More than 800 sailors served aboard the Sterett during her hazardous and demanding duties in World War II. This is the story of those men and their beloved ship, recorded by a junior officer who served on the famous destroyer from her commissioning in 1939 to April 1943.

"Ski Kowalewski is a World War II veteran who enlisted in the United States Navy prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ski was a member of the famous Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) devastated at the Battle of Midway. He flew from four aircraft carriers as an aerial turret gunner in TBF-1 torpedo bombers. He survived a torpedo bomber crash and many torpedo bomber attacks on Japanese surface ships including an aircraft carrier. He was also recruited to support the Marines fighting the Japanese on Guadalcanal at Bloody Ridge. He participated in the burial ceremony at sea of a German submarine captain who had been captured by US Naval forces in the North Atlantic. He is an FAA-rated Airline Transport Pilot, multi-engine land and sea rated. He has flown 25 different aircraft, a jet and ultalights with 14,000 logged flight hours. Ski graduated from Navy flight training and was rated as a Navy pilot. He served one half of his 20-year Navy career as a pilot. After retiring from the Navy, he had a successful career with the Federal Aviation Administration as an Airways Systems Inspection Pilot." --P. [4] of cover.

When gays had to be closeted, ships were the only places where homosexual men could not only be out but also camp. And on some liners to the sun and the New World, queens and butches had a ball. They sashayed and minced their way across the world's oceans. Never before has the story been told of the masses. These are the thousands of queer seafarers, mainly stewards, who sometimes even outnumbered the straight men in the catering departments of ships that were household names and the pride of the British fleet. Hello Sailor! uniquely shows what it was like to be queer at sea at a time when land meant straightness.

McKee scours sailors' diaries, letters, memoirs, and oral interviews to uncover the lives and secret thoughts of British men of the lower deck. From working-class childhoods to the hardships of finding civilian employment after leaving the navy, the former sailors speak with candor about the naval life. Illustrations.

Vigorous and highly readable, this portrait of the enlisted man's life aboard the U.S. battleship California depicts the devastation at Pearl Harbor from the hazardous vantage point of the open "birdbath" atop the mainmast.

Do you want to know how to leverage time? Do you find yourself taking two steps forward and one step back? Are you seeking alternatives to the "school of hard knocks?" Then you have found your source! "A Sailor's Advice on Life" is a sailor's lessons learned for the journey called life. So, whether you are starting out, starting over, looking for the North Star, or trying to figure out where you are, this book is for you! I am a strong believer in critical thinking. I will challenge you to ask questions and to use the time in between the pages to do some self-reflection. As it is often said, it is not just the destination, but the journey that is the adventure! It is my sincere hope that this book will encourage you to navigate life with your eyes wide open and realize your fullest potential! Cleveland O. Eason is the son of a US Army First Sergeant, who completed two Vietnam combat tours and was a US Army boot camp drill instructor before retiring with 20 years of honorable service. Mr. Eason entered the US Navy at the height of the Cold War and obtained the rank of chief petty officer after just nine years of service. Mr. Eason obtained the rank of Lieutenant Commander before retiring from active duty with 23 years of honorable service. While on active duty, Mr. Eason had tours in Asia Pacific, Southwest Asia and deployed on US Navy surface ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operations. Mr. Eason's military overseas and stateside assignments, ports of call and post-military retirement entrepreneur pursuits, contributed to his ability to have positive interactions with people from all walks of life. His introspective reflections of those interactions allowed him to gain key insights into human behavior. Mr. Cleveland O. Eason graduated from Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina. Mr. Eason possesses a Bachelor in Applied Science from Troy University, Troy Alabama, a Master in Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California and a Master of Business and Administration (MBA) from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.