Fletcher Destroyer Bluejacket is about service on one of the fastest, sleekest, and most heavily armed ships in the United States Navy. It is about a young boy from the Midwest who had never seen the ocean until he enlisted in the Navy after high school. His Boot training in San Diego and the remaining period of his four-year enlistment on sea duty aboard the USS McGowan left an indelible impression for the remainder of his life.

The author's period of service began five years after the end of World War II, as reserve fleet units were being activated to counter the Communist invasion of South Korea. The McGowan had been in the thick of the fighting against Japan in the South Pacific, and now she would see action in Korean waters, then participate in Destroyer Squadron 20's Around the World Cruise. Off Korea, she would be a part of the vast armada of Task Force 77, serving on shore bombardment assignments, radar picket and plane guard duty with many of the great ships of the Second World War, including cruisers, carriers, and the battleship Missouri.

But most of all, this book is about being a sailor.