Gearing sailors become homeward bound poets.

On westbound final leg of every Med. cruise, the enginemen are adding a few "going home turns" and most of the rest of us are breathing a sigh of relief and thinking about the soon-to-come welcome on arrival from family and friends. But at least two of DD-710's crew, DesRon 20 Chaplain Lt. E. L. Boyette in 1965 and Captain Alfred C. Leis in 1968, chose those moments of reflection to wax poetic and get published in the cruise books. Their contributions to Gearing history are reprinted below with thanks and appreciation.

OF HOME AGAIN
by Chaplain E. L. Boyette - January 1965

So, with this scene our cruise doth end.
And now the Poet must grasp his pen,
With humble'd words our thoughts to blend,
Of Home again, of home again.

We set to sail, the Seas to soar.
Through storm and calm from shore to shore.
With much to see, and much to know;
Yet, thoughts, return as evermo'ore,
Of Home again, of home again.

To sea again, we'll happily go-
As only men who sail can know.
Our hearts will sing, as spray doth fly;
A ship alive with creak and sigh.
Yet o'er it all, our hearts will yearn,
Of Home again, of home again.


WE ARE A DESTROYER NAMED GEARING
by Captain Alfred C. Leis - June 1968

We are a destroyer named Gearing,
And we know that we've been quite endearing.
While its fun to deploy,
It's a definite joy
Now that finally westward we're steering.

There were Dawn Patrol, FLAPEX and SPECOPS,
And more frequently plane guard for flight ops.
SSMEX were various,
All-night UNREPS hilarious,
But now H, M and M will be tops.

To the planners we just have to say,
That your hard work was clear every day.
Operations were planned
With a fine Irish hand;
Even weather was handled tre gras.

We'll remember with greatest affection
The tabs that provided direction.
The events were diverse,
Their directions were terse;
(By the way where's the latest correction?)

And we're grateful to all we confess,
Who gave spare parts and tech aid and, yes,
Though we stayed on the line,
Teamwork helped all the time-
That's the secret of Sixth Fleet success!

As we sail for the broad ocean deep,
We've a new high speed hurdle to leap.
Since we've missed not a day
We're now happy to say,
"Event 2759 will be sleep!"


RETURN TO 28 YEAR LOG. . .RETURN TO DD-710 MAIN PAGE