Memorial Day Look Back: Nashville POW Wrote State Poem In Vietnamese Prison

Admiral Lawrence graduated from West End High School and the Naval Academy. Credit: US Naval Academy

It’s been four decades since one of Nashville’s war heroes made it home from Vietnam. The late Rear Admiral William Lawrence spent more than 2-thousand days as a prisoner of war in the notorious “Hanoi Hilton.” He came back with a gift for his home state.

The Navy pilot spent roughly two months of his imprisonment in what was called the “hotbox,” an isolation cell kept completely dark and swelteringly hot.

Lawrence knew he needed to keep his mind sharp despite the desperate conditions. So he set himself a challenge: write a poem in his head in perfect iambic pentameter.  Sitting in a torture chamber, he mentally composed lines about green hills and deep lakes.

In the Spring of 1973, five and a half years after his plane was shot down, Lawrence was released as part of Operation Homecoming. Upon his return, he was invited to recite his composition to Tennessee’s legislature, and they quickly named it one of the state’s official poems.

Oh Tennessee, My Tennessee
What love and pride I feel for thee,
You proud old state, the Volunteer,
Your fine traditions I hold dear.

I revere your many heroes
Who bravely fought our country’s foes,
Renowned statesmen, so wise and strong,
Who served our country well and long.

I thrill at thought of mountains grand,
Rolling green hills and fertile farm land,
Earth rich with stone, mineral and ore,
Forests dense and wildflowers galore,
Powerful rivers that bring us light,
Deep lakes with fish and fowl in flight,
Thriving cities and industries,
Fine schools and universities,
Strong folks of pioneer descent,
Simple, honest, and reverent.

Beauty and hospitality
Are the hallmarks of Tennessee.

And o’er the world as I may roam,
No place exceeds my boyhood home,
And oh how much I long to see
My native land, my Tennessee.

William Lawrence was a test pilot considered for the Mercury astronaut program. He served as Naval Academy Superintendent, Director of Naval Personnel and commander of the US Third Fleet. He died in 2005.

In 2010, the Navy christened a ship in the Nashvillian’s memory. The USS William P. Lawrence is a guided-missile destroyer currently deployed to the Middle East.