So we steamed right with her till the break of day
AND we were neck and neck for the rest of the way.
Now we were "Tin Can" men and we surely knew,
We would probably race until something blew.
The fantail was deep from the churn of the screws,
But on through the waves we flew and flew.
The skipper was pale and said he was sick,
But to "Tin Can" sailors he was just a hick.
We didn't worry cause what the heck,
We and that cruiser stayed neck and neck.
Now over the ocean we did glide,
Both flying high and side by side.
The skipper screamed and the engineers cried
But us and that cruiser stayed side by side.
We gazed over the stern and saw something coming
We thought it was a jet the way it was humming.
Acoming along at a terrible pace,
We knew right then it was the end of the race.
As it breezed on by ,we looked the other way,
But the cruiser's skipper had nothing to say.
For there, going by , was a reserve (Jg)
pushing a souped (YTB).
Then our skipper sighed a sigh of relief,
And rubbed his eyes in false belief.
The cruiser slowed to a one knot pace,
For they thought it was the end of the race.
We had won the race not very fair,
But still the joy of victory was in the air.
The captain gave us a very well done,
For he still believes we would have won!
This poem was written by one of the crew of the Dickson.
His name is
Walt Oliver.
He is the one on the right,my Dad is on the left.
Walt is a very talented man with his poetry.
And he is among the men that proudly served OUR COUNTRY.
I for one say "THANK YOU", to every one of you,
for providing me with the life of freedom that we have today.