As one of the survivors and the enlisted man in charge of the body recovery and identifcation, I often marvel at the reviews that an eyewitness receives when telling the story of what he actually saw that day. I know a bit about what Phil saw on June 8, 1967 and of course there may be some ranting at times. The anger this has caused when one really knows the truth would cause anyone to rant, and I would probably be the first. The slaughter that I was exposed to after the ship was put in drydock, and we could really see the carnage has for the most part been blotted from my brain. I do know I was there, I do know I picked up arms, legs, torsos, and even a head now and then to try and put it all on the right person. A jigsaw puzzle of huge proportions. To say I was a complete mess when I returned home would be an understatement. The attack was horrible, but the aftermath should go on record, and the aftermath still goes on as our government keeps a tight lid on the real story. As this great nation that we all love changes from what seems to be bad to worse, I often wonder if the very fact that we have allowed this terrible thing to happen to our military people could be the reason for the pain we are all suffering at this very moment. Please understand that the aftermath has not gone away for many of us who love this country and who would do anything to keep it intact. I have seen these men fight back, I have seen men at our reunions that were still suffering from shrapnel wounds to the head, and one who had a seizure at the reunion. The first reunions were more like a funeral where one just couldn't get their dead buried. It was like you just couldn't keep them in the ground as they came back to the survivors in nightmares and terrible thoughts that would linger in broad daylight. Phil is an ordinary guy put in extraordinary circumstances and he came though it about as well as anyone could. He saved the lives of many CT's who were trapped in the torpedoed spaces, and that would include mine. So when you read the book don't think of Phil as anything but an ordinary man who performed as the U.S. Navy taught him, and I am here to tell my own story today because of his actions. My own children were turned against me by my former wife who probably told them stories that were meant to scare them from their own father. I have not seen my oldest son for about fifteen years, and about the same for my daughter. My middle son tried to keep in contact with his dad and my youngest for some reason never lost contact. The aftermath goes on and on from a cover up. Thank God we are getting a chance to tell our story now before the lights go out.