by Pa Rock
Poetry Appreciator
Today is Pearl Harbor Day, the 79th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on the US Naval Air Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, an attack that sank several large American navy vessels and killed more than 2,000 US servicemen.
This posting is respectfully dedicated to all of the military members who died or were wounded in that attack, and specifically to the memory of brothers Donald Lapier Lakin, Jr. and Joseph Jordan Lakin, both Navy Seamen First Class who were serving aboard the USS Arizona that fateful morning. The Lakin brothers were born in Marion, Kansas - Donald on June 7, 1917 and Joseph on October 17, 1919 - and were the sons of Joseph Jordan and Blanche M. Lakin. The Lakin brothers were working together shining "bright work" on the Arizona from a motor boat when the attack began. Donald died during the attack and Joseph died a couple of days later from wounds sustained during the attack. Both of these American heroes are buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punch Bowl) in Honolulu.
I had the privilege of being able to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial in early 2018 and to set foot on the hallowed portion of the USS Arizona that remains above the ocean surface. At the time of my visit one of the seaman who had survived the bombing had recently passed away as an old man, and his remains had just been interred with his shipmates who are entombed in the sunken vessel that was their home on that tragic morning.
When poet Mike Dailey heard that survivors of the attack were choosing to have their ashes left with their old shipmates onboard the USS Arizona, he sat down and wrote the following tribute. Mr. Dailey's beautiful words honor that solemn burial request.
Pearl Harbor
by Mike Dailey
Bury me not
In an old church plot
Back in my hometown
No, bury me
Beneath the sea
Where my Navy mates went down
Please take me back
To the day of attack
Pearl Harbor in 41
I'd like my remains
With all those names
When my time is finally done
I fought beside
So many who died
There on that fateful day
Just grant me this
As my dying wish
That I rest where my shipmates still lay
2 comments:
I enjoyed your poem about Pearl Harbor though I can not say I know anything about war as I am a fortunate American born in the right place, right time and right gender, though one of my brothers was not. At the ripe old age of 19 he was drafted to go kill the Viet Cong. He never emotionally/ nor psychologically recuperated from the horror. I am a pacifist -- though I understand the crucial role that we played in World War II and the need to continue honoring those who fought in it.
Reading your bio I get the sense that you've lived many lives on many different "planets". What a long strange trip it's been ... I'm envisioning you chasing an ostrich. :)
Thanks for the note, Myra. I never made it to Vietnam - and never wanted to go. I did serve in the military and still have emotional scars from that non-combat experience. I have had an interesting life, but it has raced by quickly.
Best to you!
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