Interview with Navy veteran Melvin R. "Pancho" Baird. It includes a combination of interviewing and reading from Baird's personal correspondence about his pre-World War II experiences with the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and his later experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Baird talks about his stationing aboard the destroyer USS Alden as a radioman, the grounding of the SS President Hoover off of Hoishito Island, the Sino-Japanese War, liberty ashore various Asian port cities, events on the South China Patrol, civilian activities after his discharge, activities as a radio technician on Blue Beach during the Okinawan Campaign, kamikaze actions on Okinawa, and typical shipboard routine.

Tensions in the Taiwan Straits are prompting American policymakers to consider a range of measures that would demonstrate U.S. interests in Taiwan's security. President Clinton has ordered two U.S. carrier battle groups into the South China Sea, and Congress is considering legislation that would more forcefully express U.S. defense commitments to Taiwan.