World War II Lessons That We're Still Fighting
Summer of 1966
I had been working
Since I turned eighteen
As an apprentice pressman
It was summertime in San Francisco
I got to work full time so in the Fall
I could afford to work part-time
And go to college
My dad had been
A newspaper pressman
Since he returned home
From WW II in the Pacific
He got me my job at the Chronicle
That was how you got union jobs
You had to know someone
Who was already working there
That's why no Blacks were in our union
None worked upstairs either
To report there were none
Working on the presses downstairs
My dad was only seventeen
When he and his buddies
Signed up for the Navy
Right after Pearl Harbor
His graduation was in North Carolina
Learning how to be a tail-gunner
Getting ready to ship out and find out
What the wide white line was for
Painted down the middle of the floor
Of the hall where the band played loud
While young men danced with women
Most would never see again
The local civilians thought
Concessions were being made
By even allowing them
In the building
But my dad saw firsthand
They knew their place
One side of the dance floor
Restrooms bar and buffet tables
[...] Read more
poem by Tom J. Mariani
Added by Poetry Lover
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