Me too. Thank you so much for posting that. Just thinking about remembering the times I have heard it sung, gives me goosebumps. I get so emotional over things like this.
The "Navy Hymn" is Eternal Father, Strong to Save. The original words were written as a poem in 1860 by William Whiting of Winchester, England, for a student who was about to sail for the United States. The melody, published in 1861, was composed by fellow Englishman, Rev. John Bacchus Dykes, an Episcopalian clergyman.
Herewith my favorite two verses:
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!
Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair;
Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air!
The first time I heard the Navy Hymn was at the Pensacola Naval Air Station Chapel on the Mother's Day, 1964, the first Sunday of my Pre-Flight Training. To this day, the hair stands up on the back of my neck whenever I read, hear, or sing the Navy Hymn.
Click here for the rest of the story, a downloadble .wav file of the first verse and all of the other verses of the Navy Hymn.
Me too. Thank you so much for posting that. Just thinking about remembering the times I have heard it sung, gives me goosebumps. I get so emotional over things like this.