ALL ETERNITY LIES BEFORE ME

In this memoir, Gibbons tells the story of how her husband and other Navy servicepeople faced an emergency when their plane hit a storm off the Soviet coast.

This book presents a detailed retelling of the journey of Navy Alfa Foxtrot 586’s final flight in 1978. The crew was given an intelligence-gathering mission to fly from Adak, Alaska, over international waters “along [a] predefined track that is designed to be far enough out to sea to remain in international airspace, yet close enough to trigger a Soviet response.” The crew also added a last-minute extra navigator, who, as it turned out, had spent the night drinking beer; he was deemed to be safe for duty (following the Navy’s 12-hour “bottle-to-throttle rule”). Gibbons’ play-by-play of the events of the mission tells of the 13 crewmembers and two guests as the plane hit a storm, and the group leapt into survival mode. The book also specifically offers the first-person recollections of the author herself, who was the wife of mission commander Lt. Cmdr. Jerry Grigsby. After the terrible events unfolded, her story is one of a relatable middle-class suburban life in California turned upside down: “One side of the backyard has a play area for the girls where Jerry had built a playhouse with a Dutch door….Everything, it seems, brings back a memory of Jerry.” The text includes a glossary of naval terms and a collection of pictures of Navy Alfa Foxtrot 586’s crewmembers, their families, and tributes to their service. The narrative, which draws on accounts of relatives of the servicepeople involved, is well-paced and effectively presents enough details to give readers context while avoiding excessive military jargon. It’s a notably emotional story, as well, in how it makes the servicepeople’s loved ones a key element of the story. Unlike many books about military operations gone wrong, this book goes far beyond the initial tragedy to tackle the realities of people grappling with grief and loss. A helpful bibliography is also included, featuring citations and links.

An often-affecting account of a naval tragedy and its aftermath.