A Sailor Remembered 

under the red lights of the hanger bay
we watched his monotonous task
tossing ordinance trash over the side
each trip a little nearer the edge
all agreed he needed to step back
then he leaned past the point of no return
empty arms whirled like hummingbird wings
open hands reached for anything
but nothing paused the physics of his fall
he dropped without a whimper
 
the 1MC passed the word
flares fired and life ring tossed
a hard to starboard turn
helicopters launched
boats crisscrossed our wake
searchlights swept the surface
all hands mustered
a night as black as squid ink added to our horror
then someone said he couldn't even swim
hope ended when the ship slipped back into the war
 
neither nautical chart nor floating wreath
mark where he joined the others
he’s just a faded memory to his mates
a brief entry in the ship’s log
a casualty report buried deep in some dank archive
more than fifty years passed
we could recall his fall but not his face
yet someone always visited on his day
kissed their fingers then stroked his name
on the hallowed wall that remembered them all  


by Contributing Poet  Ken Aclin   Copyright © 2025 
VWP 2025     First published in  VietnamWarPoetry.com 

Bio:  Ken Aclin  is a Vietnam War veteran that served aboard an aircraft carrier in the South China Sea. After separation from the military, he became a photojournalist and won awards for news and feature photography. Once he started a family, he bounced between sales or purchasing for the rest of his working years. He likes to say that he has been a writer all his life, but he has only been writing for a few years. This is the first poem he's written about his experience in the service. He has plenty of fodder for stories or poems about that time. Since he retired, he has nothing to do but write. Every day is Saturday.