When John Cahill graduated from high school, college was not an option for him. He knew that meant he would soon be drafted. So he decided to enlist, and his U.S. Army veteran father convinced him to join the Navy. Cahill was soon disappointed that all of his preferred assignments were rejected. He would be working as a bolilerman aboard the destroyer USS Buck.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Cahill offers an unvarnished and entertaining look at his time aboard the Buck, from the painful initiation rituals to the duties of the boilermen. He also tells what it was like when the big guns were blazing off his own ship and nearby battleshipa dn the larger mission the Buck had in the waters off Vietnam.