This was written and posted on the boat's bulletin board the evening after "Genral Cooter" (aka Joseph Ashley) died, while we were still at sea. It is a memorial tribute to a jeep-driving, overall-wearing, Dixie-flag-flying country boy that was pretty much good all around. We all miss him.
I write this for a man I know,
you all should know him well.
We call him Gen'ral Cooter and
This here's the tail I tell:
The only Gen'ral that I know
Who sailed the ocean blue
Aboard a mighty submarine
Ole Cooter's army grew.
Inspiration he did instill
On all his loyal men.
You know ole Cooter'd lead us if
The South should rise again,
And Rebel pride would flourish strong
In all the men he knew,
Cause nothin' mattered much on race
As Cooter's army grew.
One day he gathered with his men;
His shipmates of the sea,
And, leaving home, they set on out,
A foreign port to see.
The mighty Captain welcomed them,
Beneath the waves they flew
With shellbacks there and pollywogs
And Cooter's army grew.
Through many missions, tests, and trials
The mighty ship prevailed
Her warriors would prove their worth
Wherever she was sailed.
The best damn boat in all the fleet,
And all the sailors knew
The Captain had the finest men
Cause Cooter's army grew.
But an underwater mountain
Did cause the ship to wreck,
And all those roughneck salts onboard
Were flung onto the deck.
The Gen'ral could not rise again,
Soon ev'rybody knew.
We did our best to save his life,
And Cooter's army grew.
The Captain stood there by his side
And bid him stay and fight,
Soon re-enforcements would arrive
If he could make the night
And prayers abounded with support
From al the loyal crew.
They rallied strength and gathered hope
And Cooter's army grew.
We found some good ole country songs
To ease his pain away,
But with Hank Jr. playin' loud
Ole Cooter slipped away,
And following the midday sun
He left our battered crew.
The Gen'ral's soldiers mourned his loss,
But Cooter's army grew.
And as we laid him down to rest,
We held his banner high,
And heard a hoot and holler from
Those Rebels in the sky.
And as the good Lord took him in,
He kept our Gen'ral true.
The angels came to march with him,
And Cooter's army grew.
Brent A. Dirksen - Jan 9th, 2005