USS COLE 12 October 2000 – 12 October 2010
I AM THE AMERICAN SAILOR
Hear my voice America! Though I speak through the mist of 200-years, my shout
for freedom will echo through liberty's halls for many centuries to come. Hear
me speak, for my words are of truth and justice, and the rights of man. For
those ideals I have spilled my blood upon the world's troubled waters. Listen
well, for my time is eternal.....yours is but a moment. I am the spirit of
heroes past and future.
I am the American Sailor. I was born upon the icy shores at Plymouth, rocked
upon the waves of the Atlantic, and nursed in the wilderness of Virginia. I cut
my teeth on New England codfish, and I was clothed in southern cotton. I built
muscle at the halyards of New Bedford whalers, and I gained my sea legs high
atop the mizzen's of Yankee Clipper Ships.
Yes, I am the American Sailor, one of the greatest seamen the world has ever
known. The sea is my home and my words are tempered by the sound of paddle
wheels on the Mississippi and the song of whales off Greenland's barren shore.
My eyes have grown dim from the glare of sunshine on blue water, and my heart is
full of star-strewn nights under the Southern Cross. My hands are raw from
winter storms while sailing down around the Horn, and they are blistered from
the heat of cannon broadsides while defending our nation. I am the American
Sailor, and I have seen the sunset of a thousand distant, lonely lands.
I am the American Sailor. It was I who stood tall beside John Paul Jones as
he shouted, "I have not yet begun to fight!" I fought upon Lake Erie with Perry,
and I rode with Stephen Decatur into Tripoli Harbor to burn the Philadelphia. I
met Guerriere aboard Constitution, and I was lashed to the mast with Admiral
Farragut at Mobile Bay. I have heard the clang of Confederate shot against the
sides of the Monitor. I have suffered the cold with Perry at the North Pole, and
I responded when Dewey said, "You may fire when ready, Gridley," at Manila Bay.
It was I who transported supplies through submarine infested waters when our
soldier's were called "over there." I was there as Admiral Byrd crossed the
South Pole. It was I who went down with the USS ARIZONA at Pearl Harbor, who
supported our troops at Inchon, and patrolled dark deadly waters on the Mekong
Delta.
I am the American Sailor, and I wear many faces. I am a pilot soaring across
God's blue canopy and I am a Seabee atop a dusty bulldozer in the South Pacific.
I am a Corpsman nursing the wounded in the jungle, and I am the torpedoman in
the nautilus deep beneath the North Pole. I am hard and I am strong. But it was
my eyes that filled with tears when my brother went down with the Thresher, and
it my heart that rejoiced when Commander Shepherd rocketed into orbit above the
Earth. It was I who languished in a Viet Cong prison camp, and it was I who
walked upon the moon. It was I who saved the USS STARK and the USS SAMUEL B.
ROBERTS in the mine infested waters of the Persian Gulf. It was I who pulled my
brothers from the smoke filled compartments of the USS BONEFISH and wept when my
shipmates died on the USS IOWA and USS WHITE PLAINS. When called again, I was
there, on the tip of the spear for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
I am the American Sailor. I am woman, I am man, I am white and black, yellow,
red and brown. I am Jew, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist. I am Irish, Filipino,
African, French, Chinese, and Indian. And my standard is the outstretched hand
of liberty. Today, I serve around the world; on land, in the air, on and under
the seas. I serve proudly, at peace once again. But I was called again right
after September 11, 2001, a different war this time, against fanatical
terrorists who attacked out beloved country, killing several thousand innocent
civilians. But, fear not, for I have spread the mantle of my nation over the
oceans of the world, and I will guard her forever.
I am her heritage and yours.
I AM THE AMERICAN SAILOR!
[Author Unknown]
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