Category Archives: Members

USS Belknap Memorial Dedication

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Home Goes The Warrior

Home Goes The Warrior

Autored by Jeff Noonan

Home Goes the Warrior

An American Warrior battles Murderers, Thieves, and Spies! Navy Lieutenant Lee Raines returned to the States after being badly wounded in the Viet Nam jungles. Now he just wants to finish his service, marry his fiancée, and find a quiet home in the suburbs. Instead he finds himself caught between the Mafia and the FBI as he battles thieves, murderers and a Soviet espionage ring on the mean streets of Philadelphia. Working with the FBI, Lee discovers that over a hundred million dollars have been stolen from Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. He investigates the theft and makes headway toward solving it. Instead of the quiet homecoming he wanted, Lee finds himself back in a war zone, dodging bullets, fighting thugs, and battling a mysterious sniper. Eventually he finds the thieves and survives a bloody showdown with them. But when the thieves are eliminated, Lee discovers that the shipyard has even bigger secrets. The thieves had only been a smoke-screen, designed to distract attention from a huge espionage operation. Now he was being forced to fight a vicious Russian spy ring that had been stealing the Navy’s secrets for three decades! A spy ring that had been providing the Soviets with the capability to destroy the entire United States Navy! ********** Only Marie was still awake, and now she had a chrome-plated pistol in her hand. It was pointed at him! “I’ve waited years for this, you degenerate son of a bitch.” Her voice was calm and pitched so low he had to strain to hear it. “We gave you a chance to be something, but all you could think of was your dick. Now it’s payback time, asshole. This is for every time you ever touched me or any other woman without our permission.” With that she fired once, hitting him just above the point where his pants legs came together. He screamed and gasped simultaneously, a choking, muffled confusion of sounds. He sagged to a sitting position on the floor, holding his groin with one hand and the table with the other. He was staring wildly at the people around him, looking for help, but they all seemed to be sleeping. Marie laughed merrily at his confusion. “They’re all dead, you idiot.” ************ Lee suddenly realized that there was only one possible explanation. They had to be spies! If so, this was huge. The shipyard’s electronics manager, like his father before him, had access to virtually every secret the Navy possessed! My God! They’ve had the design details of our shipboard weapons and electronic systems, as well as all of our radio/radar frequencies and codes, for the past thirty years! If they’ve been passing them on to Russia or China, our Navy is doomed in any kind of shooting war. This is an international game-changer!

 

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Rocky Mountain Justice

Rocky Mountain Justice

Authored by Jeff Noonan

 

Rocky Mountain Justice

 

Four teenagers battle for justice and create a legend. Montana’s tall mountains and deep valleys have produced many legends, but this one is more recent than most. The events that created the legend occurred in the summer of 1949. During World War Two, the sheriff in a remote part of Montana dodged the draft and avoided the war. With the local men fighting overseas, the sheriff built a vicious organization that ruled through fear and intimidation. By the time the war’s survivors came home, the sheriff was in firm control of the county and its commerce. The sheriff’s reign of terror was finally challenged when he crossed paths with young Jerry Flynn and his friends; four teenagers who still believed in right, wrong, truth, and justice. When the teens innocently questioned the sheriff’s actions, the retaliation was immediate and brutal. But the sheriff underestimated the four teenagers. Instead of running, they began secretly investigating and recording the gang’s activities; an investigation which revealed that the sheriff was far worse than anyone suspected. Soon the four teens found themselves fighting for their lives as they tried to rescue innocent women who had been enslaved by the depraved sheriff and his deputies. By the time the summer was over, the battle had expanded to include a group of former Marines, the FBI, and two Indian Nations. Together they brought their version of justice to the sheriff and his gang, creating The Legend of Camel’s Hump.

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The Long Escape

The Long Escape

Authored by shipmate Jeff Noonan (plankowner)

The Long Escape

The Long Escape

 

 

Author’s Note: The following description was generated by the book’s publisher and it makes the book sound a lot bleaker than it really is. There are a lot of great, sometimes risqué, sea stories in it. It’s a good “sailor story”. For info, I was an original Plankowner as well as the Total Ship Test Manager in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard when we rebuilt the Belknap after the collision. The Belknap will always have a special place in my memories.

(Available on Amazon.com) The Long Escape by Jeff Noonan (Paperback and Kindle editions)

Description:

This is a true story; a story of survival. The story starts in the 1950s, when a boy and his family lived a life of hellish abuse. The story ends after the boy defeats the abuser and moves on with his life. During the last six chapters of the book, the boy is a First Class Petty Officer aboard USS BELKNAP (DLG-26) during its Pre-Com Period and Shakedown Cruise.

Jeff was raised in a happy home in the mountains of Montana where he idolized his father, a former professional boxer. But before Jeff was twelve, his idol turned to alcohol and became a violent abuser, repeatedly beating Jeff, his mother, and his seven younger siblings. In desperation, Jeff resorted to digging hidden bunkers where the family could hide when they were attacked. Life became a daily struggle, both physically and financially.

He left school and worked wherever he could find a job, using the money to help feed his family. He labored in lumber mills, railroads and ranches until, at the age of seventeen, he joined the military.

This story follows the boy from the hell of his childhood through Pacific island love affairs, killer typhoons, and Hong Kong bar battles as he fights his way to acceptance in the rough and tumble world of a destroyer sailor. In his first Navy assignment, he finds that his poor education has resulted in a job he despises; working as a permanent head cleaner on an old destroyer. But through perseverance, hard work, and an iron will, he becomes a leader, supervising teams working on experimental shipboard missile guidance systems.

