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by Major Ralph Stoney Bates Sr (Author)
This book is an anthology about people and a place. The people are the patriotic volunteers at the Naval and Maritime Museum on the shores of the Cooper River at Patriots Point in Mt Pleasant, South Carolina. It is also the place. These are true stories of this place and of these people at that place. These people are significant and unique because they have temporarily set aside their normal day-to-day tasks of maintaining a business, a job, a household, a livelihood, a hobby, or retirement-earned leisure hours to devote their time, experience, and their personal memories to a calling. Their individual calling is to inject their personal character, memories, and personality into a dialogue with other people who are the visitors to this unique place, allowing these visitors to garner a much more meaningful experience during their short visit here. Their presence and dialogue, while in contact with visitors, tends to bring two historically significant steel warships and a static display of a recreated United States military facility ( a Vietnam War era fire support base) from a long ago war into becoming more than inert displays; instead, they become living symbols, or living memorials to generations of Americans. They become alive. These stories are from the hearts, minds, and memories of Patriots Point Volunteers. These volunteers come from every walk of life. Most, not all are military veterans from all branches of our armed forces. Sone are not military veterans; however, similar in personality, they are patriotic in their endeavor to present the stories of these artifacts and the people who walked in the shadows of history as they served their nation in war and the unsteady peace between those wars. Many of these veterans and some of our visitors have served aboard these two magnificent ships berthed here. Their stories are captivating in scope, riveting in time. Many more of those veterans are Vietnam era and Vietnam War survivors greeting each other with the iconic and meaningful phrase, "Welcome Home."As you turn the pages you will meet some of these volunteers relating their personal stories of service, sacrifice, and loyalty to the nation they served and their fellow man. Some stories are humorous, some sad, some spellbinding. All are true. They also relate why they are a volunteer at this historic place-Patriots Point. If you have not visited Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, or even if you have, feel it through the eyes and words of our Band of Volunteers. Now hear this!
