Opinion

At sea close to Russia at time was unnerving

Posted November 18, 2013 4:00 am

My ship (USCGC Northwind) was in the western Bering Sea off the coast of Russia when late in the afternoon the rumor went around that the president had been shot. Our HAM radio operators heard it on the single side band from a stateside operator. We had about an hour before the captain received the official word and made the announcement on the sound system. Tears ran down many a cheek.

Our news came through the Armed Services News via radio Teletype, and the crew’s bulletin board got a mimeographed one pager late that night. By the time we got the “official” word, Johnson had been sworn in and was on the way to D.C.

We were sad for the Kennedys and concerned that the Russians would do something. Wasn’t as bad as the Cuban Missile Crisis, when we were in the same area, but we were on their doorstep and they didn’t like it.

Gerald Gagnon

Lake Zurich

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