"The war has be tough on many of us," Cleve responded, too disturbed to look directly at Frank, "Before I was transferred onto the Eldridge, I served on the USS Patterson. We participated in the Battle of Savo Island. We were the first ones to stumble upon the Japanese column. We went to full speed and fired our guns, damaging a Japanese cruiser. Then, someone fired a shell at us. It destroyed the stern and killed 10 people. I'm just glad I survived..."
Cleve decided against describing the carnage that occurred. The memories were already disturbing him.
"We've all seen carnage of one sort of another," Cleve continued, "Just be glad that you've still alive." Cleve patted Frank on the back. "Come to think of it, if it wasn't for this weird incident, I'd be dead right now."