Happy Veteran's Day

Taken from the Lockheed "Star", 1943:
The following was written by Tech. Sgt. Robert H. Bryson, Radio Operator-Gunner, while on an unescorted mission in a B-17 Flying Fortress over North Africa.

Oh, Hedy Lamarr is a beautiful gal,
And Madeleine Carrol is too.
But you'll find, if you query,
a different theory
amoungst any bomber crew.
For the loveliest thing
of which one could sing
this side of the Heavenly Gates,
is no blonde or brunette
of the Hollywood set,
                                                 but an escort of P-38s.

Yes, in days that have passed,
when the tables were massed
With glasses of scotch or champagne,
It's quite true that the sight
was a thing to delight us,
Intent upon feeling no pain.
But no longer the same,
nowadays, in this game,
When we head north
from Messlina Straights,
Take the sparkling wine--every time
just make this mine
An escort of P-38s.

Byron, Shelley, and Keats
ran a dozen dead heats
Describing the view from the hills,
Of the valleys in May
When the winds gently sway
An army of bright daffodils.
Take the daffodils
Byron--the wild flowers, Shelley--
Yours in the myrtle, Friend Keats;
Just reserve me those cuties
--American Beauties--
An escort of P-38s

Sure, we're braver than hell,
on the ground all is swell,
in the air it's a different story.
We sweat out our track,
through the fighters and flak,
we're willing to split up the glory.
Well they wouldn't reject us,
so Heaven protect us,
and until all the shooting abates,
give us courage to fight 'em,
and one other small item,
An Escort of P-38s!

Tech. Sgt. Robert H. Bryson

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