By William Summerly
Life on an LCI could be terrifying one minute and boring the next. Not everything went according to plan when Mother Nature or the enemy had other ideas.
Here are two poems by William Summerly, LCI (G) 450 about the tribulations and trials under fire that the crew faced — and about one such snafu that actually led to 50 marines being rescued from pounding surf.
OUR WELCOME
by William Summerly, LCI (G) 450
Could I borrow the makings, sailor
Perhaps you’ll hear my tale
I’m off the USS 4-5-0
And we just picked up our mail
We haven’t many people to speak to
Our welcome’s mighty thin
All we get is cussing
From the convoy that brought us in.
We left the Marshall Islands about a month ago
The LSTs had to tow us in
So the convoy was mighty slow
They could have been here two weeks ago
With liberty every night
So I have to be careful who I speak to
Or there’s liable to be a fight.The 4-5-0s a fighting ship
But it’s mostly among the crew
The trouble started at Jacob’s Pass
That’s where we lost our screw.But maybe I’m boring you sailor
But I’m as lonesome as can be
I should have been back at midnight
And now it’s almost three..So think of us in the taprooms
Nobody wants us there
We used to dangle at the end of their tail
But now we get in their hair.