I remember that a fifty-four-year-old lady died during the trip across the ocean. Her bunk was maybe twenty feet from my bunk. She was buried at sea. 

Her body was on a board and covered with an American flag. The ceremony was dignified. The captain read a few scriptures from an English Bible. I did not understand the words. The board was lifted at one end, and the body, which was wrapped tightly in white sheets, slid into the water. After the body slipped into the water, the ship sailed in a large circle around that location in honor of the deceased passenger.

When I think about this event as an adult, I tear up. She did not make it to the United States, the “Promised Land,” but she was given the honor of being covered by our flag.

Nine people who shared that voyage to the USA have contacted me. All remember the sad event. One was only four years old, two were five, and the rest of us were older. The picture shows the Captain and the ships officers walking to the burial ceremony.

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