We are in a bit of a crisis that has rolled gently over the Fire Ring. We have a book project that has rolled through the creative process, editing, production and distribution. It was satisfying, since the story was one we had promised to tell a very long time ago, and with the war that it started now complete in new confusion, we are confronted with the next production effort, one that accounts for the end of that one.

Seems simple, right? The book about the life and times of Admiral Mac Showers- “Cocktails With the Admiral” was an attempt to account for a life lived within that history. “Voyage to the CROSSROADS” was the story of a sailor ordered to steam a mighty warship to the 4th and 5thAtomic detonations created by the hand of man.

“Last Cruise of the Cold War” is another odd narrative. The intent at the time was to document what it was like to be part of a routine an regular thing: the deployment of a sea-going battle-force oriented around a maritime airfield capable of delivering the fires of hell to any enemy determined by Washington. While that particular deployment was in progress, one of the two world powers faltered and failed after forty-five years.

So, that naturally resulted in a search for a painting executed on black velvet of a handsome fellow with shimmering highlights. The “fellow” depicted in the painting was the King of Rock, Mr. Elvis Presley. It was our intent to use his dynamic visage as the unofficial symbol of the deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. Naturally, this made complete sense at the time, and now, with the singer dead and the mighty aircraft carrier scrapped and sunk, there may be some explanation required.

That is what called us away on a long search of some of the outbuildings at Refuge Farm. We do not know if the velvet portrait had survived its periodic presence on the podium at the forward edge of the USS Forrestal’s Mission Planning space. It was one of the few places for public yet private gatherings on the ship, and in deference to the protocols Elvis was periodically secured in bulkhead storage. But when the work was done to ensure that plans were made and approved, it was done under the gaze of The King of Rock and Roll.

It is possible the King is with us here at the property, still shrouded in cardboard and shipping paper from old Navy-sponsored household moves. In that regard, his presence is both transitory and symbolic. There is an opinion that the portrait came from Las Vegas, a drunken visit that was a small component of Air Wing training for CVW-6 on the vast ranges of the Nevada desert. Other claim the heritage is from the most famous Navy destination of its time, Olongapo City in the Republic of the Philippines.

We think, as a collective group including actual Veterans of that conflict, that it is possible the portrait came from an earlier deployment in Asia, and represents a more general sense of the global penetration of American culture in the American Century. It is also possible that it was something acquired in one of America’s most interesting destinations. If we can find the object here in some storage place on The Farm, it will signify the symbolism those sailors felt was appropriate in a long and endless struggle against an implacable and relentless foe.

It didn’t end up that way, of course. It turned out The King and his many buddies were more relentless and even stronger in their implacability whether they knew what the word meant or not. It would be incorrect to attribute the end of the Cold War to the power of a portrait. But our feeling, validated in sequential polls, suggests we may as well approach this account in that manner. You know. For accuracy.

Copyright 2022 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com