Two rare Navy service books — spanning a full career at sea — digitized page by page, delivered as interactive digital books a family can flip through forever.
Some books can't be replaced. They're not on a shelf at the library or available on Amazon. They're one-of-a-kind records of a life lived — handwritten logs, official documents, crew rosters, and the kind of detail that only exists in one place.
James Stockman Jr. brought Beyond Me two such books from his Navy career: records from the USS Vella Gulf (CG-72) and an RTC training manual. These weren't coffee-table books. They were working documents — dense, detailed, and irreplaceable. The pages were aging. The binding was fragile. And the information inside mattered deeply to the Stockman family.
The goal: preserve every page at archival quality before time took its toll, and make the result something the family could actually use — not just store.
Each book was handled with care from intake through final delivery — scanned page by page at high resolution, processed for clarity, and assembled into a digital format that preserves the experience of the original.
Both books examined for binding integrity, page condition, and any areas requiring special handling during scanning.
Every page scanned individually at high resolution. TIFF masters archived for long-term preservation. Web-quality JPEGs exported for viewing.
Full OCR processing creates a searchable PDF-A — find any name, date, or detail across 200+ pages instantly.
Delivered to the Beyond Me book viewer — a flipbook experience with page-turn animation, thumbnail navigation, and PDF download.
The Beyond Me book viewer recreates the feel of holding the original — a full-screen, page-turning experience built for every device. No downloads, no plugins. Just open the book and read.
My work with R.T. and BeyondMe.com has been an outstanding experience from day one! I wanted to archive my U.S. Navy Boot Camp book, as well as my Operation Enduring Freedom Cruise Book to a place where the memories, and legacy would live forever! BeyondMe.com afforded me that opportunity.
From the very beginning, their team worked step-by-step with me, demonstrating a true commitment to the project's success and ensuring a seamless adoption of their new technology and features. From onboarding, personalized training, responsive support, their commitment to my Security, and most importantly, valuing my feedback. I could not be happier. I also like the fact that I can preserve military photos in the application and websites database.
My journey with BeyondMe.com has been a true partnership. Their professional, supportive, and client-focused approach has been exceptional. I would highly recommend them to any individual or organization looking for a company that is genuinely invested in their clients' success.
Mr. Stockman's Navy records now live in his personal Beyond Me archive — permanently preserved, instantly accessible, and presented in a way that honors the original format. Open the book viewer and it feels like holding the real thing: pages turn, details are sharp enough to read every line, and the searchable PDF means any name or date is just a keystroke away.
"These books are the kind of thing you can't get back once they're gone. Now they don't have to be."— Beyond Me
The archival TIFFs sit in cold storage as a permanent master record. The family has the web versions for daily access. And the originals? Returned safely, having never left professional hands.
104 pages · Searchable PDF · Interactive book viewer
110 pages · Searchable PDF · Interactive book viewer
Full-resolution TIFF scans in cold storage for permanent preservation