Laptop Hobo
05-15-2012, 10:49 PM
http://keysnews.com/node/39915
"Several years ago, Bill Verge noticed an old man walking the deck of the retired Coast Guard cutter Mohawk, which had been a floating museum at the Truman Waterfront since 2006. Verge, a former Key West city commissioner, retired Coast Guard Reserve lieutenant and Mohawk museum board chairman, noticed the old-timer's interest and approached him.
The last time the old man had seen the Mohawk was during World War II, he told Verge, who asked him if he had served aboard the old icebreaker. No, the old man replied.
"He had only seen it through a periscope," Verge told a small crowd of about 40 historians and Coast Guard personnel gathered near the old cutter Monday afternoon at the East Quay. "He was German and stationed on a U-boat hunting allied vessels."
After Verge's speech, an honor guard removed the American flag from the 165-foot cutter one last time. The flag will be framed and mounted inside the Mohawk's contemporary namesake, the modern, 270-foot Mohawk, which is based at Coast Guard Sector Key West.
The newer Mohawk's commanding officer, Capt. Mark Fedor, accepted the flag from Verge in a brief ceremony.
About an hour later, at 1:45 p.m., a tugboat pulled the retired Mohawk from its berth and began the long haul to Lee County, where the historic vessel will become an artificial reef........."
"Several years ago, Bill Verge noticed an old man walking the deck of the retired Coast Guard cutter Mohawk, which had been a floating museum at the Truman Waterfront since 2006. Verge, a former Key West city commissioner, retired Coast Guard Reserve lieutenant and Mohawk museum board chairman, noticed the old-timer's interest and approached him.
The last time the old man had seen the Mohawk was during World War II, he told Verge, who asked him if he had served aboard the old icebreaker. No, the old man replied.
"He had only seen it through a periscope," Verge told a small crowd of about 40 historians and Coast Guard personnel gathered near the old cutter Monday afternoon at the East Quay. "He was German and stationed on a U-boat hunting allied vessels."
After Verge's speech, an honor guard removed the American flag from the 165-foot cutter one last time. The flag will be framed and mounted inside the Mohawk's contemporary namesake, the modern, 270-foot Mohawk, which is based at Coast Guard Sector Key West.
The newer Mohawk's commanding officer, Capt. Mark Fedor, accepted the flag from Verge in a brief ceremony.
About an hour later, at 1:45 p.m., a tugboat pulled the retired Mohawk from its berth and began the long haul to Lee County, where the historic vessel will become an artificial reef........."