MEMORIAL DAY: Give Me Liberty

Painted
Navy gray
lifeboat oars, copper
straps binding battered tips –
scant remains of the
Liberty ship Zane Gray –
fought the wind as we headed home

Though the sun shone
in a cloudless sky, it was
a bitterly cold January afternoon –
ironically close to the day
she slid off the ways seventy years earlier –
a pair of her oars, long and heavy
now bound to my car top rack

As is often the case
(an idea soon forgotten)
with a few pen strokes
the sketch of our garage-to-be
was adorned, but practical decisions ruled
until a Sunday outing – only
the oars in my memory were gone

I tracked them down
from an old nearby marina
across the internet and
finally to a small outbuilding
in the corner of a boatyard
tucked along a creek about an hour south

Before I was born
almost three thousand Liberty
ships were quickly and efficiently built
at ports across the U S – Patrick Henry
was the first launch in September of 1941
Zane Gray in ’43 (a mere
forty-five days after laying of keel)

While these ships were
more than four hundred feet long
each lifeboat was only 25
stocked with items ranging
from fishing kits to flare guns
blankets, lanterns, navigational chart
sextant, food, medicine – and a set of oars

In reality, many
boats capsized as ships burned and sank,
losing much of the gear – the men left to
catch rainwater in shirts and
survive by whatever means possible

It is well beyond
my comprehension how some brave
souls survived for 30 or more days at sea

These oars are so
very heavy – or perhaps
it is the weight of their history
no longer viewed as mere homage to a
maritime lifestyle, they honor and
celebrate all those who rallied to the call,
“Give me liberty or give me death!”

(While many of us view Memorial Day as the start of summer and a chance to relax with family and friends, hopefully everyone will set aside a moment to reflect upon and honor all those who have died in the service of our country.)