In DESTROYERMEN: KOREAN HANGFIRE, author Richard Tennent introduces two newly commissioned Ensigns to the facts of life on a navy warship engaged in intensive battle-action along the coast of Korea. In dramatic action within a plot of developing characters, the two Ensigns quickly lose their boyhood to onboard personality clashes and character hardening battles for survival. In April of 1953, the Korean War was in a stalemate along a battle line generally described as the 38th Parallel. Yet deadly battles continued without let-up: the Communists attacking to conquer more land to enhance their bargaining position at the Panmunjom peace talks, and the United Nations counter-attacking to regain the land previously lost to the Communists. The United States finally decided to break the impasse with a strong, new offensive. The Communists responded with a new offensive of their own. The result was some of the worse fighting of the war. The American Naval Task Group, patrolling the east coast of North Korea, was tasked to destroy the Communist supply lines along the mountainous shoreline. For his part, the Commanding Officer of the USS George Dewey decided to utilize sailors in small boats to sneak in close to the enemy shoreline to spot new targets and direct the ship's guns for greater accuracy. These missions, carried out with extreme risk to the sailors who performed them, prompted the Communists to use extreme measures against them. Thus, the conflict grew; just as did the horrendous typhoon Judy of 1953 grow to pummel the American ships in a violent display of nature's fury.
In a microcosm of human conflict, a small group of young sailors from varied walks of life became that from which legends spring. Repeatedly faced with their own mortality, they rose from simple beginnings to perform unrehearsed and unnoticed heroics, only to fade away in the long voyage of history. But, for the brief moments of their service, they live again here. They are the sailors who manned the destroyers and performed their jobs. They are, simply and forever, DESTROYERMEN.
About the Author: Richard Tennent studied creative writing as an English Major at the University of Michigan before joining the Navy. Volunteering for duty on a destroyer then operating in the Korean War combat zone, he rose in rank from Ensign to Lieutenant and to the positions of Deck Officer, Engineer Officer, and Command Duty Officer. It was while he was in Korean waters when he had his first, up close and personal experience with a hangfire that plays a role in this novel. Leaving Korea and entering the period of the Cold War, he served in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans and numerous seas, including the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. In addition to a typhoon and storms encountered in the Western Pacific, he endured numerous Atlantic hurricanes and major storms, including two winters in the stormy North Atlantic. All told, during his tour of duty on his destroyer he spent nearly nine hundred days at sea. After the navy, he graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law and practiced commercial banking, business, and real estate law for forty-two years. For relaxation, he and his wife, Patricia, sailed their sailboat on the Great Lakes and enjoyed sailing vacations in the Chesapeake Bay, Florida, and Caribbean Sea. They have three grown children and ten grandchildren and live in retirement in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
