The humor and innocence of the United States Navy Sailor is captured in the unique and sportive tales of a salty master chief set in the final quarter of the twentieth century. Sweepers sweepers man your brooms is a phrase readily recognized by any Sailor who ever woke up on a United States Navy ship. In his Navy memoirs Retired Navy Master Chief Jeff Zahratka, a twenty six year veteran chronicles rich adventures that carry the reader to exotic settings from Karachi Pakistan to Severmorsk Russia. Sweepers Sweepers is a colorful story with uncanny notice of the odd occurrences that take place between the life lines of Navy ships and isolated shore establishmentsnot a story about bombs, battles, or spectacular explosions, Sweepers Sweepers Man Your Brooms is his story about how people of great diversity coexist in eighty-man bedrooms while living out of devices known as coffin lockers. Consistently found in the effectuation of extraordinary events, the ubiquitous American Sailor may be found crawling through garbage in an equatorial Shellback initiation or baring their derrieres at a Soviet aircraft carrier while traversing the Cape of Good Hope. He may be discovered in hand to hand combat, not with a human enemy manned up at a fire control console on an Aegis cruiser, but with a toilet brush in a Greek hotel room, fighting to the death with a mutated species of an ancient Hellenic centipede. The author fails miserably at camouflaging his affection for the city of Pittsburgh and his long time devotion to their high powered sports teams. He provides many insightful moments relating to being a fan from afar through some of the greatest years in Steeler and Pirate sports history. The story is a rich and historically accurate account of a caste of characters from seaman recruits with attitudes honed on tough urban streets, to brown juice spitting good ole boys that learned to love the sea. There are associations and first hand opinions on the actions of young naval officers who today are among the top ranking leaders of the force. Sweepers Sweepers Man Your Brooms is a tapestry of the social morays, historical events, and military technologies that define the character of the Navy for the last thirty years. The reader will experience sufficient history to educate, and an infusion of personal opinion which will serve as a catalyst for debate. Above all; however, the story will remind Americans why they love Sailors, and remind old Sailors of why they love the Navy.

Jesus' wilderness experience in the fourth chapter of Matthew formed the basis for his inspired relationship with God. His devotional life was key to navigating difficult times. Jesus knew how to systematically get into the presence the Father. Dr. Brown has compiled a forty-day devotional guide to assist believers in their personal devotional studies. This 40-Day devotional guide presents a systematic approach used by the author as he negotiated the wilderness of a wartime deployment and his failure to select for promotion. He learned to journal his journeys through the wilderness. This book contains space for the reader to do the same. Lessons learned can advance our present spiritual development. These valuable lessons can be presented to others. The final added feature is that these devotional stories actually take you onboard a USS Aircraft Carrier. Everyday at sea is unique and challenging. These presented situations take you where Sailors live, work, and eat ? a unique perspective of life underway. Readers will come away with a greater appreciation for the unrivaled competence of our sea service personnel and the power of God's Word.

The author, Walter M. Brown, Jr., describes the wilderness as an inner feeling of barrenness. Through the spiritual direction in Why the Wilderness, he hopes to help you better understand your own desolate times by seeing how God assisted him through his own. God allows-and sometimes even plans-your personal wildernesses to mature you for life and ministry. Once understood, this process can help immunize you against these experiences. Brown provides advice on how to overcome 'wildernesses" of rejection, silence, and continually changing circumstances. He guides you in the quest to rise to what God intends for you, to better understand the connection between hope and faith, to address and overcome your secret fears, and to bring to light your areas of personal darkness. Also included is a forty-day devotional guide, complete with poems, questions, and reflections. Negotiated wildernesses are important to your spiritual growth and your fulfillment as children of God. One thing is for certain-until we address and venture through the wildernesses in our lives, the angels cannot come!

