The
Men Who Fight Below
Author Unknown
Contributed
By Josh Few
Note: this Poem was taken from the wall of Machinery Technician "A" school. I was detached from Engineman School as an Instructor over 41 years ago - Funny I don't remember this poem being on the board. Seriously, it is a good one. - Jack
Now each of us from time to time, has gazed upon the sea,
And
watched the warships pulling out, to keep this country free
And
most of us have read a book, or heard a lusty tale
About
the men who sail these ships, thru lightening, wind & hail
But
there’s a place within each ship that legend fails to teach
It’s
down below the waterline; it takes a living toll,
A
hot metal living hell, that sailors call “THE HOLE”
It
houses engines run by oil, that makes the shafts go round
A
place of fire, noise and heat, that beats your spirits down
Where
engines like a hellish heart beat until you scream
Are
of molded gods without remorse, are nightmares in a dream.
Whose
threat that from the engine’s roar, is like living doubt
That
any minute would like scorn, escape and crush you out.
Where
turbines scream like tortured souls, alone and lost in hell,
As
ordered from above somewhere, they answer every bell.
And
men who keep the fires lit and make the engines run
Are
strangers to the world of night and rarely see the sun.
They
have no time for man or God, no tolerance for fear,
Their
aspect pays no living thing, the tribute of a tear.
For
there’s not much that men can do that these men haven’t done
Beneath
the decks deep in the hole to make the engines run.
And
every hour of every day they keep the watch in hell
For
if the power ever fails, their ship’s a useless shell
When
warships converge to have a war, upon an angry sea,
The
men below just grimly smile at what their fate might be.
They’re
locked below like men fore doomed, who hear no battle cry,
It’s
well assumed that if they’re hit, the men below will die.
For
every day’s a war down there, when the gages all read red
A
loss of oil and bearing seize thrown rods can kill you dead.
So
if you ever write their sons or try to tell their tale,
Your
every word would make them hear a labored engine’s wail.
And
people as a general rule don’t hear of the men of steel,
So
little's heard about the place that’s closest to the keel.
But
I can sing of this place and try to make you see,
The
hardened life of the men down there, because one of them is me.
I’ve
seen these sweat soaked heroes fight, in superheated air,
To
keep their ship alive and right though no on knows their there.
And
thus they’ll fight for ages on, till warships sail no more
Amid
the monster’s mighty heat the engines hellish roar.
So
when you see a ship pull out, to meet a warlike foe,
Remember
faintly if you can “THE MEN WHO FIGHT BELOW”
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Note: this Poem was taken from the wall of Machinery Technician "A" school. I was detached from Engineman School as an Instructor over 41 years ago - Funny I don't remember this poem being on the board. Seriously, it is a good one. - Jack
The
Men Who Fight Below