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Monday May 1st 6:00PM
Gary Slaughter, Author of Sea Stories
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Ensign Slaughter, was credited with playing a key role in defusing a potential nuclear confrontation between his destroyer and a Soviet submarine armed with a nuclear torpedo. His adept handling of this dangerous situation was featured in two documentary films aired in America and abroad on the 40th anniversary of the incident in 2012.
Sea Stories brings this incredible true event vividly to life in just one of the 60 vignettes comprising this book that spans Slaughter’s naval service during the Cold War.
Other vignettes depict the danger of Navy life over the course of his naval career:
- During a Mediterranean tour aboard a destroyer on which Lieutenant Slaughter was serving as Engineering Officer, a boiler explodes. Two badly burned sailors die before they can be transported by helicopter to a hospital ashore.
- After too many beers, a sailor returns to the ship and jumps into the icy waters off the coast of Portland, Maine. As senior officer aboard, Lieutenant Slaughter must deal with this apparent suicide attempt.
- While being transferred by high-line from his destroyer to an aircraft carrier, Lieutenant Slaughter nearly drowns when he is dropped into the rough sea while trapped in a closed metal cage.
As a writer, Slaughter has the unique skill to see humor and likability in the people and the situations he encountered during his Navy days. His writing skills are on full display in Sea Stories, as well as in his previous series of five award-winning Cottonwood novels set on the World War II home front.
Midwest Book Review predicts what you can expect from Sea Stories: “Slaughter is an undeniably talented writer, a master at describing lovable characters and an engaging story-telling narrative enriched with humor and originality.”
McLane Update
Work continues on the USCGC McLane with the goal of taking her to the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival in 2017 for her 90th birthday! The forecastle, anchor chain, the mooring lines and the wheels on the brow. Next is the hull, primarily port side. Then we will refurbish the anchor windlass and the gusset, weather permitting. Interior projects remaining are the engine room (general cleaning of the lower level and repainting of the main walking deck), the boatswain’s locker (repainted) and the carpenter shop which we hope to clean and have it look like a functional carpenter shop. And that’s just for this year! More is planned for 2017. Donations are always welcomed and appreciated whether they be cash or services in kind. Please join the team & help us get to Grand Haven next year!