I got a message from a retired Navy E-8 this evening. I have gotten quite a few notes from vets who have appreciated my efforts, and even from some intel guys who had either served with federal agencies or in the military before, and I had much appreciated their thoughtful comments and kind words.
But this one blew me away.
I am enjoying your Swarm story, particularly your rat-pack crew on the Oxford. I was surprised to read your description of the vessel and it's class AGTR. I had the pleasure of serving aboard the USS Liberty AGTT-5 from 1964 til 1967.
I enjoy stories such as your's about ELINT operations. Your story is one of the few which is believable to me. Keep up the good work; post at your own speed.
If you look up what happened to the USS Liberty on June 8th of 1967, you'll understand why I was so blown away by this note.
As "The History Guy" likes to say, "this is history worth remembering." Unfortunately, much of what these guys did to protect us, and YES, THEY DAMNED WELL DID, is classified and we will never know in our lifetimes nearly all of it.
One of my motivations has been to help bring this hardly ever acknowledged endeavor into more mainstream understanding, as much as one can in an SOL story. It was also to honor the men who labored under such difficult and dangerous conditions who then couldn't talk to even their families about what they'd done.
To have one of those men, who had actually been where those sacrifices were made, take the time to thank me is overwhelming.
I just hope I was not the first one who had ever shown him that what he and his fellow warriors had done was so worth honoring. Men like these should hear that every day.
Senior Chief, Victoria!