By Anthony Giger

A War Declared

A sneak attack brought a county shame

A war declared, Japan the blame

A soldier, a sailor was my choice

A chance to say became my voice

Anchors away was my next command

A life at sea far from land

Merchant ships, one hundred in place

A convoy headed for allied shores with little haste

Protecting them from one of a kind

An enemy below with destruction in mind

Sonar, lookouts scanned the seas

An ominous silence, seagulls’ pleas

A ping, ping, meant the enemy was near

General quarters was next to hear

Depth charges were launched into space

Oil and debris rose to the surface

The sight of destruction with nothing to fear,

The thoughts of many brought no cheer

A solemn crew had nothing to say

A voyage continue another day

Clark

He was our shipmate, this man named Clark

His thoughts over the years as he sat in the dark

I’ll seek out my shipmates and bring them together

And every year we’ll meet in spite of the weather

This we did and the joys were many

Buddies again with memories a plenty

Clark wanted wreaths to be laid

For comrades who had gone away

He realized that our day would come

He got us together his work was done

Clark is with that man in the sky

Planning that grand reunion of PF 65