MASTER CHIEF R. R. REEVES

In a room where, in silence, he goes to reflect

Thirty years that ran life through his veins,

He remembers the days when the ships and the sea

Were the chariot, and he held the reins.

A curly–haired boy saw no promise ahead

From his life in the sandy Midwest

So a voice in his heart turned the course of his life

And Time-Served turned him into the best

The boy of sixteen quickly grew to a man

Whose career shone like gold in the sun

He moved through the ranks for his conduct and truth

There is wrong, there is right - you choose one

He taught some about life, he taught some about death

Those who stood at the crossroads of fate

Were his favorites, the men with a mark or two down

And a choice they were too young to make

They wanted to go and they wanted to stay

And they wanted to jump off and swim

He explained all the angles, let them make their own choice

Much more often than not, they stayed in.

When this gentleman spoke no-one uttered a sound

From the ranks both below and above

It was not out of fear, disregard, or dislike

But from the highest respect and earned trust

For the man who stood true behind every word

Kept his ground watching other men run

Pain will shatter like glass all that bravery claimed

While the war was eclipsed by the sun

When time rang its bell and the piper came calling

For the ones who failed Discipline Class

Career-ending words echoed down through the halls

This man’s record was spotless as glass

He didn’t enlarge nor misquote his success

Late at night over vodka or Jack

A life saved or lost sat on absolute knowledge

Of procedure and errorless fact.

He was photographed, honored, awarded, and praised

By Officials at sea and on land

In recognition and thanks for superior work

By the Master Chief’s capable hands

His awards were for leadership, judgment and skill

He’d be first to jump in to command

Not for ego, career, nor political gain

For the lives and the futures at hand

Then the day had to come when the sailors went home

And the officers left for the shore

While the thousands rejoiced, one soul pondered inside

What the calling would be in his core

Now these letters, medallions, certificates, plaques

Show the differences made by one man

Whose career was his breath and the blood in his veins

When his destiny called him to land.

In a room where he goes to reflect on the time

When the sea and the stars shone the way

The walls tell his story, his life; and he wonders

How the time slipped so quickly away.

Claudia Kellberg

Written February 2007 / October 2007

(Reprinted here with her permission)

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