{"product_id":"confessions-of-a-swabbie-9798295674136","title":"Confessions of a Swabbie","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhat does it mean to become a man at sea?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cstrong\u003eConfessions of a Swabbie\u003c\/strong\u003e, Felton Hudson takes readers aboard U.S. Navy destroyers during the late 1950s and early 1960s-an era shaped by the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a rapidly changing America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt just seventeen years old, Hudson leaves rural Georgia and enlists in the Navy with little thought of what lies ahead. What follows is a brutally honest, often hilarious account of boot camp, shipboard life, radar school, liberty towns, hard discipline, racism in the ranks, and the relentless challenge of proving oneself among seasoned sailors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eServing aboard the USS Brister (DER-327) and the USS William R. Rush (DDR-714), Hudson recounts: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe realities of enlisted life on \"tin cans\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSea sickness, survival, and brotherhood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCold War patrols in the North Pacific\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRacial tensions aboard Navy ships\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Cuban Missile Crisis from a sailor's view\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe transition from sailor to civilian life\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eTold in a direct, unapologetic voice, this memoir captures the grit, humor, and contradictions of Navy life in mid-20th-century America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor veterans, history readers, and anyone who has ever wondered what it was like to serve before modern technology changed warfare forever, Confessions of a Swabbie offers an unforgettable voyage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Meridian Book Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52160028901650,"sku":"9798295674136","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d29ad1b0-4251-46ec-9627-788e9f71b4e9.jpg?v=1775031604","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/confessions-of-a-swabbie-9798295674136","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}