Wednesday, January 24, 1968
In Port Pearl Harbor. Duty.
Original Logbook Page
From Mike's letter, 21 Jan 1968: "We have a calendar back here in the gun control room that we are keeping track of the days on. We figure the longest the cruise could last is 190 days (July 30). That seems like a long time but some day we will be able to look back on all the days as a lot of new experiences for most of us." [Letter]
Context: On 23 January 1968, USS Pueblo (AGER-2) was seized by North Korean forces in the Sea of Japan. One sailor (Fireman Duane D. Hodges) was killed; the 82 surviving crew were imprisoned and tortured for 11 months. The U.S. Navy responded with Operation Formation Star — the largest naval buildup around the Korean Peninsula since the Korean War — placing enormous strain on the Seventh Fleet just as it would be needed for the Tet Offensive. Jouett was in Pearl Harbor at the time.
From the Feb 18 Familygram: "On January 21, the green mountains of the island of Oahu welcomed us into Pearl Harbor. A visit to this Naval Base is a visit into history... Directly across from our berth stood the impressive Arizona Memorial, built on the sunken battleship, that is still a tomb to a thousand men, and still bleeds oil occasionally into the placid harbor." [Familygram]