Thirty years after their experience in the U.S. Navy the authors decided to write a fictitious tale that paralleled their shared episodes during those troubled times.
Since those troubled times, Holden has retired from the Navy (after a career that spanned a little over four years) with his very understanding and lovely wife, Chris. He was lucky enough to have two tolerant daughters and three grandchildren; they all keep him busy and out of jail. He also receives support from two renegade dogs, an old horse, and a stray cat. He has developed an unnatural obsession with old International trucks (that he has tucked away in various places around his house and scattered throughout the state of Wisconsin) and fishing. During times of leisure you can find him in one of his old trucks, with one of his trusty dogs by his side, lugging behind him his old aluminum boat in search of the next lake to fish (in the winter he has to cut holes in the ice to do this). At other times you may find him with family, friends, or complete strangers in one of the local disreputable establishments watching the weather channel and swapping tall tales of a time past.
Ross too has been involved in the raising of a family and considers his children to be his personal heroes, and his grandchildren to be works of art in motion. Most recently, he has occupied his time horticulturing, spearing fish, saluting his neighbor (with the middle finger), and otherwise living an abnormal life, avoiding starched shirts while supporting the workers of the beer brewing industry. Although there are instances of clarity, he has found his life of fiction to be extremely stimulating and fun (and, actually, perhaps closer to reality than he cares to admit). In some of his spare time when he is not making wine, drinking wine, or otherwise engaged in the growing of those ingredients necessary for the making of wine, he fishes the warm waters of the Florida Keys with his beautiful and charming wife, Susan. He also is guilty of the telling of tall tales to anyone he can get cornered (and he corners many).
From the beginning, the lives of these two men have pretty much mirrored each others, even though they hail from different places in our country. There are two things they have in common and hold close to their spirit, one is that they are both shameless storytellers (liars) and, two, is their friendship that has been on going from 1970 to the present.
Chapter 20: The Heavy Chevy
It was mid August, the air was laden with that soaking South Carolina humidity, and it was hot. Andy had pissed Maloni off the night before. It was a cruel joke, but Andy could be impulsive, and when he was, it usually had negative consequences for someone. They had been in a little bar on the strip slugging down the cheap brew mixture of Schlitz and Ripple when the Shore Patrol made their swaggering stroll through the bar. They were always present, ducking in and out of local establishments, ensuring that all sailors were good customers and better gentlemen. As the SPs exited, Andy, in his best Irish accent, couldn't resist. The door was still open so the SPs heard it all, "Aye mates, hows about puttin' a sweet kiss on' me wank here?"
The two SPs were back in the bar so fast it surprised the holy shit out of Andy. The bar became silent, you could hear the foam...