We remember another time

And another place,

When we fought

The Japanese Race.

Since those days

Of long ago

Our minds

Wont let go

Of sound and sights

And long, long nights!

The men who

Flew the planes

3000 miles or more,

And came back again,

Can tell of fighters

And awful flak

When they flew back.

But some cannot

Tell what they went through,

For their flying days are gone,

And they returned not home!

Some B-29's lie deep

On the ocean floor

All twisted and silent

Which will fly no more.

And the bones of the crew

Still mount the gun

And watch for fighters

Coming out of the sun.

I salute them everyone

Who gave their all.

In the war of long ago.

Who made it not to Iwo.

And so we weep

For those in the deep,

And remember their demise

Who fell from the skies.

America, count the loss

As you count the cost

Of Freedom won

Against the Rising Sun!

Brave American boys

From Montana and Illinois,

From New York's Town

And villages all around;

From the deep South

And the Mid West

Our boys gave their best,

And now they rest

Beneath the sea,

Those from Washington

To the hills of Tennessee!

We must not forget

Those who aren't home yet.

They still draw their pay

From the Paymaster every day.

Let's add those stripes

To the sleeves for years

Beneath the heaving seas;

Their gold and silver bars

Now corroded are.

But to the rest of us

We bless their graves

With all the rolling waves

One day we may

See them all again,

From PFC's to those of Rank

Who rise from waters

In which they sank.

See them smiling everyone

And know we beat the Rising Sun.

We must speak for

Those who can no longer talk,

Reminding America

Of roads we no longer walk;

But we must insist on remaining free.

As we remember those beneath the sea!

Copyright © C. Douglas Caffey
All Rights Reserved