ABSTRACT
Complaints against the navy from Newport ministers and Rhode Island leaders stimulated significant reaction, largely because of the way they had been treated on the stand; the testimony of men in Section A was also eagerly anticipated. Only they could reveal how the government's secret vice squad had operated. Hudson, Arnold, and the other officers and enlisted men who participated in the investigation could clear up remaining questions about who had authorized their work and who had known how much about procedures. Of still greater interest, especially to those seeking titillation, would be appearances by sailors who had moved through the streets, alleys, and bedrooms of Newport seeking gay sex. What kind of men would have participated in such activities? How would they defend their actions, and how much of what they had done would be revealed?
