Once A Welder

When I was an apprentice at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1972, old timers used to say they worked during an era of wooden ships and iron men. They were exaggerating, but it was a point well taken.

Shipyard work is dangerous. In twenty years on the waterfront I saw two men killed, one lose an eye, and others maimed. Working in such an environment formed a brotherhood. We were proud of the work we did. Every ship that went out to sea after an overhaul was a source of pride.

Once A Welder is a blue-collar story that captures the dangers, accomplishments, and pride of shipbuilders who worked the Philadelphia waterfront. The story puts the reader in the bowels of an aircraft carrier where boilers are preheated to 400 degrees before welders begin their work, where invisible combustable gases explode, and where two-ton loads break loose from cranes and crush workers who have families.

It’s not like shipyard work is the only dangerous profession. There are thousands of men and women in dangerous jobs around the world who risk their lives every day. They deserve to be saluted by anyone who drives over a bridge, is a passenger in an airplane, ship, train, or bus, or anyone who rides an elevator to the top floor of a hotel or office building.

Once A Welder is a conspiracy thriller, but it is also a tribute to all the men and women who work dangerous jobs.

Jim Brennan