An Ocean of Courage and Fear

Onboard the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City, Lieutenant Commander Justin Collier is out to sea when Japan attacks the United States. Upon his return to Honolulu, the gravity of the war begins to change him, as does every subsequent mission, including a rare beach landing with an Army infantry division. He fears his wounds of war, both physical and mental, will be incurable.

Meanwhile, on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, volunteer nurse Heidi Collier feels overwhelmed by the number of casualties. She watched the bombing as she huddled with her two children in front of their home, hoping that her husband aboard the USS Salt Lake City was safe.

Lieutenant Riley Bracken feels the sudden g-force of his catapult-launched observation floatplane with each harrowing mission. Alerting the USS Salt Lake City of enemy ships gives him purpose, which is why no one can know about his recent bouts of vertigo. He can’t risk losing what he loves most.

Fifteen-year-old Al Jowdy lied about his age in order to join the Navy. Whatever he believed Navy life would be was shot out of the water—twice—when his ships were torpedoed. Now aboard the Salt Lake City, he hopes his luck hasn’t run out.

An Ocean of Courage and Fear reveals the harrowing, true, never-before-told events that surrounded the crew of the USS Salt Lake City as they endured all the major action in the Pacific War.