I heard a loud noise up in the front of the boat. They had heard about the surrender, and word spread throughout the boat. Nurses were jumping up and down, and hugging and kissing us. It was nice.

We were not saying nothing.

Right then I realized what this mission was about. There was the mushroom cloud and miles and miles of glare. We were all amazed.

Ruth was my girlfriend's name at the time.

I got drunk that night in Honolulu, and we had some celebration. I went to the nearest joint I could find. Soldiers and sailors paid for nothing. Civilians paid for everything, picked up all our tabs. They loved us. The town was ours.

Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.