Sailors to the End - Softcover

Freeman, Gregory A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060549416 ISBN 13: 9780060549411

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2003

Synopsis

On July 29, 1967, in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, the USS Forrestal, the mightiest aircraft carrier in the U.S. fleet, burst into flame. Seconds after a rocket, fired accidentally, struck a jet occupied by 26-year-old pilot John McCain, thousands of gallons of spilled fuel ignited, causing an explosive chain reaction that fed a terrible inferno that raged for days -- and took the lives of 134 brave sailors and injured countless others. This is the powerful true story of hell at sea, of the valiant men who fell, and the forgotten heroes who ultimately prevailed.

About this title

Review:

In midsummer 1967, the United States aircraft carrier Forrestal, stationed off Vietnam, lost 134 men to fires and ensuing explosions after an errant missile from one of its own planes ruptured a fuel tank on a nearby jet. Gregory A. Freeman's Sailors to the End is a starkly illuminating account of the disaster which, like so many maritime tragedies, was perfectly preventable. Although a faulty detonation switch (similar to a surge suppressor) caused the rocket to fire, the crippling, deadly conflagrations were caused by exploding ordnance--"ancient ... thin-skinned" bombs of World War II vintage. The Navy never admitted its guilt in the matter, a point Freeman makes very clear. He has a knack for balancing instructive overviews with telling details (for example, each link in the ship's anchor chain weighed 360 pounds). Freeman does not shy from the grotesque detail, and many scenes, especially in the sick bay, are harrowing to read. The sad tale of the men of the Forrestal is a model of narrative clarity and honest reporting. --H. O'Billovich

About the Author:

Gregory A. Freeman is the author of Lay This Body Down: The 1921 Murders of Eleven Plantation Slaves. An award-winning journalist with twenty years' experience, he lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060549416
• ISBN 13: 9780060549411
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 464