"It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the U-boats and waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared
And they laid the Reuben James on that cold ocean floor."

Seven weeks before Pearl Harbor, the USS Reuben James, an old "four stacker" WW I destroyer on convoy duty off the coast of New England, was torpedoed and sent to the bottom by a German U-Boat on October 30, 1941.  It was the first US Navy ship to be sunk during WWII.  Woodie Guthrie, who was a bit on the left (a bit?!?!?!?) and had spent the past several years writing songs of protest and anti-war songs, was so taken with the sacrifice of the men, that he decided to write a song about the 88 men who were killed, and put EVERY Man's name in the song.  He used the old fiddle tune, "Wildwood Flower", and starting off.......

"There's Harold Hammer Beasley, a first rate man at sea
From Hinton, West Virginia, he had his first degree.
There's Jim Franklin Benson, a good machinist's mate
Come up from North Carolina, to sail the Reuben James."

His friends confinced him that in spite of his good intentions, this was not going to be a very singable song.  So he finally compromised and added a chorus:

"Tell me what were their names, tell me what were their names,
Did you have a friend on the good Reuben James?"

So whether or not you agree with our 2007 policy in Iraq and Afghanastan, the men of the Reuben James, as well as the men and women serving today, exemplify the sacrifice of our men and women, so that you and I can continue to live The Good Life.

---------------

Few people know of the Reuben James, and I venture to say that even fewer know the place of Virginia in preserving the memory of the terrible early days of 1942, when German U-Boats roamed almost at will, sinking hundreds of thousands tons of shipping within sight of the Virginia and North Carolina Beaches.  I was a little kid at Virginia beach, and recall debris washing up, and oil so thick that dead seagulls and pelicans  littered the beaches.  

It was not until April 24, 1942 that the first U-Boat was sunk off the North Caroling coast.  The USS Roper caught the U-85 on the surface, charging its batteries, attacked and sank it.  But not knowing whether it was really sunk or just submerged, made a depth- charge run just be be sure.  Sadly, the many German survivors who had abandoned ship and were in the water were all killed.  Bodies were retrieved, brought to Norfolk, and whoever was in charge made a bold decision.....  The Germans were to be buried with full military honors at Hampton National Cemetery.  I remember after the war my father, who had been Army liason officer at the Naval Operating Base, telling me of the funeral with all the German flags, and the population of that part of Hampton gathered at the fence, no doubt wondering if "The World Had Turned Upside Down."  I have never visited the cemetery, but I understand that there is a special section with the 28 German bodies.  I think it was the Norfolk Virginia Pilot newspaper that had an moving editorial shortly thereafter, about what a meaningful act of honor this was.

I don't know what it all means.  But I think that a strong message is that "human" trumps "hatred."

Randy Cabell