Boyle, Kay "The Ships Going to Glory"
Another Boyle World War 2 short story, this one set in the environs of New York harbor. Her protagonists are a young nurse and the pilot of a New York City fireboat. The story comes to a climax as a docked tanker explodes, with the fireboat pilot losing his life in an attempt to put out its flames. Boyle’s very interesting theme is that the importance of war work back home in the United States is not to be under estimated for its worth.
Boyle was also evidently still haunted by the NORMANDIE tragedy (see her “Frenchman’s Ship” above), as evidenced in brief dialog between the nurse (Lonnie Ivy) and the unnamed fireboat pilot:
“There was one big fire you had here,”Lonnie Ivy said in sudden defense. “We read all about it in the papers back home. A big French boat that was here that burned on the river.” “Don’t say it,” said the pilot, and he lifted her hand. “Don’t say her name. It was heartbreak to every man on the force when she keeled over”--p. 66.