Can I echo rotorgun's comments - to hear somebody's personal account of such an event is very moving and some how more real. In this modern age of 24 hour news - notice how most of us talk about watching something on the TV - we all get a little sanitised to the effects of such events. It is only when it becomes a personal account that it really strikes home - thank you Hooahguy for sharing that with us.

From my perspective, I am reminded of something my father talked about. He did National service in the Royal Navy in the late 1940's. Once he was trained all his group were assembled in a mess and split into 2 groups alphabeticaly. My dad's group were assigned to HMS Tyne - a destroyer depot ship in Harwich, so his national service was spent in home waters - he never even went to sea. The other group were assigned to HMS Amethyst - a frigate involved in the Yangtze Incident where quite a few sailors lost their lives - see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Amethyst_(F116)

So, on the strength of having a name begining with B he missed this deadly incident in the Cold War - and as that was before I was born, I am forever grateful for that alphabetic influence on my life.