Chapter 1: How My Shipmates Died at Sea Summary and Analysis

On February 22nd, the crew was preparing to return to Colombia. The men had been in Mobile, Alabama, for eight months, repairing electronic equipment and the gunner for the "Caldas." On leave, they took their girls to the movies, drank, and sometimes started fights. Luis Alejandro Velasco had met his girlfriend, Mary Address, through another crew member's girlfriend. One night Luis and the guys took in the movie, "The Caine Mutiny." The thing that struck Luis and the other sailors the most was the terrible storm depicted in the movie. They all agreed that the mutineers did the right thing by taking over and changing course.

The movie made Luis feel uneasy. In the two years since he enlisted in the Navy he had never felt any anxiety about...