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This poem lifted from an old issue of DESA News. It was
written by Raymond E. Plumb in may 1984 and dedicated to: The war was on, they needed help! WWII
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Bill Breeding
Cox and all the men who died with him on the USS Whitehurst.
This
story is about a Destroyer Escort built on the West Coast in 1943. The
crew came from the Great Lakes Naval Training Station near Chicago, Ill.
The little ship was nearly destroyed by a squadron of Japanese planes off
the coast of Japan (Okinawa) in April 1945 but she came back swinging.
Buried at Sea
"DEs" were born
with pride,
They replaced the big "tin cans"
With convoys at their
sides.
A "lilly" bomber makes a run
Gliding in like a
breeze
Across our bow to drop the bomb
That missed our
"LSTs".
My blood ran cold but I had faith
In the gunner next to
me.
With deadly aim Bill squeezed it off
And the bomber hit the
sea.
Live on, these proud and fearless men
And men they were you
see
To live and fight another day
For Little Bill and
me.
Here they come, out of the sun
Like a swarm of angry
bees!
Came those screaming Kamikaze
Spilling blood into the
sea.
Coming in from everywhere,
The sun, the clouds, and
sea
Strafed the deck and dropped the bomb
On Little Bill and
Me.
The decks were cut with gaping holes,
Look through them to
the sky,
Thankful that so many lived
For those that had to
die.
These men are not forgotten.
They still live in you and
me.
Fought and died for Freedom,
This was their destiny.
Our
ship came up like thunder
The ocean tried her soul.
We were sent to
sink the sub
That sank the "Eversole".
We came upon the
tragedy
to lend a hand someway.
Our sonar spoted a submarine
Six
thousand yards away.
We sank sub, that's history,
But let us
shed some light
On the men who thank their lucky stars
The
Whitehurst was there that night.
Paramount made a movie
With
pride and honor to bestow
On our little ship, The Whitehurst
Called
"The Enemy Below".
She grew old and weary
And was put to sleep
with grace.
The Pacific Ocean was her home
And now her final resting
place.
Raymond E. Plumb