FReeper Canteen ~ National Maritime Day (May 22) ~ 21 May 2015

Serving The Best Troops and Veterans In The World !! | The Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~

~ National Maritime Day (May 22nd) ~

STEAMSHIP SAVANNAH - 1819

On May 22, 1819, the SS Savannah left its home port of Savannah, Georgia on its way to Liverpool, England. The ship "put to sea with steam and sails" and reached Liverpool in 29 days and four hours, becoming the first steamship to cross the Atlantic. While the steam engine performed faultlessly, it was not the only means of propulsion; historians have estimated that the Savannah was under sail 80% of the time. Nonetheless, it was an impressive achievement, one that signaled the beginning of the era of steam, and American technological leadership. The holiday was created by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933.

Canteen Mission Statement

Showing support and boosting the morale of
our military and our allies military
and family members of the above.
Honoring those who have served before.

UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA), established in 1943, is operated by the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The mission of the Academy, located on 82-waterfront acres 20 miles from New York City, is to educate and graduate officers and leaders of honor and integrity to serve in America's merchant marine, maritime and intermodal transportation industries, and the Armed Forces.

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US MERCHANT MARINE IN VIETNAM

In February 1951 the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) aircraft carrier Windham Bay, was the first large ship to navigate the Long Tam River since 1925. While the ship was docked at Saigon (French Indochina) 17 hand grenades were tossed at the ship by terrorists.

The Military Sea Transportation Service was established in 1949 to provide sea transportation to the military as a successor to the Army Transportation Service. MSTS operated a fleet of ships and had charter agreements with commercial shipping firms. MSTS was succeeded by Military Sealift Command.

In 1954, after the partitioning of Vietnam, MSTS evacuated Vietnamese refugees from North to South Vietnam. USNS Howze was one of many MSTS ships involved in "Passage to Freedom" bringing 300,000 refugees and 200,000 tons of Cargo from North Vietnam. [Your webmistress arrived in the United States in 1949 on the USAT General R. L. Howze as a refugee of World War II.]

The Military Sea Transportation Service had the job of bringing war supplies to Vietnam -- 10,000 miles from the Pacific coast. MSTS had four separate customers to serve: the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. MSTS ships were staffed by "civilian" crews, but carried 95% of the supplies used by our Armed Forces in Vietnam including bombs and ammunition into combat zones under fire. Crew members were given Navy grades and rank identification in event of enemy capture. During Vietnam, MSTS first utilized roll-on/roll-off ships and container ships which speeded loading and unloading.

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US MERCHANT MARINE IN WORLD WAR II

One way to understand the Second World War is to appreciate the critical role of merchant shipping... the availability or non-availability of merchant shipping determined what the Allies could or could not do militarily.... when sinkings of Allied merchant vessels exceeded production, when slow turnarounds, convoy delays, roundabout routing, and long voyages taxed transport severely, or when the cross-Channel invasion planned for 1942 had to be postponed for many months for reasons which included insufficient shipping.

Had these ships not been produced, the war would have been in all likelihood prolonged many months, if not years. Some argue the Allies would have lost as there would not have existed the means to carry the personnel, supplies, and equipment needed by the combined Allies to defeat the Axis powers. [It took 7 to 15 tons of supplies to support one soldier for one year.] The U.S. wartime merchant fleet. . . constituted one of the most significant contributions made by any nation to the eventual winning of the Second World War.

In the final assessment, the huge US merchant fleet... provided critical logistical support to the war effort.

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In spite of their service and their sacrifices, merchant mariners were not accorded veterans' benefits, and for many years were excluded from celebrations of Veterans' Day, Memorial Day, and other days recognizing members of the Armed Forces. One merchant marine veteran who felt the exclusion very keenly was Walter Oates, who became Public Affairs Officer at the Maritime Administration. The Maritime Administration is the successor agency to the War Shipping Administration, which oversaw the shipbuilding and merchant marine operations in World War II. Mr. Oates was a wartime graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, the only one of the federal service academies to send its students into war before graduation. One hundred forty-two of those students were killed in the war, and one of them had been Mr. Oates's roommate.

In 1970, at the instigation of Mr. Oates, the Maritime Administration sponsored an observance of Maritime Day, a solemn ceremony honoring veterans of the merchant marine, and those who gave their lives in service to the United States. That observance has been held every year since then.

