Eggs sends us a link to a little Coast Guard history in the pages of the Stars & Stripes specifically about the Coast Guard cutter Courier that was stationed off the coast of the Greek island of Rhodes from 1952 until 1964;
“There was a thrill to it because you were playing a game and it was your skill against theirs,” said Robert James, an electronics technician on the ship during the early 1960s. “There was a fun aspect to it because you knew you were participating in the Cold War even though you weren’t shooting guns or anything like that.”
The Coast Guard Museum at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, is marking the 50th anniversary of the end of the mission with an exhibit beginning June 19. The exhibit includes a model of the ship, along with photos and artifacts of the cutter and the community of Rhodes.
The Courier relayed broadcasts from the United States in more than a dozen languages seven days per week with a signal that was three times more powerful than a land-based signal and the most powerful transmitter ever installed on board a ship. It was the only mobile transmitter in the Voice of America’s network of overseas relay bases.
Here’s to the Coast Guard cutter Courier and all the men who served on her. Here-Here! And three cheers sailors!
Bravo Zulu, shipmate! But, damn, that must have been a booooooooring mission!
That is a long time without a liberty port…