Reminiscences of Capt. Herbert E. Hetu, USN (Ret.)

The son of a World War II Naval Reserve officer, Hetu served a year in 1948-49 as an enlisted man. He went through boot camp and then served as a hospital corpsman in Philadelphia. After graduating from John Carroll University, in 1952, he was commissioned that same year through Officer Candidate School. He served 1952-54 in the heavy cruiser Salem (CA-139) as a line officer and got into the public information field while on board. He then had duty in the Navy Office of Information in Washington. In 1956 Hetu augmented to the regular Navy and converted to the public information designator. He then had two tours in Pearl Harbor, in the information offices of the Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet and later in the Service Force Pacific Fleet. While in Hawaii he worked with the producers of the Hollywood movies The Enemy Below and South Pacific. His next duty, in 1959-60 in the Navy Liaison Office in Hollywood, involved work with movies and television programs. In the early 1960s he was again in Washington, in the Navy press office of the Defense Department and as head of Chinfo’s audio-visual branch. He had a liaison role with director Otto Preminger for the movie In Harm’s Way. Following postgraduate study in public relations at Boston University, he served 1965-66 with the Tenth Naval District in Puerto Rico. In the ensuing years he was public affairs officer for two CNOs, Admirals David McDonald and Thomas Moorer, and CinCUSNavEur, Admiral John McCain. In 1969 served in Seventh Fleet Det Charlie in South Vietnam. He then served 1970-74 as PAO for two Secretaries of the Navy, John Chafee and John Warner. Subsequently he did public affairs work for the U.S. Bicentennial Administration and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Paul Stillwell is an independent historian and retired naval officer. He worked for thirty years at the U.S. Naval Institute as an oral historian and editor of Naval History magazine. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including four on battleships and an award-winning volume on the Navy’s first African American officers, The Golden Thirteen. His 2021 book Battleship Commander: The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. also received acclaim. He lives in Arnold, Maryland.