After a long court battle, merchant marine veterans were accorded some rights and privileges of veterans on January 19, 1988. Ten years after that, in 1998, in recognizing veterans from the Persian Gulf War, Congress included more rights and privileges for veterans of the merchant marine. The U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated in 1987, integrates recognition of the U.S. Merchant Marine. At the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., in 2004, Maritime Administrator William G. Schubert represented the merchant marine as chief of service.

Please remember that The Canteen is here to support
and entertain our troops and veterans and their families,
and is family friendly.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, Mayor, and thank you for today’s sustenance for body and soul.

Glad you are enjoying spring weather.

[SandRat]

Why Did The NS Savannah Fail? Can She Really be Called a Failure? http://atomicinsights.com/cover-story-why-did-savannah-fail/

[ConorMacNessa]

Good evening, Sandy! She did not fail - she was anathematized by the same cadre of eco-freaks who bear responsibility for toilets that don't work, for the havoc wrought by the fight to save the snail darter and for the policies that gave us the California drought.

"I am an American fighting man. I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life.
I am prepared to give my life in their defense."

[SandRat]

[yarddog]

My old Sunday School teacher, Bulon Senterfitt was a merchant marine in WWII. He was quite a character. He once told me that he had a ring which he had been trying to get off his finger for several weeks.

He went to sleep on a park bench in Manilla and when he awoke the ring was gone (I suspect he was drunk). He was also a professional fighter and a good one. I know he boxed in Madison Square Garden more than once.

Several people claimed he was punch drunk but Daddy knew him when he was a kid and said he was the same way then.

[mylife]

I know everyone on FR declares Anthony Bourdain to be an Uber Liberal and ther is no doubt he has Liberal as well as conservative leanings, but how Conservative is this?

“I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one’s own ass, cross the street by oneself, or be trusted with money.”

I taught my child the same way.

More from Bourdain:

“Don’t lie about it. You made a mistake. Admit it and move on. Just don’t do it again. Ever”

“What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?”

[mylife]

“We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated, members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub Scout parts.”

[SandRat]

In 1871. TUCSON, ARIZONNA,was the heat of the Wild West, and boasted 1,000 people, two doctorsm a newspaper, a brewery aseveral saloon,-———but just one bathtub,

[mylife]

Took the boy to St Elmo in Bisbey (for the history of it) where they promptly pointed to a sign that stated “unattended children will be sold into slavery”

Rough neighborhood LOL

[SandRat]

EARNING!

Childrn exposed to reading may become curious,
INDEPENDENT or even develop an IMAGINATION full
of wonder. In some cases children may get lost in a
book, reading quietly for hours. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading.

[The Mayor]

Thank you Kathy!!

[mylife]

Heavy equipment should be used under close supervision.
My Dad had me driving mining trucks with 15’ tall tires when I was a nipper.

Gnight gang

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I agree that cooking should be taught ti the young.
It’s an important skill.

Eating a meal that someone cooked with love for you is one of the nicest things on the planet.

The first thing I learned to cook was a grilled cheese sammich!
LOL

[mylife]

I I was hyst about to say dad taught me how to make a grill cheese on a coal fired Ben Franklin stove out there where he taught me how to drive the truck.
(they were GOOD)
Moms says Dad would have starved if it weren’t for her, Campbell tomato soup and grilled cheese LOL

[mylife]

And learn to do laundry you lil heathens!
What will you do in college? Were the same pair? LOL

[luvie]

Maybe her mom is overweight, I’m just saying that and not meaning it and I am not trying to be mean. By Piper! [my granddaughter. :) ]

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, mountainlion....you almost sound like of the gremlins...don’t get him wet. LOL!

How can your snow melt if it keeps snowing?????

[luvie]

Phewey!!

[luvie]

Nothing wrong with Campbells ‘mater soup and grilled cheese sammiches! :)

[E.G.C.]

A very pleasant good Thursday morning to everyone at the Canteen and to all our military at home and abroad. Thanks for your service to our country.

((HUGS))Good morning, everyone. How's it going?

Our whole town of Comanche OK lost power earlier this morning. It went out around midnight. It came back on just under an hour ago.

They're saying this was on Western Farmer's Electric Coop's end.