Oh, yeah, I remember -- We spent an entire month together -- conducted our 1st Class Cruise in 1990. Yeah, I was supposed to go on the cruise of my lifetime -- to the balmy Mediterranean. Instead we spent the entire cruise aboard the USS Peterson off the coast of Africa.
This was the only time I got to see Africa-- from the airstrip in Freetown, Sierra Leone where we made friends with children selling us fruit. The kids spoke English very well with a West African accent. Then we all boarded a helo flying merely 500 feet above the swamps and tropical trees. My tour of this exotic country consisted of peering out the window of a CH-46 helicopter. But we got a great overall tour of the country -- the coastal Guinean mangroves, the wooded hill country and even some mountain ranges. From the distance, I could see the green mountains surrounded all around by a steamy jungle. The tour was eye watering. I was completely taken back. I did not expect Sierra Leone to be so beautiful, so majestic.
This was a land with beautiful forestry, filled with beautiful birds of all colors -- that I wanted to come back to some day and explore. But for now, we had a mission to accomplish.
USS Peterson was off the coast of Liberia When civil war broke out in Liberia, In the summer of 1997, Peterson was called to make a high speed transit from the Mediterranean to the coast of Liberia to stand by to evacuate American citizens trapped by the fighting during the Civil War. Nearly 750,000 Liberians fled into neighboring countries, and several hundred thousand were killed.
I remember attending regular briefs about Liberia and the bloody work of President Charles Taylor. Liberia meant a lot to our country especially because it was a land that many freed slaves decided to resettle.
Now, it was a land amid a major humanitarian crisis. This mad man president was committing genocide and gross crimes against humanity. His regime had to end. As a Midshipman would no tangible Naval skill and watch standing abilities, I was proud to be able to make our contribution to a great human cause for Africans and Americans, even if it meant missing out on a long-expected Mediterranean cruise.
I remember attending regular briefs about Liberia and the bloody work of President Charles Taylor. Liberia meant a lot to our country especially because it was a land that many freed slaves decided to resettle.
Now, it was a land amid a major humanitarian crisis. This mad man president was committing genocide and gross crimes against humanity. His regime had to end. As a Midshipman would no tangible Naval skill and watch standing abilities, I was proud to be able to make our contribution to a great human cause for Africans and Americans, even if it meant missing out on a long-expected Mediterranean cruise.
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