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Quote by Captain Hank Bracker, Seawater series

“After crossing most of the North American continent our destination was Goldfield Nevada, a place in the middle of nowhere that I had been to some years before. This ghost town held a special place in my heart and I still feel nostalgic remembering how I got there from LA when I was in my teens. Now as we rolled into town I had the same feeling and thought that my son’s would capture the same aura that I felt years before. Entering the “Santa Fe Club,” an authentic old saloon, we were greeted as if we were neighbors that had just stopped in for a drink. It was as if I had never left but of course that wasn’t true. The bartender asked if we were there for some chicken? I had no idea what he was talking about until he explained that a chicken truck had run off the road and rolled over just outside of town. It took some doing but some of the men in town caught, killed, cleaned and plucked a wack of them and brought them to the saloon for frying. I assumed that he meant that he had fried the chickens and best of was that he offered them free to anyone who came through the doors. I still don’t know if they tasted so good because we were hungry or that they were free. The story of the chicken truck was told for years afterward but he also told me that he remembered me from before, when I was the kid looking for the publisher of the five-page newspaper. “Well, he’s gone and is now in the cemetery but we’re not, so have some more chicken” were his lasting words of wisdom!”

Quote by Captain Hank Bracker, Seawater series

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Captain Hank Bracker, Seawater series

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“In 1498, Vasco da Gama the Portuguese navigator explored this eastern coast of Africa flanking the Indian Ocean. This led him to open a trade route to Asia and occupy Mozambique to the Portuguese colony. In 1840, it came under the control of the Sultan of Zanzibar and became a British protectorate in 1895, with Mombasa as its capital. Nairobi, lying 300 miles to the northwest of Mombasa is the largest city in Kenya. It became the capital in 1907 and is the fastest growing urban area in the Republic having become independent of the United Kingdom on December 12, 1963 and declared a republic the following year on December 12, 1964. Kenya is divided by the 38th meridian of longitude into two very different halves. The eastern half of Kenya slopes towards the coral-backed seashore of the Indian Ocean while the western side rises through a series of hills to the African Shear Zone or Central Rift. West of the Rift, the lowest part of a westward-sloping plateau contains Lake Victoria. This, the largest lake in Africa, receives most of its water from rain, the Kagera River and countless small streams. Its only outlet is the White Nile River which is part of the longest river on Earth. Combined, the Blue Nile and the White Nile, stretches 4,160 miles before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.”

HistoryAfricaMma Captain Hank BrackerEast AfricaMozambiqueIndian Ocean
Author:Captain Hank, "Seawater Three"
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“Although slavery was not exclusively African, it definitely was widespread on the African continent and, actually, still exists to this day. Most slaves were garnered as military captives, for debt repayment and as criminals. Many were captured in sub-Saharan West Africa and many of their tribes were decimated in brutal raids by ruthless traders who only cared about their own financial profit. In the 17th Century, Arab slave traders raided native villages and sold their hapless catch to Portuguese and Spanish ship owners. They in turn transported their human cargo on converted cargo vessels, though some vessels were especially built for this purpose. It was under these horrid and blistering hot conditions that the captured black African tribesmen were transported to Europe and the Americas.”

SlaveryMma Captain Hank BrackerSlave ShipsNaval History
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa
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“Boarding the waiting bus, I saw that it was about half full of what appeared to be apprehensive young men. Although I didn’t know who he was, Bo’sun Vernon Haskell, wearing a well-worn officer’s cap, was seated behind the wheel. Carpenter Bill Cooms was sitting with his legs up next to the window, taking up both of the front right-hand seats. Boarding, I asked, “Is this the bus to Maine Maritime Academy?” To which the Bo’sun answered with another question, “Were you expecting the bus to Davy Jones’ locker?” I would get to know both of them much better in time, but for now their gruff manner caught me off balance. Some of the things Bo’sun Haskell would say baffled me at first, but the twinkle in his eye always gave him away. “Half of you seven men will work loading the ship, the other half will work with chipping hammers and the rest will come with me,” or “Three of you two men, come with me,” were some of his favorite statements. There was always a little humor in how he said things, but he got the job done! Noticing that I was not sure of myself, they both smiled, which immediately put me at ease. “Find a place to sit, son. We still have some more men coming in from Augusta by car.” The fact that he used the term “men” in reference to us, was also new! It didn’t take long before everyone they expected had arrived, and were seated aboard the bus. We started east on the bumpy ride to the Academy.”

