April 17, 1961 Captain’s Log:

It was two days since my last entry. I looked up at the darkness. A gray fog hung in the sky. That fog was almost invisible near us. It was growing rapidly, and once it reached the USS Constant an invasion force of unparalleled proportions just might come through and war would begin. At that moment, my ship and its crew was the only thing that stood in its way.

I looked at the ocean briefly and thought about my watery grave. If we cannot make a powerful enough stand, the world as we know it would be doomed.

The gray fog was menacing, but I didn’t take my eyes off of it. Crazy to think about it, but it somehow seemed out of place here, as if the gray fog was incomplete.

We locked in our torpedoes and resumed our position. The salt air was burning my eyes, but I still held my gaze. Lock and load burned through my mind. Lock and load didn’t make me feel at all at ease, but it was a start.

My second in command stood next to me. He swallowed hard and I saw the fear return to his face, if only for a moment. I take nothing away from him. I understood and somehow he knew that.

I finally understood how those countries felt back in the 1940s, facing the invading German army.

Insignificant…