Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke:Fifty Years in US Navy Destroyers, Vol 1 [Perfect Paperback]

Bob Cohen (Author), Terry Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 29, 2008

Destroyer veterans release short story collection Fifteen members of the Secret Scurvy Dog Society relate their own accounts, many humorous and some pointedly not, of life at sea on U.S. Navy destroyers during the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. Beginning with the question - Why the Navy? - and ending with reflections on how their experiences during hard lives at sea came to be considered cherished memories, these men, both officers and enlisted, tell the quintessential Sea Stories of the latter half of the 20th century. Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke is the first joint effort for these writers, most of whom have been published previously in the Tin Can Sailor, the journal of the National Association of Destroyer Veterans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is how I remember my time in the Fleet - stories, people, incidents. A navy has ships, but men bring those ships to life. Service in the Navy is exciting, hard, funny, boring, and many other things best told by the men who were there. Give this book to someone who may join the Navy, and they'll get a better picture of shipboard life than from any recruiter. Give this to someone who's been in the Navy, his eyes will get misty, and then he'll start telling his own stories. And of course, these stories are all absolutely true. -- --Larry Bond, author of Red Phoenix, Dangerous Ground and The Mighty Fallen

The proudest Marine and the toughest SEAL will tell you, ... destroyers? Now, there's the REAL Navy. Find out why in the pages of Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke written by the true men of destroyers; those greyhounds of the sea; those TIN CAN SAILORS. -- --John J. Gobbell, author of The Brutus Lie, The Last Lieutenant and A Code For Tomorrow

About the Author

Terry Miller served as a Sonar Technician aboard USS George K. MacKenzie (DD-836) from 1968 to 1970. He is currently Executive Director, Tin Can Sailors, Inc., President of the USS George K. MacKenzie Association, and the Associate Member Representative on the Board of Historic Naval Ships Association. He is married with two grown daughters and lives in Texas with his wife, Camella. Bob Cohen was the first reserve midshipman in the Navy to qualify as an offshore yacht skipper in 1980. He later served as an engineer on the USS Whipple (FF-1062) and the USS Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7). He left the Navy in 1984 and is now a retired NYPD captain. Cohen's first book, THE ELECTRIC SEWER, was written under the name TREBOR NEHOC

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Oak Tree Press (February 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892343061
• ISBN-13: 978-1892343062
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #952,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Anthology of Destroyer Sea Stories, July 12, 2009

By 

Richard H. King (Nashville TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke:Fifty Years in US Navy Destroyers, Vol 1 (Perfect Paperback)

Volume I and Volume II together contain 101 short destroyer sea stories contributed by 18 different U. S. Navy destroyer veterans some who were young enlisted, some who were career chiefs and some who were officers when they served (scurvy dogs). Readers with no Navy experience have told me they were enjoyable. Readers with some Navy experience were enthusiastic. Of course I may be a bit prejudiced, I was one of the 18 contributing authors.

5.0 out of 5 stars What a hoot, April 20, 2009

By 

Thomas Christman (Port Angeles, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke:Fifty Years in US Navy Destroyers, Vol 1 (Perfect Paperback)

For anyone who was in the Navy, wanted to be in the Navy or knows someone who was in the Navy, these two books are great.

The two volumns are collections of brief, 1st person articles about what life was really like for destroyer sailors, widely seen by most of the Navy as somewhat odd group of people. Written by both officers and enlisted men, they give outsiders a glimpse of what goes on on these small -- in comparison with most of the rest of the Navy -- cramped, uncomfortable ships.

It sorts of gives you an idea of life at sea, periods of intense boredom interspaced by moments of hilarity, or panic.

I've read a lot of naval history, but nothing gives a better picture of what it's really like than Scurvy Dogs.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke, May 17, 2008

By 

Pain Killer "Mike" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke:Fifty Years in US Navy Destroyers, Vol 1 (Perfect Paperback)

Scurvy Dogs, Green Water and Gunsmoke: Fifty Years in US Navy Destroyers, Volume 2
"Destroyers, now there's the real Navy!" Gobbell's review comments about Marines and SEALS might not be exactly gospel, but it's close enough. Learning about Tin Can Swabs, you learn they're pretty much grunts in a metal and aluminum AO (Area of Operations) and steel foxholes darting around the worlds ponds. They got some really cool rifles too!
Shoot clean into next week.
This ain't the Gator Navy dropping grunts off on beaches we don't like. It's about the Navy we don't get to see. The ones they arm.
This collection of sea stories is worth the read. For you other Jarheads and Tridents out there who haven't gotten past the pop up books yet, get some help and look at the preface! The proceeds go to the Navy / Marine Corps relief Society in the honor and name of a fallen brother.
So make an effort to get to the PX and get it, stow it in you AWOL bag! It appeals to me as a book that will travel well and long even in a ruck. It will be passed around multiple times and probably tours as well. There's that many laughs and almost that much entertainment in it.
Semper Fi
Mike