Steel Beach: My Life as a Naval Aircrewman 1972-1976

Inkwater Press 2007


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Steel Beach tells the story of Jeff’s years as a naval aircrewman from 1972 to 1976. Homeported in San Diego, California, he deployed on two Western Pacific cruises, known as WestPacs. His deployments took him to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, South China Sea, Gulf of Tonkin, Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea. Sailing halfway around the globe, with six crossings of the equator, an aircraft carrier was his home for months at a time. Ports of call included Manila, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Mombasa, Kenya. A squadron detachment including Jeff’s crew flew into Bandar Abbas, Iran, on a diplomatic mission.

With over 300 SAR, ASW, medevac and logistics missions in the Sikorsky SH-3 helicopter, his experiences enriched his life and changed it forever.

The bulk of Steel Beach was written from memory. In addition Jeff had memorabilia such as quarterly marks, squadron and carrier newsletters, portions of his service records, and all of the certificates issued to him as reference material. But perhaps most valuable to the story were all of his letters home, saved by his mother and not discovered until after her death.The letters formed the soul of his story-writing process, serving as a window back in time to his state of mind and where he may have been at sea or in port. Between the letters and military records he was able to reconstruct an accurate time-line.

Our memories are our truths, unique in their vividness, their imperfections, and their beauty. Steel Beach is Jeff’s memory, his truth. This is what makes Steel Beach his story.

 

You can read more information: www.SteelBeachhtheBook.com

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Finalist in the Oregon Book Awards for creative nonfiction.
http://www.literary-arts.org/


Press release from Inkwater Press
Inkwater Author .pdf








Jeff is a member of:
Vietnam Veterans of America www.vva.org
Vietnam Helicopter Crew Members Association www.vhcma.org/
Disabled American Veterans www.dav.org/

photo by Steve Lambert                         

Current News

January 2010
Jeff has been asked to be the guest speaker at a cancer survivor celebration in Modesto, California, this summer June 15th.
November 2009
Jeff is the featured cancer survivor in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Horizons newsletter, Volume 6, Number 3. Contact Jeff for a free print copy, a limited number are available.
March 2009
Jeff's interview about his Sea King helicopter adventures with aviation historian and journalist Tamas Szorad has been published in the March, 2009 issue of the European aviation periodical Aeromagazin of Budapest, Hungary.
February 2009
Jeff's short story The Warrior's Song was published in Perceptions, Mt Hood Community College's magazine of the arts this spring. (http://www.mhcc.edu/pages/1516.asp)
May 2008
Steel Beach has been selected by a Florida High School history class as literature of the Vietnam War era.
April 2008
Latest manuscript- Planet Chemo completed and submitted to agents and publishers.
December 2, 2007
Finalist in the Oregon Book Awards for creative nonfiction. Literary Arts
April 2007
Published release of Steel Beach
(Inkwater Press ).

Contact information

Street: 3110 N.W. Taylor Avenue
City/State: Corvallis, OR 97330
Phone: 541-754-7645
E-mail: jeffmanthos@sprintmail.com