Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes who Fought It. By: Gregory A. Freeman (307 pages, photos, drawings) Reviewer: Dr. Forrest R. Johns Overall Rating: Three Stars--Recommended. A solid effort. Do not read this book for technical expertise. The author is a journalist with no previous military experience except a brief time aboard USS TRUMAN to gain insights into its operations. Read it to learn first hand about heroism and what it felt like to be a sailor aboard USS FORRESTAL (CVA-59) only four days into its first combat deployment on "Yankee Station" off of Vietnam July 29, 1967, under unbelievably excruciating conditions facing a horrendous fire. This artfully crafted, extremely well written book relates a true story based upon extensive personal interviews and testimonies mostly through the eyes of the ship's very young enlisted crew who fought and died fighting that fire and, thus, saved the ship. The after flight deck was loaded with strike aircraft, loaded with rockets and bombs, waiting their turn for catapult launch. The accidental firing of a "Zuni" rocket from one aircraft across the deck into a second aircraft's fuel cells, caused the second to explode and the fuel fire quickly grew into an inferno. Its heat exploded the 1,000-pound bomb under the aircraft hit by the rocket a minute and a half later. This blew a huge hole through the flight deck and into the hangar deck, filled with more aircraft and explosives. Ultimately, nine of the 1,000-pound bombs, most of the rockets and aircraft fuel continued to feed the fire until brought under control. Incidentally, the pilot sitting in the aircraft hit by the "Zuni" was LT, now Senator John McCain. Of the 134 men lost that day, many were due to smoke suffocation, and 18 were never recovered or identified, either obliterated by bomb blast or swept overboard. The descriptions of the fire may bring memories that will terrify you, but the passages of heroism exhibited will cause you to remember the pride in being a Navy man. Availability: Your local bookseller..