Well, I cannot contribute to the musical discussion here but I can relate a story. Last year we were asked to perform thus song at the unveiling of the Reeuben James memorial in Portland, Maine. Portland was the ship's last port of call before she left on that fateful convoy.

It was a very moving experience. The site is lightly wooded and over looks the bay. It was a beautiful day with sunlight dappling the participants and shining on blue water. The monument is a block of polished granite carved with a likenes of the ship on the face. Listed on the sides are the names of those lost in the attack.

There were 5 of the survivors of the James present, proud old men who still remember their crew mates and that terrible night. The Marines sent an honor guard and there was a crowd of veterans and well wishers there as well. We sang our song, there were speeches, the survivors placed a wreath at the monument, and the Marines fired a salute. Very touching.

To my mind the only flaw in the whole event was the rifle salute. The Marines used M-16's. I'm sorry, but a solemn event like that needs to have a good, deep, authoritative sound to really give the salute meaning. A small caliber high speed round may work fine on the battlefield but it sounds like a child's popgun.

Actually, I guess I can provide some input on the musical discussion. As we prepared for this event we had much the same difficulties as you see above. We could not come up with a definitive set of chords or music. We finally had to just choose one and work at that one. Bronwen, I don't think you will be able to find "the chords to the specific song, not just one that sounds like it". Just take the version you like best and fly with it.