Legacy

When Difficult Times Come

By Karl C. Priest August 2025

I served on one of two of the most important ships in the Navy during the Cold War. The Navy called the two ships “Command Communication” ships. Some historical articles called them “Floating White Houses.” There are lots of facts about the ships in the article, “Ghosts of the East Coast: Doomsday Ships”.

If Russia had launched a nuclear attack, there were some options for the president and Joint Chiefs to survive. During the height of the Cold War (late 1960s) the two command ships were the best option. The strategy was to have the two ships alternate two-week periods of alert status. The alert ship would be at sea somewhere off the East Coast.

It was a typical January day (in 1968) when my ship left port in Norfolk for our two-week alert status. The date was January 23. We were scheduled to be at sea for seven days and then pull into Fort Lauderdale for a few hours of liberty (time on shore). I REALLY wanted to get that time away from the ship.

The days were long with 12 or 16 hours of very hard work. I was the galley Deep Sink which and scrubbed pots and pans for the crew. (See “Number One Deep Sink”.) There were no windows and I rarely got to see the sky.

On January 30, I managed to sneak out on the catwalk. It was a beautiful day. As soon as I got on the catwalk a Deck Force guy said, “We are heading north.” I was stunned! We were too far out to see the shore, so he was going by the sun’s position. I hoped he was wrong.

He was right!

My mom and dad kept all of my letters. On January 30 I wrote a letter (at 9:30 PM) that said in part):

Dear Mom & Dad,

Well we got about 160 miles on the way to Florida and then got called back. It had something to do with the situation in Korea and, you know, we have to stay clost (sic) to the president. On the way back we hit top speed…

Until Tuesday we’ll just cruise around and around a few miles off the coast. That’s seven days from today. I don’t like it but there’s nothing I can do about it.

For the next seven days the Petty Officers were harsh, the chow lines were slow, and the showers were a long way from the berthing area and the water was cold by the time I got there. The racks (bunks) were in a small space with about twelve guys. The racks were hanging on chains three high, about two feet apart and the mattresses were thin. The ship rocked often and it was not like a rocking cradle.

When we pulled into the navy base at Norfolk, on February 7, I had had it!

BUT.

January 23 (The day we left port.) was when the USS Pueblo was captured by the North Korean communists. One of the crew of 83 was killed and the others were starved and tortured for eleven months. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pueblo_(AGER-2)

On January 30 (The date of my letter.) the Tet Offensive was launched by the North Vietnam communists. During the first two days, of those vicious attacks, over 250 American soldiers were killed. By the time it was over (nine months later), over 2000 American soldiers had been killed. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive)

My “suffering” did not remotely compare to what those guys experienced.

Later, after becoming a Christian, I became aware of a Bible verse that applies to my “difficult times.” Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Philippians 2:4

When you are going through difficult periods in your life, you should think about (look upon) what others are experiencing.

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