“There I Wuz” refers to being in flight somewhere in the sky or perhaps in an otherwise routine situation when something unforeseen happened. It was the way aviators started their most gripping stories. Flight surgeons are privy to many such stories and “Doc” White relates the scary situations and tales of funny, tragic and intriguing events from inside naval aviation. He highlights what it was like to live and work on an aircraft carrier during the Viet Nam conflict and the cold war. He writes from the perspective of a Navy Flight Surgeon, a physician and a medical officer. The narrative describes all the complexities of flight operations, how everything functions and coordinates ...... and the psychology of those who make it happen. Join the author as he looks back at an incredible life in the Navy filled with medical tales, aviation adventures, and highs and lows. The narrative is personal, entertaining and interesting on many levels. “Great read, unusual in that Navy Flight Surgeons seldom comment on life on the carriers. Superbly written ... another perspective of Navy Life at sea and a doctor’s wonderful memoirs.” – Warm Regards, Captain Dan A. Pedersen (USN, Retired), Founder of the “TOPGUN” Navy Fighter Weapons School in 1969 and Skipper of USS Ranger (CV-61) in 1982. “These recollections are familiar to me at different times and places...and are a treasured memory. Readers will find this book most interesting while greatly admiring the dedication, expertise and service of a Flight Surgeon.” – Mike Bristow, Naval Aviator, Experienced A-7 Pilot with over 200 Carrier Landings. “.... thoroughly enjoyed reading...I could relate to a number of the stories... other aviators will be struck with memories.” – Tom Petillo, U.S. Naval Academy ’66, Naval Aviator, Fellow Mediterranean Sailor. “There I Wuz” paints a candid picture of a flight surgeon’s naval career and experiences on an aircraft carrier. This insider provides fascinating stories of life in a carrier “city” and insights as to what makes Top Gun pilots tick. Throughout, the author’s humor is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.” – David R. Sobel, Medical Defense Attorney and Award-Winning Playwright.

"Nothing to Write Home About" is a lightly fictionalized memoir of a now distant period of recent American History, "The Cold War." In mid-1950s America, a rite of male passage was a couple of years of non-threatening, peacetime military service. By 1955, the war in Korea was two years past and Vietnam was still just a name. For the author, then aged eighteen, the Army offered an escape from the confines of a blue-collar neighborhood, a first opening on and into a larger world, a semi-grownup world filled with characters from all over the country, some good, some not so good and some just outlandish. Two years in the Army, with duty in South Carolina, Arkansas, Colorado and finally Germany became, unknowingly at the time, one of the genuinely educational and more memorable experiences of a lifetime.

BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FLINT BLUFF He came from a humble background, a farm kid with the ethics and core values that are so prevalent in the Midwest. Following high school, Buddy Miller joined the Navy during the Vietnam War, and while serving on a ship in Southeast Asia, an incident occurs that will affect him for the next decade. With courage, he faces and manages the disability of PTSD and confronts the ghosts of his past. Returning to civilian life, Buddy becomes hugely successful, but continues to deal with the symptoms of his disability. With the loyalty of good friends and the help of a beautiful woman, he faces his life's most difficult challenge. In Market Time Conspiracy, James Duermeyer tells a rare story—a glimpse into the life of a man facing his worst nightmare. It is a wonderful, heart-felt story that gives the reader a look into the disability of PTSD. But the story is much more than that. It is a story woven from a young boy's growth into manhood, war, friendship, humor, perseverance, entrepreneurship, genius, and most importantly, love.

John J. Sheehan, LTJG USN (ret.) John Joseph Sheehan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 27. 1935 to Margaret and Joseph Sheehan, Sr. He attended St. Timothy Parochial School in the Mayfair section of the city. He is a 1952 graduate of St. Josephs Preparatory School, (The Prep) and St. Josephs College (now University) in 1956. John enlisted in the United States Navy and graduated from the Naval Officers Candidate School in 1956. John served as Communications Officer on the USS Cross and the USS Chamber until his honorable discharge as a Lieutenant JG in 1959. Upon his retirement from the City of Philadelphia Comptrollers Office, John use the logs from the Library of Congress to research material from his real life experiences aboard ship. John lives in Philadelphia with his wife of fifty years, Ellen. He is the father of Ann Marie Matekovic, John Sheehan, Jr. and Ellyn Taylor and the grandfather of Katelyn and Laura Matekovic, Casey and Megan Sheehan and Charles, Kelley and Joseph Taylor.