On a winter night in 1990, everything went dark.
Off the coast of Haifa, in violent Mediterranean swells, a Navy liberty ferry vanished beneath the waves in seconds—taking twenty-one sailors with it. On the larger ferry nearby, one young sailor climbed out onto a four-inch ledge, gripped a brass rail, and pulled men from the freezing water one desperate handful at a time.
The Ledge is the true story of AZ3 Tim Culpepper, a twenty-year-old kid from Mississippi who suddenly found himself in the middle of one of the U.S. Navy’s deadliest peacetime disasters. In the chaos of the Mediterranean at night—illuminated only by emergency flares and the distant silhouette of the USS Saratoga—he fought to save as many shipmates as he could.
But the rescue was only the beginning. For decades after that night, Tim carried invisible wounds he didn’t understand—rage, sleeplessness, broken relationships, and memories shattered into fragments. Only years later would he learn the truth: he had survived the sea, but not the trauma.
What This Memoir Is About
The Ledge is a raw, honest, and deeply human account of courage, loss, and the long road to healing. It takes you from a cold December night off Haifa, through years in law enforcement and the oil field, into the office of a VA doctor who finally names what’s been wrong all along: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
This is a book for veterans, first responders, military families, and anyone who has ever wondered why “just getting over it” doesn’t work. It is a tribute to the twenty-one sailors who never made it home—and to the survivors who never stopped fighting their way back.
Who Should Read The Ledge?
• Veterans and active-duty service members carrying invisible wounds
• Families who want to better understand the people they love
• First responders and law enforcement officers living with trauma
• Readers who appreciate true stories of survival, resilience, and redemption
About the Author
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