The Luck of the Draw

A US Navy captain offers a no-holds-barred account of his service on the USS Pollack in the Pacific during World War II. A coin flip likely saved the life of Kenneth C. Ruiz. It was August 1942, and he was fresh out of the US Naval Academy. He and a classmate flipped a coin to see who would stand watch on the bridge of their heavy cruiser, the USS Vincennes , off Savo Island as the Marines were landing on Guadalcanal. Ruiz was on the bridge when the ship took a direct hit and sank. He ended up i