In 1988, the Navy frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts was tasked with escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf. Iraq and Iran were at war, a conflict often referred to as the "Tanker War." It was not Quartermaster Danny Nicholson's first deployment to the Persian Gulf, but it was, along with his 214 shipmates, a truly unforgettable voyage as he and the crew of the Roberts were put to the ultimate test when they found themselves deep in the middle of a minefield. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with the now Master Chief at a VFW in Portland, Maine to listen to what happened when the Roberts hit an Iranian M08 mine and blew a twenty foot hole in the bottom of the ship. However, the story is less about the mine and more about how 215 shipmates came together in a moment of crisis, fought as a team and survived.