SAILING DATE
Fred J. Shortall
Dear Jack,
My mother sent me this poem which appeared in the New York Daily News. It was written by FRED J. SHORTALL. The poem was accompanied by the words: “MY SEVENTEEN year old son is joining his first ship in the U. S. Navy,” writes Fred J. Shortall. “Being an old ex-sailor yourself, I thought you might like this poem, inspired by his leaving for Norfolk.” Mom sent me the poem, which I still cherish, when I was assigned to the CGC Absecon in Norfolk, Va. It was my first ship right out of boot camp. I was seventeen. The year was 1949.
Harry T. (Tom) Serres
Dear Tom,
I'll take a chance on violating the copyright laws with this one.
Jack
SAILING DATE
Tonight as I look at his empty bed,
I wonder…where is my boy?
The little lad with the tousled head
And the smiling eyes of joy.
It seems but a day since I held his hand
As he trotted off to school
To learn the ways of a grownup man,
And master the Golden Rule.
As he sat in school he would often dream
Of the day he would be through,
For even then in the mind of a Child
Was the dream of a man in blue.
His dream came true, and today he is
What he always wanted to be
A Navy lad in a sailor suit
Afloat on the shiny sea.
I often wonder what thoughts Are his
As he plows the white-lashed Foam,
Does his mind go back to the Little nest
Where he safely slept at Home?