I read the article posted below today, and it got me thinking that this is kinda an awesome idea. There may be times, more often than I'd like to admit, when hearing things about military traditions and life leave me feeling a little sad. The last few years of my life have made me attuned to the hardships and the history and the everything that goes with military life, and it will always remind me of Matt. But the military is incredible, truly amazing. The sacrifices they make, the values they uphold (in theory)... it is inspiring. So when I read the article, I decided to do something like it for myself. Considering that Hanna thinks that I am more like Captain Kirk and she's Spock, I thought it was fitting. =P
Ships' logs start the new year in verse
(Some entries are great, others far worse)
Few among us can rival John Donne
But this is how it’s done every
Jan. 1
As the Coast Guard cutter Haddock
gently rocked on San Diego Bay late Monday, Chief Petty Officer William Hoffman
tried to summon his inner William Butler Yeats.
“It’s been awhile,” he said of
the last time he’d written a poem. “I’ll do my best.”
Sitting at a computer terminal,
he typed the Jan. 1 entry in the log, the watch-by-watch report of the vessel’s
status and activities:
As bells toll far and near
striking in the New Year
The Mighty Cutter Haddock stands
the watch at the Pier
Ready to respond to any threat
toward this great country
Fighting for those who rest their
beds all warm and comfy
This week, Hoffman and hundreds
of other sailors performed one of the most charming customs of the Navy and
Coast Guard. Aboard warships and cutters, the year’s first log entry is written
in verse. This custom dates to at least 1937, notes the U.S. National Archives,
where researchers pore over logs from World War II and the Vietnam War for
historical insight — and the occasional flash of literary inspiration.
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