"I decided that if I became sailor, I would have a good chance of seeing some of the world.... On July 24, 1962, Jim Mull and I left Sylva by bus and traveled to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for induction into the U.S. Navy.... In May of 1963, I was promoted from Fireman Apprentice to Fireman. This was the third promotion I had received in less than one year.... After studying boilers at the Great Lakes Training Center and working in a boiler room for several months, I realized just how dangerous being a boilerman could be.... The boiler furnace reached temperatures as high as 2,3000 degreees Fahrenheit. When the boiler was super-heated to maximum capacity the steam temperature rose to 850 degrees. During my first year on the [USS] Preston, we steamed the waters up and down the coast of southern California. We conducted disaster drills including plane guarding. Plane guarding is the process of steaming within close proximity of an aircraft carrier and being prepared to rescue personnel and equipment in the event of an accident. When we plane-guarded, we had to operate at maximum power and speed. This meant that we lit off all four boilers and ran at top operating capacity for hours at a time. When we did these training maneuvers, it necessitated that boilermen go on a watch schedule called 'four and four.' Each of us would stand a four-hour watch and then take four hours off before resuming the next four-hour watch. These four hour shifts were very stressful and difficult to adjust to. The boiler crew learned to eat, shower, and sleep under these adverse conditions. The Preston was equipped with four boilers that generated steam at six hundred pounds of pressure. While underway this steam was the lifeblood of the ship, providing the energy to turn turbines for propulsion and the generation of electricity for all cooking, laundering, radios, sonar, and guns. A vital part of the power plant was the desalination of water from the ocean, for drinking, cooking and use in the boilers. Two giant eight foot brass propellers turned to move the ship through the water at speeds up to thirty five knots. As a war vessel the Preston was equipped with: (5) 5.38 guns; (10) 40 mm anti-aircraft guns; (7) 20 mm anti-aircraft guns; (10) 21 inch torpedo tubes; 6-inch depth charge posts; 6 depth charge tracks. The USS Preston was built in December, 1943 and classified as a naval destroyer. Her length was three hundred seventy-six feet, the width was thirty nine feet and seven inches wide.... At sea, approximately one third, ninety-one of the two hundred and seventy-three men on board, was on watch at all times.... On board the Preston we were served three square meals a day. The variety was impressive. Fridays were always a special treat because we had seafood.... In rough waters it was necessary to hold onto the tray and not let your meal slide off the table. Some sailors were unable to eat in rough waters due to becoming sea sick.... Payday was once every two weeks. Sailors lined up near the officer's quarters.... We were paid according to the order of our last names.... In preparation for replenishing at sea the supply ship and the Preston synchronized their speeds alongside each other for a short distance, while maintaining a safe lateral space between the two ships. When the two crews were ready, a thin, strong nylon line was fired from a shotgun onto the deck of the supply ship. The shot line had a larger pull line attached to it for transporting heavy platforms of supplies.... When the Preston was underway almost twenty feet of her hull was below the surface of the ocean.... There were sailors from virtually every state in the Union aboard the Preston. There were people from most racial/ethnic backgrounds. My first supervisor was an African-American from St. Louis, Missouri, named Joseph Midgette. I had seen little racial diversity during my childhood and teenage years in the southern Appalachian Mountains. I felt enriched by the different cultures and new points of view. I was amazed at what these friendships brought to my life. I appreciated how much we shared in common, the strongest bond being that we were Americans serving our country.... Our first port of call was Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.... As we drew closer to Hong Kong, the crew was informed that two destroyers in our squadron, the Maddox and the Turner Joy, had been fired on by North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. We would be relieving one of those destroyers.... 'Waldrop is unquestionably outstanding as a petty officer because his appearance and behavior are the highest in keeping with Navy standards...' [August 1966, D. T. Holly, LCDR, USN Executive Officer]...." -- Dave Waldrop (see Search Key for his writing in ACR) with Micheael Revere, Appalachian Roots (available through R&R Publishing, P. O. Box 1527, Cullowheee, NC 1527, 244 over-sized pages of prose, poetry and photographic illustrations $24.95)