When the little Cessna in this ballad was placed on display in the Air and Space Museum at Wright/Pat-Dayton, there was an article in the newspaper telling this story (in prose).
CH:Clear the deck. Shove 'em over.
Never mind the millions.
There's five young'uns and their mama
and their papa coming in.
On the Midway out from Saigon
bringing home the last of many
The sailors heard this chorus ring out
strong and loud and clear.
Captain Chambers said it firmly
and the crew echoed it after
And they dumped ten million dollars
worth of Hueys* in the drink.
*Hueys are large transport helicopters--verrrry expensive
CH:
For you see there was a Cessna,
tiny one-man plane, real tiny,
But the major somehow got his wife
and all five kids in there,
And he flew them out of Saigon
across the sea to freedom
Not knowing if they'd make it,
if they even had a prayer. CH:
They spied the Midway steaming
homeward bound, never dreaming
That for one desperate family,
her deck was the last hope.
The gas was getting low to gone,
no real hope in travelling on,
But no room on the deck to land
unless some stuff got moved. CH:
On a knife the major tied a note
and dropped it toward the ship,
But it landed in the water--
too light! He tried a boot.
The boot fell wide too. What else?
That keychain full of keys
They'll never need again. It missed
And sank into the sea with all the rest. CH:
If we can't land, we won't need this.
The survival pistol finally
Carried a note down to the deck.
They brought it to the captain.
He read it and looked upward
And that's when he shouted,
"Sailors, clear the deck!" CH:
The note read
"Can you move those helicopters
to the other side?
I can land on your runway.
I can fly one hour more.
We have enough time to move.
Please rescue me--
Major Bung Lee, Wife, and Five Child." CH:
Now the Lees live in Florida.
The Midway's out to sea again.
Admiral Chambers is retired.
A museum has the plane.
And the words that traded death for life
for that brave man and his good wife
May we well remember
'case there's need of them again. CH: