photo by joe rudinec
told him stories of keeping a lookout for U-boats while crossing the North Atlantic in World War I. Webster is a long-time overseer of the National Maritime Historical Society, and trustee of the Sultana Education Foundation, where he is also a past vice chairman. He has served on more than twentyfive not-for-profit boards; past efforts include his service on the USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee, which helped bring the Massachusetts to Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA; as president of the USS Sequoia Preservation Trust; and as governor of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. In addition to his dedication to preserving our nation’s maritime Gary Jobson at the podium and carrying the room during the 2019 National heritage, he is a passionate trustee of Scholarship America, Maritime Awards Dinner. While we will not be together in one room this which raises funds for student scholarships. spring, we can gather virtually in real time. If there was ever an MC who Gary Jobson is a world-class champion sailor, television knows how to work with digital media, it’s Gary, and we can all look commentator, and author of nineteen sailing books. He has forward to an entertaining and informative evening as he leads the way. made more than 2,500 presentations to promote the sport of yacht racing. He serves as the vice-president of the International Sailing Federation, is past president of US Sailing, serves on the Olympic Sailing Committee, is past chair of the National Sailing Center and Hall of Fame, and served as the former National Regatta chair of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s sailing program. Jobson is way too busy to serve as MC at our awards events, but he joins us every year in this role, with smiles and jokes and the ability to keep the evening on schedule. As we advocate for our maritime heritage and for more federal funds to support it, I think on that proverbial quote of Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” We hope you will join us. Please refer to page 10 for information on this year’s awardees and details on how you can participate. Updates will be posted on the NMHS website at www.seahistory.org as they become available. —Burchenal Green, president NMHS Overseer and founding Dinner Chair, Philip Webster (right), presents a clock to NMHS Trustee Timothy J. Runyan in appreciation of his service as a past chair of the event and for his leadership role advocating for federal funding for the maritime heritage community. The clock symbolizes his unstinting time working on behalf of the cause.
photo by joe rudinec
photo by joe rudinec
our glasses in honor of the US Naval Academy, the US Merchant Marine, and the Coast Guard Aviation Association. We’ll recognize their valuable service to our country for over two centuries.” Admiral Konetzni is a graduate of the US Naval Academy, the Naval Nuclear Power School, and Naval Nuclear Power Prototype Training. In 2019 he was honored with the formal dedication of the VADM Albert Konetzni Submarine Squadron Fifteen Headquarters Building at Polaris Point, Guam. He was known during his career as “Big Al, the Sailor’s Pal.” He is a member of the leadership of the Navy Museum Development Foundation, which was recently selected to lead the fundraising effort for the new museum. It is an honor to have his support to promote the preservation of naval and maritime history. Philip J. Webster comes from a family of mariners: his greatgrandfather was a clipper ship captain in the China trade in the 1850s, (l–r) Admiral Al Konetzni, NMHS Chair Ronald Oswald, his grandfather was a maritime author and photographer, and his father National Coast Guard Museum Association Chair Susan Curtin, the Honorable Tom Ridge, 21st Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral James M. Loy, NMHS Trustee Denise Krepp, NMHS Trustee and 24th Commandant of the Coast Guard Admiral Robert Papp Jr., and NMHS Overseer Gary Jobson gather to honor Governor Ridge at the 2019 gala.
SEA HISTORY 174, SPRING 2021 9