18-year-old Claude Bealer enlists in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War and brushes against death, sees the world and learns a lot along the way. Stationed aboard the U.S.S. Toledo, he masters the art of sleeping three inches from the ceiling, firing a 50mm gun and occasionally breaking curfew without catching hell for it. In Claude's words, he's glad for the experience but he "wouldn't want to do it again." Includes numerous pictures of the U.S.S. Toledo, fellow crewmates and snapshots of the Far East circa 1950.