I passed a typing test and became a member of the staff of Rear Adm. Newton.

Chicago's buoy was a couple of hundred yards astern of Arizona, and I was saddened to look at her.

Another nice thing was that I would type out letters home for the admiral's stewards. They would then feed me the same food the admiral ate.

A chief petty officer taught me shorthand, which got me promoted to yeoman first class.

The good news was that Enterprise and the newly arrived Yorktown had attacked the Marshall and Gilbert islands. Those attacks had a great effect on morale.

Our task force put to sea in early January 1942, to attack the Japanese in the Marshall and Gilbert islands, but the mission was called off on the eve of the attack.

The Japanese invaded Tulagi, in the Solomon Islands, on May 4.

If it's free, it's advice; if you pay for it, it's counseling; if you can use either one, it's a miracle.

We made air attacks on the Japanese anchorage, sinking and damaging several vessels. However, the Japanese were alerted to the fact that American carriers were nearby.

My observations of Japanese naval fighting men, their abilities and equipment led me to believe that they gave a better account of themselves than we did.

After the Battle of Midway there was a week in a rest camp at Pearl Harbor.

Life is like yoga

I'd run. But maybe you can't run. Think of that, too.' His yellow eyes seemed to look inward, and he sounded tired. 'Sometimes you can't run.

They lie, you know. It's not easier to ask for forgiveness. Not even a little.

What a writer has to do is write what hasn't been written before or beat dead men at what they have done.

Common sense has become an uncommon virtue.

People are as healthy and confident as the stories they tell themselves.

Over the years I have tried to develop something which is technically assured.

At the center of the religious life is a peculiar kind of joy, the prospect of a happy ending that blossoms from necessarily painful ordeals, the promise of human difficulties embraced and overcome.

A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.

Before a cat will condescend to treat you as a trusted friend, some little token of esteem is needed, like a dish of cream.