Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I did not know David M. Levy in life, though I wish I had. I was honored to attend this morning's service in his honor. Although I never had the privilege of meeting David, as a career Naval Officer, I consider him a shipmate, a colleague, and a friend. This Nation owes an incredible debt of gratitude to Lt. Cmdr. Levy, USN, for his valor and self-sacrifice at a time when the U.S. was fighting against the odds in World War II, and in fact, losing the war in the Pacific. With great skill and determination, David led the best and brightest men of his generation in a life and death struggle against a committed and evil foe. When character mattered most, he defeated that enemy and came home to his family, devoting the rest of his life to making this Country a better place in which to live. For that we owe him everything.
I am reminded of a poem recited in John Ford's great film about the men of the PT boats, "They Were Expendable." John Wayne was the actor who offered this prayer for a fallen comrade:
"Under the wide starry sky,dig the grave and let me lie; glad did I live and gladly die, and I lay me down with a will; this be the verse you 'grave for me. . . Here he lies where he longed to be; home is the Sailor, home from the sea, and the hunter home from the hill.
May God always bless him and keep him.
Most sincerely and respectfully,
CAPT Steven F. Momano
United States Navy (Retired)