Mma Captain Hank BrackerMaine Maritime AcademyMaine History
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Salty & Saucy Maine"
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“In spite of being a relatively poor country, Cuba is one of the most committed in deploying doctors to crisis zones. It sent more than 460 Cuban doctors and nurses to West Africa. In October, Germany sent medical supplies, and later that month a hundred additional U.S. troops arrived in Liberia, bringing the total to 565 to assist in the fight against the deadly disease. To understand the severity of the disease, a supply order was placed on October 15th for a 6-month supply of 80,000 body bags and 1 million protective suits. At that time it was reported that 223 health care workers had been infected with Ebola, and 103 of them had died in Liberia.”

EbolaLiberiaWest AfricaMma Captain Hank BrackerSierra Leone
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa
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“Present day interactions between the races are directly related to what happened many generations ago. Although we as a people are not directly to blame for what happened those many years ago, many of us do carry with us a collective guilt or shame that can only be attributed to these events. However, we are responsible for how we interact with people of all races now. I am of the opinion that how we feel and act towards others, to a great extent came to us from our elders and the society that we grew up in. Although some of us show more hostile feelings towards people of other races than others, we should all be aware of the bigoted feelings and attitudes that lurk deep within us and our society. Perhaps by overtly attempting to rid ourselves of these hostilities, we can better learn to live together....”

BigotryAfricaWorld HistoryLiberiaWest AfricaMma Captain Hank Bracker
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa
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“Politicians continued their mantra, saying that Americans were much too smart to be fooled! As a nation we believed this nonsense. However, as a people, we had no idea what was happening and, even worse, we didn’t know to what extent the depression would affect us. The major problem was that the wealth of the nation was spread unevenly, with the rich getting richer and the poor being abused. A vast difference developed between the country’s productive capacity and the ability of the people to purchase manufactured products. In other words, the consumer base had been eroded to the point where Americans could no longer afford to buy the necessities of life, thus ending the need to manufacture things. As factories closed and people were laid off, the downhill spiral became complete. Everybody was left wondering what had happened to the country that had promised them an opportunity to have a better life than their parents had had. The 1930’s became the most difficult years that the United States had ever had to face economically, and the people we had entrusted with political power and our welfare, caved in to special interest groups. Rudy Vallée typified the era as he sang songs such as Brother, Can You Spare a Dime and Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries, through his handheld megaphone. The dances of the day were the Charleston and the Peabody and, if you believed the film industry, everyone was doing them. Hollywood provided a fleeting escape from reality. That is, if you could afford the price of admission to the theaters that had just opened in almost every hamlet in the country.”

EconomyRich PoorMma Captain Hank BrackerThe Great DepressionUnited Stated History
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One"
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“There are still people in the United States who believe they are more privileged than others. This may be because of their color, politics, national origin or economic and cultural status. This is the root of many of our national problems and the reason that we should consider carefully who the next president of our country should be!”

ColorSlaveryPrivilegeAmerican HistoryCultural DifferencesMma Captain Hank BrackerNational Problems
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia
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“In 1822, the American Colonization Society established a new colony on the West Coast of Africa that in 1847 became the independent nation of Liberia. By 1867, the American Colonization Society had sent more than 13,000 former *blanks* to this new country.In the 1830s, the Society was harshly attacked by abolitionists, who tried to discredit colonization as a scheme perpetrated by the *blankholders* to rid themselves of any responsibility regarding the freeing of their former *blanks*.Some years later, after the Civil War, when many blacks actually wanted to go to the new country of Liberia, the money needed to send them back had dried up. During the latter part of the 19th century the American Colonization Society stopped transporting former *blanks* to West Africa and used its money on educational and missionary efforts, thereby promoting its religious agenda instead.”

SlaveryAmerican HistoryAfricaWorld HistoryLiberiaMma Captain Hank Bracker
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia
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“In 1821 the United States government sent Dr. Eli Ayres to the Pepper or Grain Coast of West Africa, to buy the land discovered by Samuel Bacon prior to his death the preceding year. Dr. Ayres sailed aboard the U.S. naval schooner the USS Alligator, commanded by Lieutenant Robert Stockton, to the proposed new colony near the Mesurado River. After several days of negotiations in November of 1821, this valuable land was purchased at gunpoint from the tribal chief King Peter. Soon after this purchase, the colonists and their stores were landed on Providence Island and Bushrod Island, two small islands in the middle of the Mesurado River. Once the armed schooner sailed out of sight, the settlers were challenged by King Peter and his tribe. It took some doing, but on April 25, 1822, this group moved off the low-lying islands and took possession of the highlands behind Cape Mesurado, thereby founding present-day Monrovia, which was named after U.S. President James Monroe. It became the second permanent African American settlement in Africa, after Freetown, Sierra Leone.”

LiberiaMma Captain Hank BrackerSierra LeoneAfrican HistoryMonroviaPresident James Monroe
Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa
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