Sailors to the End, by Gregory A. Freeman

Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It, by Gregory A. Freeman
William A. Morrow, 2002
278 pages, 16 pages of photos, plus list of the 134 men killed, notes, acknowledgments and index



Description
Sailors to the End tells the dramatic and until now forgotten story of the 1967 fire on board the USS Forrestal during its time at Yankee Station off the coast of Vietnam.

The aircraft carrier, the mightiest of the US fleet, was preparing to launch attacks into North Vietnam when one of its jets accidentally fired a rocket across the flight deck and into an aircraft occupied by pilot John McCain. A huge fire ensued, and McCain barely escaped before a thousand-pound bomb on his plane exploded, causing a chain reaction with other bombs on surrounding planes.

The crew struggled for days to extinguish the fires, the5,000 men on board experiencing different kinds of hell--some trapped in damaged compartments waiting to die, some battling rivers of flaming jet fuel in order to rescue their buddies. Almost all of them were innocent 18-and 19-year olds, but in an instant they were thrust into a tragedy that nearly destroyed the ship and took the lives of 134 men.

Written with the intensity and excitement of a thriller, and based on never-before-disclosed information and extensive interviews with the fire's survivors, here is the first full, minute-by-minute account of the disaster.

Told through the stories of a dozen sailors, including John Beling, the carrier's beloved captain who was made a scapegoat for the disaster, Sailors to the End follows the Forrestal from its home in Norfolk, Virginia through its mission in Vietnam.

Focusing on the fateful fire and its aftermath, this book provides a gripping tale of heartache and heroism as young men find themselves trapped on a buring ship with bombs exploding all around them.

Sailor to the End also corrects the official view of the fire, providing evidence that the US government compromised the ship's safety by insisting on increased bombing despite the shortage of reliable weapons.

For 35 years, the terrible loss of life has been blamed on the sailors themselves, but this meticulously documented history shows that they were truyly the victims and heroes; deserving recognition for their efforts during a sweeping tragedy that until now has only been a footnote in history. Gregory A. Freeman dramatically brings this story to life, creating a work that is both riveting and moving.

Table of Contents
1. Cast YOur Fate to the Wind
2. The Safest Place to Be
3. Young Men and Old
4. Their Greatest Fears
5. Journey to Vietnam
6. On Yankee Station
7. Fire on the Flight Deck!
8. ONe Minute and Thirty-Four Seconds
9. Stay on the JOb!
10. Keep Up YOur Very Good WOrk
11. They Were Sailtors to the ENd
12. I Don't Want to Screw Up
13. I'm Ready to Go
14. Injuries, Multiple, Extreme
15. Investigations
16. Iceland
Epilogue
Killed on board USS Forrestal July 29, 1967
USS Forrestal Flight Deck (illustration)
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index