Posted:
June 12, 2009
Mr. Bank, I don't know you or anything about you. I only know what you have written, and what you have written is an abomination. In your opinion piece in The Washington Post, you stated: “Essentially, the U.S.-owned and -operated merchant marine liner fleet no longer exists,” and “U.S. taxpayers enjoy little or no benefit from the current U.S.-flag fleet.”
I beg to differ sir.
I am the captain of a United States merchant ship, which for some years now has sailed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. I know first hand the benefit derived by the American taxpayer from the current U.S.-flag fleet. Without it, OIF and OEF could not have been sustained, pure and simple.
The bulk of arms, ammunition, food, vehicles, and the tens of thousands of other items required to support our troops are carried by the United States merchant marine. You didn't really think all that equipment and all those supplies were transported on aircraft, did you? My ship alone can carry nearly as much cargo as the entire Military Airlift Command in one haul.
Surely you can't be that poorly informed.
I have watched my crews drag cargo chains and work the cargo holds in 130-degree temperatures, my Steward’s Department produce meals in the same conditions and my engineers perform virtual mechanical miracles in temperatures well above 140 degrees.
They have routinely and repeatedly sailed through pirate-infested waters with quiet calm. On this and previous trips they have observed pirate attacks on other ships close at hand and afterward shrugged, shook their heads and returned to what they were doing with an even greater determination.
They are not fools. They're just plain honest people who accept the risks and go on with their work, and they do this without recognition or praise. When they return to the U.S., they will simply go home to their families. No decorations, no flags, no parades. When our GIs come home, these officers and crew will be among the anonymous civilian faces in the crowd, cheering as enthusiastically as everyone else. They, after all, have sons and daughters and brothers and sisters in uniform, too. They, much more than most people in that crowd, understand the conditions these men and women have endured. They are good, solid Americans who are extremely proud of the job they do to help in protecting this country.
They ask for no praise and, in this, they are rarely disappointed. But to have the hard work they do, under risks and conditions most people would cringe at the mere thought of, summarily dismissed as you have done is something I cannot accept. My officers and crew and all officers and crew that sail under the American flag deserve better.
They most certainly DO exist sir, and you owe each and every one of them an apology.
Yours,
Captain Michael R. Frye
Master, M/V Resolve
Open letter to Mr. Bank
Mr. Bank, I don't know you or anything about you. I only know what you have written, and what you have written is an abomination. In your opinion piece in The Washington Post, you stated: “Essentially, the U.S.-owned and -operated merchant marine liner fleet no longer exists,” and “U.S. taxpayers enjoy little or no benefit from the current U.S.-flag fleet.”
I beg to differ sir.
I am the captain of a United States merchant ship, which for some years now has sailed in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. I know first hand the benefit derived by the American taxpayer from the current U.S.-flag fleet. Without it, OIF and OEF could not have been sustained, pure and simple.
The bulk of arms, ammunition, food, vehicles, and the tens of thousands of other items required to support our troops are carried by the United States merchant marine. You didn't really think all that equipment and all those supplies were transported on aircraft, did you? My ship alone can carry nearly as much cargo as the entire Military Airlift Command in one haul.
Surely you can't be that poorly informed.
I have watched my crews drag cargo chains and work the cargo holds in 130-degree temperatures, my Steward’s Department produce meals in the same conditions and my engineers perform virtual mechanical miracles in temperatures well above 140 degrees.
They have routinely and repeatedly sailed through pirate-infested waters with quiet calm. On this and previous trips they have observed pirate attacks on other ships close at hand and afterward shrugged, shook their heads and returned to what they were doing with an even greater determination.
They are not fools. They're just plain honest people who accept the risks and go on with their work, and they do this without recognition or praise. When they return to the U.S., they will simply go home to their families. No decorations, no flags, no parades. When our GIs come home, these officers and crew will be among the anonymous civilian faces in the crowd, cheering as enthusiastically as everyone else. They, after all, have sons and daughters and brothers and sisters in uniform, too. They, much more than most people in that crowd, understand the conditions these men and women have endured. They are good, solid Americans who are extremely proud of the job they do to help in protecting this country.
They ask for no praise and, in this, they are rarely disappointed. But to have the hard work they do, under risks and conditions most people would cringe at the mere thought of, summarily dismissed as you have done is something I cannot accept. My officers and crew and all officers and crew that sail under the American flag deserve better.
They most certainly DO exist sir, and you owe each and every one of them an apology.
Yours,
Captain Michael R. Frye
Master, M/V Resolve