Guam (CB 2) - Naval Cruise Book

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...And 0 Goodh 99 When this book was planned the war was still very much with us. However, the swift turn in the issue of the conflict causes it to come out at a time when menis minds are turning to the things of home and the time of their return to old familiar scenes. Well do we know the power of such thoughts and the mighty tugs that home ties are making on the hearts of men so long away. The time will come when each man will go his separated way to this home-one to the building thereofg another to one long existing. There are men aboard who, save for the demands of war, would never have been numbered amongst those who go down to the sea in ships. For them the sea had no fascination, no call, for them the limitless expanse of the ocean held no mystery, the flung spray and the blown spume no tangg for them there was no awe or wonder in watching the gray mist on the sea's face and the white clouds flyingf, To others these things were of the essence and for them the poet spoke: I must go down to the seas againg to thelonely sea and the sky, and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. But to all keep these few thoughts in your memory. When you have gone down the gangway for the last time, and as you march inland and the smell of the sea becomes faint, and once more you are swallowed up in a sea of humanity, horns and automobiles, when you have planked down a seabag on your own front porch and the arms of your loved ones grip you fast-give a thought, however fleeting, to the ship- mates you have left. You have made many friends in the service and it will not be easy to forget the men you lived with for so long, the men who watched and fought beside you, who held your life in their hands as you held theirs in yours and with the same straining eyes tried to pierce the clouds of enemy skies. And now . . . though many will laugh and ridicule, a prophecy! Never in all the years that remain to you will you be able to view the uniform of a sailorman without remembering your days in the service and many times in the years to come you will stop and talk with a lad in Navy blue and he will never be a stranger. Never again will the newsreel reveal a man-0'-war without your blood stirring again in remembrance of the vast fleets you once saw in action and of which you were so intimate a part! In the years to come you will tell your son wonderful stories of this war, now ended, and of how you served aboard the Flagship, and he will look in awe upon this Dad of his who had been so far away and saw so many things. It may be as you read this your lips are saying, Oh, yeahfw Well-'eOh, yeah! Put this away and read it five years from now. You are a sailor! Willy-nilly you have joined the ancient brotherhood of those who go down to the sea in ships and old sailors never die! And now goodbyf WALTER A. MAHLER Commander Chaplain, U. S. Navy 5 8 5 ra. , .fngyl 5k i , Jim. M e 'riff ' . T . . g.MQm!' . , rg xfghyvy , 1

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