"The Loss of the Shenandoah" (Historical Courage in a Storm)

When Men put things together like: fabric, motors, helium, metal frames, and aluminum…

Well then...you can surely bet that the outcome will...almost always...be a phenomenon.

Through old records in the pages of US history…in another era and time…

Comes the true story of valiant men who held their course as their ship began to climb.

An Airship…the U.S.S. Shenandoah…She was something great…

She never made it to ol’ St. Louis through weather that sealed her fate.

A journey to put her on display through the American Midwest…

Put the Shenandoah into the fury of Nature’s formidable wind test.

As she fought in early morning...with farmlands below,

Oh, Shenandoah…we’ve heard your name, yet really didn’t know.

Men of Old…on the cutting edge of supreme airship technology,

Set your course across our mainland, using air instead of sea.

And battled a wrecked and weary dirigible into a dark Ohio squall.

All men called to emergency stations…time to give the Shenandoah your all.

Straining…Buckling…Shenandoah…Ascending toward very high into the sky…

“Trim ship, Get her nose down…Engine ahead full!”…you could hear the cry,

Lt. Commander Lansdowne gave the orders…as he worked hard to make her fly,

The Mighty Shenandoah held on wildly…waging war with the wind…and would not die.

The ship came back down to the Earth that made it…Crashing back hard into the ground...

Later…Sorting through the wreckage…pieces of "The U.S.S. Shenandoah" lying all around.

Shenandoah…we don’t know you…of time ago…and hardly mentioned...

Crew aboard you was full of brave men…of that…May I call your attention.

Those who answer the call to be strong…

Those who stay fighting the storm…all night long.

They in the end will be remembered...as these men have been…on ships since the time of Noah.

Their names are recorded down through time…and live on…like those that flew the Shenandoah.

Airships soon afterwards in that time…became a dying breed…

Not the fault of the Crew of the Shenandoah…U.S. Navy officials agreed.

When the airship stood strong against the storm…at her hour of desperate need,

Came the willingness of able crewman…matching courage to the storm around…indeed!

And the Airship Shenandoah…a long time now…it has been…

A long time has gone since she has struggled against the wind…

Crew aboard you knew you well…and flew you gallantly...

Now…you are only a small footnote stated briefly in our history.

I wonder, Shenandoah…At your great dirigible size…

And for a moment... I see you clear the storm…as I close my eyes.

Of tales from long ago…this one is true…It always ends the same…

But, how I would like to tell of a different ending…and then proclaim…

That all onboard you lived to fly again, and always exit all storms forever in time...

U.S.S. Shenandoah…I can still see you moving through the sky…forever in my mind.