On Eternal Patrol

By Del "Abe" Jones

The Klaxon sounds and they scramble
They close the hatches, take their station
As they hear the order, ”Dive, dive, dive!”
And do! Down into the cold dark, ocean.

The bow planes turning downward
Aiming the Boat into the deep
Toward ol' Davy Jones' Locker
Where lost Sailors lie in endless sleep.

They know not if they will return
To the surface and the light
It all depends, how well they hide
And how well they fare in the fight.

Fifty-two of our Submarines
More than thirty-five hundred souls
Whose families grieved the loss
And for whom the death bell tolls.

One was the SS218, the USS Albacore
With it's brave eighty-six Sailors, lost
Heros of the Second World War
Part of that terrible, deadly cost.

She had served Her Country well
Sinking thirteen Japanese ships
And She had damaged several more
On Her eleven Combat Patrol trips.

She was presumed sunk near Hokkaido
By a mine in November, Forty-four
She had sailed from Midway in October
To be heard from, nevermore.

Now, remembrance in a Memorial
To Honor Her and Her stalwart Crew
So we don't forget those lost to war
It's the very least, that we can do!

Del "Abe" Jones
03.21.2008


Website: http://mywebpage.netscape.com/delabejones/page3.html  

I was very honored to receive an award from Tony Pahl, The Aussie Bard.. Please visit http://iwvpa.net/jonesd/index.php  for some more of my work. http://mywebpage.netscape.com/delabejones/page2.html  (newer stuff) http://mywebpage.netscape.com/delabejones/page1.html  (9/11 Memoriam) updated 5-18-04 http://mywebpage.netscape.com/delabejones/instant/memorial.html  (more poetry)

Books, "OF NATIVE AMERICAN", and "MOONTIDES, AND OTHER CHANGES" as well as "THE WORLD, WAR, FREEDOM, AND MORE" are now available for free viewing or download in text format at http://home.att.net/~abeabe/index.html  To see pics of Ellis County Veterans Memorial in Waxahachie, Texas where two of my poems are inscribed go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~txellis/photos/veterans.htm 

"Mankind’s greatest accomplishment is not the revolution of technology it is the evolution of creativity " copyright Del "Abe" Jones 1984