Tazewell (APA 209) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 55 text:

Quietly down the gangway in the dead of night, He stayed in the shadows and well out of sight, Or else might have awakened the OOD, And the poor man would have passed out in fright. He hit the pier and let out a meow, And took one last look at the Trzzeufell, the scow, For at last he was a free cat now. Wfith the dawn's golden hue, He was foot-sore and blue. But what the heck, wouldnt you have been too? To stop for a snoozer at this time he deemed best, And so he curled up for a well earned rest. His slumber was disturbed by a dream so uncontrolled That please, if there are any ladies present, it cannot be told The dream I'll now tell, so it may serve you well, For the moral of the story is never go AWOL. The dream it would seem began like this: Shotgun had just laid his head on his paw, When out of the night, called a voice so loud and near, That it sounded like a thousand stampeding steers. It was the voice of the man who won undying fame, Who coined the phrase, what is your name?' By the scruff of the neck, old Shotgun', he did grab, And all the while saying, now cat none of your gabf' Back to the ship our friend he did drag, And very step of the way he ranted and bragged. Coming down the ladder, into the cat's ribs he did dig, And with one mighty toss, he flung him into the brig. For days without end he walked to and frog Well! Where else could he go? Ar night after taps when all was still, His poor tired body with sleep he tried to fill, 51 gxXXkXXXxy yxXXXXXXX xX 5'xx xxxxxxxxx XX xkxxxx

Page 54 text:

X . Xwxxxxvxx S xxxxX XxxxxXNxx xx .QAXXXXXXXX xgxX'5xVW5KX X Waaewaacl It is to the memory of the cat Shotgun , that strayed and wayward friend of all memhers of the T , that these wacky jingles are dedicated. In passing it might he appropriate to 0567 sympathy to that peerless, fear- less crew of gun 5l for Shotgun was truly their mascot, and in no small way responsihle for the maintenance of their morale durin g the trying days at Okinawa. No guncrew that could expend as mach ammunition as they did, without hitting anything, could long keep ap a jighting spirit, and were it not for that huoyant, vihrant personality known as Shotgun , dark and mysterious things might have taken place on the fantail. It was rumored among the mem- hers of the crew, that 5l shot of ten thousand more rounds and failed to hit anything, some deep-sixing might he in order. So, thanks to Shotgun the hoys did not lose spirit, hut just kept right on shooting, and with the same perfect score-.O0O. . To have rememhered the cat in lines of funereal prose, would not have heen in keeping with the spirit of that frivolous feline, and so rememhering him for what he really was, I offer: ,, SHOTGUN -A. W. G. L. Over the hill he did run off, And at all the warnings of his friends he did scoff. He was told that to go, meant shame and disgrace, And it would surely bring, loss of face.

Page 56 text:

But Morpheus somehow, his grip would elude, And eternally it would seem by the brig door he stood. It was maddening to him, for through the bars he would peep, And .there would be the guard, fast asleep. At last the day Came when to trial he must go, And by now his hair had turned white as snow. He worried and fretted, but to no avail. For that had never been known to get anyone out of jail. The stage was set, the trial had begun, When suddenly the Skipper said, Where were you on the night of the 15th my little one? Oh, tothe Commissary for some Catnip, sir, When on my way back I was chased by a yellow Cut. A likely story he answered with a bellow, That would have made a bass horn sound like a one string Cello. A fakir! A fibberl Now Cat you Can't fool me I Despite my forty years at sea. I have traveled all these years and more, But I have never seen Catnip with ears and a tail on it before. The findings of this Court, I say, are most severe I know, For never more will you romp in rain or leave your tracks in snow Your playmates will miss you, over in yon alley, But the sentence of this Court must stand, And it is, that you take your meals in the ship s galley. OI-I! Spare me'Captain! Spare me! A fate that's worse than death, For the Chow that they purvey down there Smells like a polecat s breath. The sentence it would seem was most unfair and mean,