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 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 South 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 Monitor. I have suffered the cold with Peary at the North Pole
and I responded when Dewy said, "You may fire when ready Gridley," at Manila
Bay.
It was I
who transported supplies through submarine infested waters when our soldiers
were called "over there". I was there as Admiral Byrd crossed the
South Pole. It was I who went down with the Arizona at Pearl Harbor,
who supported our troops at Inchon and patrolled the dark deadly waters
of 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 a 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 was 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 Stark and the 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 Bonefish
and wept when my shipmates died on the Iowa and White Plains.
When called
again, I was there, on the top 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 air, on and under the sea.
I serve proudly, at peace once again, but with the fervent prayer that
I need not be called again.
Tell your
children of me. Tell them of my sacrifice, and how my spirit soars
above their country. I have spread the mantle of my nation over the
ocean, and I will guard her forever. I am her heritage, and yours.
I am the
American Sailor