The Ensign Locker

Jon Zachery is shanghaied into the Navy in 1959 by his father. At least that's how he sees it. He is fortunate and lands a scholarship to attend college. After he is commissioned, he is assigned to a destroyer. In 1966, Jon's destroyer deploys to the South China Sea and the Tonkin Gulf. Zachery has encounters with North Vietnamese PT boat sailors, Viet Cong soldiers, anti-war protestors, the Navy bureaucracy, and his own conscience.

Aboard the US Navy destroyer USS Manfred, the ensign locker is home to the five junior officers. Admiral Ensign is a Naval Academy graduate and career minded. Cowboy is a Navy cowboy. Almost, the senior ensign, is almost normal. Jon Zachery, Two Buckets, the junior officer, gets seasick. A North Vietnamese PT boat attack, missions to support the Marines in northern South Vietnam, threats from Viet Cong sappers in the Saigon River all present challenges to the denizens of the ensign locker. The influence of the anti-war movement is felt both on board Manfred and back home after the ship returns to the States.

Thirty-six year Navy veteran. Over 300 missions in A-4 aircraft over Vietnam. Tours of duty aboard destroyers and aircraft carriers.