The Captain gave permission for the crew (and us Middies) to use the helicopter flight deck as a relaxation area and allowed use of the ship's stereo system from the wardroom to play music. Either the ship or the crew had a very good selection of Moody Blues albums .. Days of Future Past, In Search of the Lost Chord, On the Threshold of a Dream, A Question of Balance, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and Seventh Sojourn .. and they played every single one of them that night.
All of the ship's external lights .. except for those required for navigation .. were turned off. Blackness except for the wake and the clear sky just overwhelmed with stars. General silence except for the music. All of the music was just so right for that situation that it gave me goosebumps. "For My Lady" from Seventh Sojourn, was appropriate .. "My boat sails lonely seas, battles oceans filled with tears ..". The guitar and bass intro to "The Story in Your Eyes" just blew me away. And "Nights in White Satin" almost brought me to tears.
Laying flat on my back on the flight deck, gazing up at the Milky Way, listening to The Moody Blues ... it was an experience that I will never forget.
Mellow head trips of midshipmen on a USS warship in the Viet Nam era, who would have thought? /s
great story!!!