set the record right. We wore the ole bell bottoms, with a flat hat on our head; Always hit the sack at night and never "went to bed." Our uniforms were worn ashore and we were mighty proud; Never thought of wearing civvies, in fact they were never allowed. Now when a ship puts out to sea I'll tell you son it hurts; When suddenly you notice that half the crew is wearing skirts. And it's hard for me to imagine, a female boatswains mate; Stopping on the Quarter deck to make sure her stockings are straight. What happened to the KiYi brush, and the old salt-water bath; Holy stoning decks at night cause you stirred old Bosn's wrath! We always had our gedunk stand and lots of pogey bait; And it always took a hitch or two just to make a rate. In your seabag all your skivvies, were neatly stopped and rolled; And the blankets on your sack" had better have a three-inch fold. Your little ditty bag, it is hard to believe just how much it held; You wouldn't go ashore with pants that hadn't been spiked and bellied. We had scullery maids and succotash and good old SOS; And when you felt like topping off, you headed for the mess. Oh we had our belly robbers but there weren't too many gripes; For the deck apes were never hungry and there were no starving snipes. Now you never hear of Dave Jones, Shellbacks Or Polliwogs; And you never splice the mainbrace to receive your daily grog. Now you never have to dog a watch or stand the main vent; You even tie your lines today, back in my time they were bent. We were all two-fisted drinkers and no one thought you sinned; If you staggered back aboard your ship, three sheets to the wind. And with just a couple hours of sleep you regained your usual luster; Bright eyed and bushy tailed-you still made morning muster. Rocks and shoals have long since gone, and now it's UCMJ; Then the old man handled every thing if you should go astray. Now they steer the ships with dials, and I wouldn't be surprised; If some day they sailed the damned things from the beach computerized. So when my earthly hitch is over, and the good Lord picks the best; I'll walk right up to HIM and say, "Sir, I have but one request. Let me sail the seas of Heaven in a coat of Navy blue; Like I did so long ago on earth way back in nineteen-forty-two.

All material contained herein © 2004 and beyond USS Euryale Association

This site created and lovingly maintained by katiebuglove