Midway Magic

Midway Mystery Solved After Three Decades

As the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the 20th Century, the USS Midway has many secrets and hidden treasures that are still being uncovered today. In short order, they came up with their first lead.

“Steven James Cosby visited the library and filled out a former Midway crewmember sheet,” said Bonnie Brown, one of Midway’s lead librarians who found his name in the crew file. “Unfortunately, he didn’t leave an email address or phone number.

While working in some ramshackle offices that were once used by the staff of Midway’s battle group commander, members of the museum’s restoration team found an old safe that hadn’t been touch in nearly 30 years. As they pried open the safe’s door, they revealed a handwritten note on the inside that had gone unseen for most of the last three decades.

“It was a fun find,” said Midway’s chief engineer, Len Santiago. “While tracing some low-pressure air lines, we discovered a special message written on the inside of the safe’s door.”

It read, “SN Cosby was here from Nov. 17, 1989 to

(Aug-April) 1992. Boy it was hell! But I guess I will miss this old rust bucket!”

But who was SN Cosby? The investigation began.

Midway’s research library team jumped on the case and immediately began digging through old cruise books and reviewing its ever-growing database of former crewmembers. The pursuit continued. Troy Prince, another of Midway research librarians, went fishing by posting a series of messages on several Midway-related social media sites. Within a few days, contact had been made. Cosby was astonished.

A Norwalk, Calif. native, Cosby joined the Navy directly out of high school and arrived on Midway shortly before the start of Operation Desert Storm. He stayed with the ship from the war, through its decommissioning and ultimately to her transfer to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility’s ghost fleet at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash. in 1992.

“I don’t even remember doing it,” said Cosby, who currently works for the U.S. Army’s Aviation Supply Command Los Alamitos. “I guess I wanted to leave something behind, a piece of me. I think a part of me was going to miss the Midway and experiences that I had on board.”

While the search for Cosby was underway, his photo was found in the ship’s 1989-1990 cruise book, which listed him as airman working in Midway’s air department. However, the note he left inside the safe in 1992 indicated that he was a seaman.

SN Cosby on Midway 1990

“We worked really hard moving aircraft around,” said Cosby, who, as an airman, was initially assigned to Midway’s V-3 hangar-deck division.

He told me that they were short-handed and could use the help. I started going there on my time off. I got to know everyone and they suggested that I transfer.”

Shortly after transferring, Cosby passed his exam and went from an airman to a seaman postal clerk.

“I started out by sorting the mail,” said Cosby, who lives in Stanton, Calif. “I would wait for the C-2 Greyhound cargo plane to land and offload the mail. I would hold mail call every day.”

Although he doesn’t recall scribbling the note, he reflected on why he wrote “boy it was hell” and “I will miss this old rust bucket” on the door of the safe.

“I think that I was referring the hard work and jobs that we all had to endure during our time there, and the Desert Storm war had most of us working 12 to 16-hours shifts,” said Cosby. “But I made many friends and we all went through the same things together. We built strong bonds of brotherhood on sweat and tears. We would die for one another if we had to. We would die for Midway.”

After nearly three decades, Cosby still has fond memories of his time on Midway and stays in contact with many of his former shipmates. In fact, it was one of his old Midway buddies that let him know the museum’s library staff was trying to find him. His greatest treasure, however, from his time on Midway is still with him today.

“I met my wife of 30 years in Yokosuka, Japan, which was Midway’s homeport from 1973 to 1992,” said Cosby, who has visited Midway twice since it became a floating naval ship museum. “I am very proud to have Steven Cosby with son Steven Jr. today been part of the Midway Magic and her crew. I am forever grateful to the United States Navy and its leadership for transforming meinto the man I am today.”

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