But you can’t run from yourself. Jeff’s family problems haunt him, frequently bringing him back to Montana; to increasingly violent confrontations with his father. Tensions build until the inevitable happens and Jeff is drawn into a final, epic, battle with the abuser.

A sobering, visceral, and shockingly real portrait of domestic violence, the boy’s relentless drive for survival is nothing short of extraordinary. An uplifting journey to redemption and self-acceptance, The Long Escape sends an unforgettable message to the abused that there really can be hope and love in their future. It also brilliantly captures the sometimes hollow feeling of victory and the scars of abuse that are carried for a lifetime

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Spit Shine

Spit Shine

Authored by Tage N. Wright

 

Spit Shine

As we travel along the road of life, steering around the pot holes and trying to avoid the bumps, we sometimes find ourselves somewhere that we never intended to go. Sometimes we wander into what looks every bit like a dead end. Meet John Coffee who once upon a time headed off on the road to the American Dream only to find himself in the middle of a nightmare. He is a man at the end of his rope until he wanders into Baret Park and meets Charlie. Charlie, the old man that for forty years made that park his home. He knows a thing or two about nightmares, failure, wishing wells and dead ends. Old dogs may not be able to learn new tricks, but an old man like Charlie, well that is a different story. Meet June, John’s wife, and her best friend, the world wise Helen, they are as different as night and day and best friends forever. Sometimes the obvious is not so obvious when your glasses are fogged over with the color of your own life. Spend a few hours laughing, crying and just plain feeling good. Spend a few hours discovering the secret of “Spit Shine”.

 

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Operation Armageddon

Operation Armageddon

Authored by shipmate Tage N. Wright

Operation Armageddon

 

 

The first book in the Trilogy by Tage N. Wright“Operation Armageddon is the first installment in the “Brotherhood of the Sword” trilogy. It begins the story of “The Brotherhood”. The evil swells from before the birth of Christ to present day in this first installment.

 

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Project Vengeance

Project Vengeance

Authored by shipmate Tage N. Wright

Project Vengeance by Tage N. Wright

 

 

The second book in the Brotherhood of the Sword trilogy is now available.

Buy a copy and help a veteran.
Please note that I am donating 50% of the royalties from my novel ”Project Vengeance” to “Soldier On”. They provide housing for homeless veterans. Please help me help those who have given so much to provide the freedom we all enjoy.

If you could forward this to anyone on your friends list that may be interested
both myself and our homeless veterans would appreciate it.

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The Armageddon

The Armageddon

Authored by shipmate Tage N. Wright

The Armageddon

The Armageddon

 

 

Hello shipmates,

My name is Tage N. Wright, I served aboard from 1968 to 1972.

Do you like to read or do you know someone who does?

The publisher has posted a preview chapter online at this link:http://bookstore.authorhouse.com/Products/SKU-000277603/The-Armageddon.aspx
Introduction:
Our story takes place in the present day, yet it really began a thousand years before the birth of Christ. It was then that the sword was forged and its blade tempered in blood. It was then that The Brotherhood of the Sword found its birth. Buried in a dead city, surrounded by a fortune in treasure the sword awaited its next owner. In 1868, nearly three thousand years after its birth, the wait was over. Another took up the sword and again evil began to grow. For one hundred and twenty-five years the Brotherhood of the Sword grew secretly in power and strength. Using the fortunes massed by the people of the dead city they built a secret society of power and wealth. A society so entwined with the world around it as to be almost invisible. Only the coming of the proper time stood between the Brotherhood and their plans for world domination. As the crucial moment approaches and the Festival of Eternal Power begin, the world unknowingly lies on the brink of an evil never before known. The ceremony of blood will open a new and terrifying dispensation of evil. The Brotherhood led by its prophet and High Priest Sam Clayton moves on an international scale. With weapons of mass destruction at their call Clayton and his followers stand ready to cut out the very heart of the world they want to control. Only a chosen few led by Craig Mason a tough ex-marine chosen by a dead man to carry on his fight stand against the evil of the Brotherhood. Join the life and death struggle in the battle against the Brotherhood and the evil that surrounds the Brotherhood of the Sword. Join in the battle to stop The Armageddon.

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Five Years at Sea

Five Years at Sea

Authored by James V. Lee

Five Years At Sea

Five Years At Sea

Come with me and experience the adventure of a lifetime!

Explore the lands and cultures of thirty-six countries.

Interact with crews of thirteen U.S. Navy warships as you traverse the oceans of the world.

Watch how the ships’ personnel earn college credits under the little-known Program for Afloat College Education (PACE).

Ride with the Marines as they enter Iraq during the first Persian Gulf War.

Witness some behind-the-scenes that made worldwide headlines from 1989 to 1994.

Table of Contents

1. Adrift
2. USS Belknap CG-26
3. USS Stein FF-1065
4. USS John F. Kennedy CV-67
5. USS Gridley CG-21
6. USS John F. Kennedy CV-67 (Deployments 2 and 3)
7. USS O’Brien DD-975
8. USS Cushing DD-985
9. USS Orion AS-18
10. USS Austin LPD-4
11. USS Barnstable County LST-1197
12. USS Wasp LHD-1
13. USS Guadalcanal LPH-7
14. USS Harry E. Yarnell CG-17
15. USS Belknap CG-26
16. USS Mobile Bay CG-53

 

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