According to Fluckey, the crewman never left the base. In order that his wife, Marjorie, not be concerned about her husband's risks during combat submarine patrols, Gene Fluckey constructed an elaborate ruse by writing a number of letters home dated across the dates he was to on patrol. He had a friend stationed at Pearl Harbor send each letter at the appropriate time describing his frustrations with the service and the inability to get his boat seaworthy. Unfortunately for Commander Fluckey, his successes during these early patrols did not go unnoticed. His wife, Marjorie, while attending the monthly meeting of the Naval Academy Garden Club, learned that her husband had just been approved for the Navy Cross and was in line for a second Navy Cross.
Fear is a natural characteristic of all living creatures, necessary for self-preservation.
As experience teaches, the subconscious almost automatically weighs the odds. As each snuggled close, dancing with me, my heart did flip-flops. I knew four others were widows, but they had not yet been notified. Already over half my submarine school classmates were buried in steel coffins at the bottom of the ocean. The horrors those women had yet to face brought tears to my eyes as they danced with their eyes closed, dreaming of dancing with their husbands.