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Quote by Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa

“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.”

Quote by Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa

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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 Bracker Maine Maritime Academy Maine History

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Salty & Saucy Maine"

“Anyone who identifies with the body while alive will identify with it when it dies. And that's the end of their story. But whoever stays alive while the body dies instead of going unconscious realizes how much has been lost, knows at first hand what it means to be a human and sees the purpose of the body and understands how necessary it is.”

Book:A Book of Life

Source: A Book of Life

“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.”

Ebola Liberia West Africa Mma Captain Hank Bracker Sierra Leone

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa

“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....”

Bigotry Africa World History Liberia West Africa Mma Captain Hank Bracker

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa

“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.”

Economy Rich Poor Mma Captain Hank Bracker The Great Depression United Stated History

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One"

“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!”

Color Slavery Privilege American History Cultural Differences Mma Captain Hank Bracker National Problems

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia

“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.”

Slavery American History Africa World History Liberia Mma Captain Hank Bracker

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia

“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.”

Liberia Mma Captain Hank Bracker Sierra Leone African History Monrovia President James Monroe

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, The History of Liberia & West Africa

“The MS City of New York commanded by Captain George T. Sullivan, maintained a regular schedule between New York City and Cape Town, South Africa until the onset of World War II when on March 29, 1942 she was attacked off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina by the German submarine U-160 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Georg Lassen. The torpedo struck the MS City of New York at the waterline under the ship’s bridge instantly disabling her. Surfacing the U-boat circled the crippled ship making certain that all of the crew had a chance to abandon ship. In all four lifeboats were lowered holding 41 passengers, 70 crewmen and 13 officers. The armed guard stayed behind but considering the fate of those in the lifeboats did not fire on the submarine. At a distance of about 250 yards the submarine fired a round from her deck gun striking the hapless vessel on the starboard side at the waterline, by her number 4 hold. It took 20 minutes for the MS City of New York to sink stern first. The nine members of the armed guard waited until the water reached the ships after deck before jumping into the water. The following day, a U. S. Navy PBY Catalina aircraft was said to have searched the area without finding any survivors. Almost two days after the attack, a destroyer, the USS Roper rescued 70 survivors of which 69 survived. An additional 29 others were picked up by USS Acushnet, formally a seagoing tugboat and revenue cutter, now operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. All of the survivors were taken to the U.S. Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia. Almost two weeks later, on 11 April, a U.S. Army bomber on its way to Europe, located the forth boat at 38°40N/73°00W having been carried far off shore by the Gulf Stream. The lifeboat contained six passengers, four women, one man and a young girl plus 13 crew members. Two of the women died of exposure. The eleven survivors and two bodies (the mother of the child and the armed guard) were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter CG-455 and were brought to Lewes, Delaware. The final count showed that seven passengers, one armed guard and 16 crewmen died.”

Ships World War Ii Mma Captain Hank Bracker Maritime History Sinking Ship U Boats

Author:Captain Hank, "Seawater Three"

“Paul von Hindenburg was a popular Prussian field marshal, statesman, and politician during World War I. In 1919, Hindenburg, who was a proud, self-assured general officer, was subpoenaed to appear before the Reichstag commission, which can be thought of as Germany’s Congress. He cautiously avoided answering any questions about who was responsible for Germany’s defeat in the “World War of 1918.” Instead of a direct answer, he read a prepared statement that had been carefully scrutinized in advance by his attorney. Hindenburg, ever mindful of his legacy, testified that the German Army had been on the verge of winning the war in the autumn of 1918, and that the enormous defeat had been caused by a Dolchstoß, a traitorous blow. By saying this he deflected any personal fault for the war, by insinuating that treacherous individuals and unpatriotic left- leaning socialist politicians were to blame for the demoralizing and embarrassing defeat. Despite being threatened with a contempt citation by the Commission for refusing to respond to questions, Hindenburg, after reading his statement, simply walked out of the hearings. He successfully relied on his status as a nationalist and conservative war hero to provide him with protection from additional hearings or prosecution. It turned out that Hindenburg was actually right in his assessment, and he was never indicted for walking out on the Reichstag. In 1925, Hindenburg then became the second Weimar President.”

Mma Captain Hank Bracker German History Weimar Republic Suppressed I Rise Paul Von Hindenburg German Reichstag

Author:Captain Hank Bracker, Suppressed I Rise