John Donahue grew up in a Navy family, all over the United States. He joined the Naval Reserve in 1959, just before graduating high school, went to a military prep school, and then to the California Maritime Academy, a trade school for Merchant Marine officers, where he did NROTC, and activated his commission as an officer in the Reserves upon graduating in 1963. He got married, and three months later sailed for Vietnam on the first of two thee-month tours as the main propulsion assistant on the USS Zelima (AF-49), an auxiliary freeze ship that provided underway replenishment (UNREP) for Navy ships in the South China Sea. His next assignment with the USS Hoel (DDG-13), a guided missile destroyer, brought him back to the Gulf of Tonkin where the ship provided plane guard for the aircraft carriers and gunfire support to the Army and Marines in Vietnam. Donahue provides fascinating details of life at sea as a young officer. He describes how underway replenishment works, standing watch in 50-foot seas, overseeing boxing matches known as smokers, rescuing pilots, providing gunfire support, and refueling from tankers. He also discusses overhauling ships on land, and his work with the USS Midway Museum in San Diego.