Ward, Millard "Last Lap"

Saturday Evening Post tag line: “No one knew why the young “mess punk,” who loved the sea, hadn’t joined the Navy until the night the old ferryboat scratched at Davy Jones’ locker.” This being the height of the Second World War it turns out that Ward’s “mess punk” actually suffers from a physical disability and that, rather than fear, had kept the patriotic young man from joining the Navy. He naturally proves his bravery during the story’s climax when his “ancient, double-ended” Chesapeake Bay “relief” ferry hits stormy weather and nearly founders. He’s offered a permanent deck position on the ferry once safe haven has been reached, and declines the offer (it’s here that the young man reveals that he is color blind, and thus is ineligible to work as an A.B.). He further reveals that he’s shipping out the next week on a tanker – the most dangerous of wartime sea duty – and will serve aboard the ship in the vessel’s stewards department (again, because of his color blindness). Ward’s not-too-subtle subtext is a simple one: no matter one’s age, sex, ability (or disability), everyone can – and should – help out in the Allied war effort.