LETTERS
DECK LOG The nation is at its best when it comes together to observe a shared occasion in its history, as it did last year in the 50th anniversary of D-Day. And in the pages of Sea History, we try to rise to meet the expectations people bring to their history, be it of the Greeks who lived, as Plato said , as "frogs round a pond" on the shores of the Mediterranean , or the incredible performance of the crew of the destroyer Laffey, which survived six devastating kamikaze attacks late in the Pacific war, as you'll read in thi s issue. It was a sad day for history , however, when the Smithsonian Institution , our national museum, chose to mark the ending of World War II in the Pacific with an exhibit centering on the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atom bomb on Hiroshima. The American effort to turn back the wave of Japanese aggression-which had engulfed China before rolling on to the Philippines and other Western colonial territories-was described as a "warof vengeance" against the Japanese people. The Japanese were presented as defending their way of life against " Western imperialism." We looked into this highly unusual characterization of the Pacific war. As reported on page 8 of thi s issue, our investigation showed no serious effort by the Smithsonian curators to get at the truth of the decision to use atom bombs against Japan. Selective (and sometimes fa lse) data were exploited for shock value. General Marshall 's biographer actually had to write a letter to the NY Times to correct the curators' version of Marshal I's position on use of the bomb! The Sm ithson ian has done wonderful work on potentially controversial subjects, witness the American Indian Museum in New York City's Custom House. Indian people helped this exhibit get close tothe lndianexperience-and with what imagination, joy and fidelity this was done! Americans of all persuasions emerge from the exhibits challenged, informed about things they ' ve wondered about, and eager to learn more. So-it can be done! I fee l I should apologize, as one in thi s line of work, forthe Smithsonian administrator who said the original Enola Gay exhibit had to be withdrawn due to the "emotionalism" of American veterans. Ifhe bores holes like that in hi s end of the boat, pretty soon the cause of hi story itself will be swimming for its life. If it isn' t already. P ETER STANFORD
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Captain Wallace's Devotion The article on self-sustaining operations on the Pilgrim by the Orange County Marine Institute provides hope for others to follow the path of financial independence. I have observed the youth training on the brig and can attest to its popularity generated by an enthused staff and satisfied trainees. The story of how that brig came to exist, how it sailed across the Atlantic with a teenage crew fleein g Li sbon during a civil revolt, and the man whose vision and fortitude designed , built, sailed it across the ocean , brought it to Dana Point and began its mi ssion of youth training cannot be overlooked. Raymond E. Wallace continues to design , build and restore historical vesse ls. His devotion to youth training and maritime education has been exemplary . DAVID ROBINSON
Phoenix , Arizona We have been after NMHS trustee Ray Wallace to write up that story. But he has weighty business on his hands- 3,000 tons in fact! (See page 6.)-ED.
A Stamp to Carry Savannah's Story In 1988 I submitted a proposal to the US Postal Service for a commemorative stamp honoring the Nuclear Ship Savannah. I was told to try again in five years. The Savannah achieved significance during the last 50 years as a revolutionary, one-of-a-kind technological experiment, which helped to establish the nation 's prominence in the development and use of nuclear energy for commercia l transportation. The vessel was not expected to be an economic success, and she was not. Technologically, however, she was a triumph. President Eisenhower proposed her construction in 1955 as evidence of the nation' s desire to use nuclear power peacefully. The ship was launched in July 1959, the reactor was installed in November 1961 and her first demonstration commercial voyage to Savannah, Georgia, began on 5 August 1962. The ship continued demonstration cruises to US and foreign ports until she was laid up in 1970. In the course of her short career NS Savannah visited 96 ports , cruised 454,675 miles and was visited by thousands of people. I have a vested interest in her as I was at the shipyard when the keel was ceremonially laid and again when the ship was ceremonially launched. I was also the President of the Brotherhood of
Marine Officers AFL-CIO, the officers ' union that operated the vessel from 1962 until 1970. Our union and all the other unions involved in the operation of the Savannah signed a no-strike pledge during the years she would operate, and we never had a work stoppage during the time we operated her. She was "mothballed" from 1970 to 1981 , then chartered for 35 years to the state of South Carolina for display at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Charleston Harbor. In 1982 the vessel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. She was truly the people's ship and her exceptional sign ificance warrants the issuance of a commemorative stamp. I urge everyone interested in her story to write to the Postmaster General , USPS Headquarters, Washington DC 200139998, supporting my proposal. EDWARD JOSEPH FARR
Victoria, British Co lumbi a
Does Anyone Know--or Care? America needs to be made aware of Maritime Day, 22 May-a national holiday that is not on any calendar. American Merchant Mariners deserve recognition-recognition given in 1933 when Congress designated Maritime Day to commemorate the world's first transatlantic steamship voyage by the SS Savannah in 1819. Since that time, merchant mariners have played a major role in America's survival in war and prosperity in peace. In WWII we lost 733 ships from enemy action, never defaulted and lost the highest percentage of men of any service but the US Marine Corps. Congress waited until most of us were dead before giving us veteran status in 1988. A day of recognition is not too much to ask. Shou ld we march on the White House lawn? P ETER SALVO
Mon Valley Merchant Marine Vets McKeesport, Pennsylvania NMHS shares Captain Salvo's concern. We invite suggestions to put Maritime Day on American calendars.-ED.
Let's Be Fair to Gibson In the Autumn issue of Sea History you describe with considerab le rhetorical flouri sh your unhappy interview in 1970 with Andrew Gibson, the Federal Maritime Administrator. You went to Washington expecting to receive a federal SEA HISTORY 73, SPRING 1995