MEN OF YESTER YEAR
by Harold Manwaring TM2/c, USS Benson DD421

Where are the men of yester year,

The men of blue and denim?

Once shipmates all, but their faces

Are fading beyond recall.


We trod the same decks together,

Stood the same watches

And ate the same chow

Where are they all now?


Scattered far and wide I know

To every sea and shore-

Some "deep sixed" in canvas shroud,

Some six feet deep in soil


The years have passed, swiftly and fast;

All are now older and gray,

All like men-o'-war entering a small fog,

Memories are passing away!


God bless them-one and all!

Shipmates in blue and denim!

Those living still- and those

Who've dropped the "hook" in

The Navy man's heaven.

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Copyright 1999, Harold Manwaring and Richard Angelini. This site is a service by the USS Mayo DD422 Group. Please ask to use any information. Thank you.