Visiting Jeff, Nancy, Jim and Ann on Hupper
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
Saturday, May 23, 2015
In Memoriam: Bob Donovan, Mike Cunnion, Jack Martin
Remembering my three classmates at Holy Cross College who died in Vietnam. - gwc
Mike Cunnion came to Holy Cross from Mt. St. Michael in Mt. Vernon where I had seen him as starting quarterback playing against my school, Brooklyn Prep. Mike had a great arm - better than Jack Lentz, our classmate who after being QB at the Cross went on to play cornerback for the Buffalo Bills.
Mike was a great guy but didn't hit the books. And Holy Cross cut you no slack for being a scholarship athlete. He flunked out and joined the Marines. On July 15, 1966 he and fourteen other men went down in flames in the helicopter pictured above.
Bob Donovan was a fine runner. In 1963 he came to Holy Cross from Syracuse on a track scholarship. But he neglected his studies, and flunked out. He was drafted, and as a PFC went to Vietnam on September 22, 1966. The facts on the virtual wall are spare:
Casualty Date: 11/09/1966
Age at Loss: 19
Location: Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Gun or small arms fire
Mike Cunnion came to Holy Cross from Mt. St. Michael in Mt. Vernon where I had seen him as starting quarterback playing against my school, Brooklyn Prep. Mike had a great arm - better than Jack Lentz, our classmate who after being QB at the Cross went on to play cornerback for the Buffalo Bills.
Mike was a great guy but didn't hit the books. And Holy Cross cut you no slack for being a scholarship athlete. He flunked out and joined the Marines. On July 15, 1966 he and fourteen other men went down in flames in the helicopter pictured above.
Bob Donovan was a fine runner. In 1963 he came to Holy Cross from Syracuse on a track scholarship. But he neglected his studies, and flunked out. He was drafted, and as a PFC went to Vietnam on September 22, 1966. The facts on the virtual wall are spare:
| Incident Date: 11/09/1966 |
Age at Loss: 19
Location: Phu Yen Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died outright
Casualty Reason: Ground casualty
Casualty Detail: Gun or small arms fire
 |
| John B. Martin, II |
Jack Bernard Martin, II, Holy Cross '67 was in Navy ROTC - which paid his tuition. I had passed the test for Navy ROTC but failed the physical. I needed eyeglasses. But I don't want to be a pilot, I protested. Nevermind =we've got guys who can take your place. Jack was one of them. The details on the Vietnam Memorial "virtual wall" are:
| Location: | Offshore, North Vietnam |
| Remains: | Body not recovered |
| Casualty Type: | Non-hostile, died of other causes |
| Casualty Reason: | Fixed Wing - Pilot |
| Casualty Detail: | Air loss or crash at sea |
Wavertree heads to drydock on Kill van Kull
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| Wavertree heads to drydock credit Tugster |
Friday, May 22, 2015
Topsides painted - North River 2
Sanded, compounded seams, sanded, primed, sanded, painted. Interlux white enamel, roll 'n tip. Thanks to Tipsfromashipwright
Rolling and tipping - Tips from a Shipwright
With Spring around the corner, Louis Sauzedde shows us some simple tricks for rolling and tipping paint for the topside of your boat. Visit http://www.tipsfromashipwright.com for more.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
The high price of justice: Sixth Amendment guarantee deteriorating under current U.S. legal system : News
The high price of justice: Sixth Amendment guarantee deteriorating under current U.S. legal system : News
by Nick Mariano // The Constitution Project
by Nick Mariano // The Constitution Project
“Across the country, public defender offices and other indigent defense providers are underfunded and understaffed,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said while addressing the American Bar Association’s National Summit on Indigent Defense.
That was in 2012, a year before the 50th anniversary of the 1963 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, a decision that propelled a defendants’ right to counsel -- even if he or she is unable to afford an attorney -- in both federal and state courts. While the Constitution does not guarantee right to counsel at government expense, the Gideon decision did.
“Too often, when legal representation is available to the poor, it’s rendered less effective by insufficient resources, overwhelming caseloads and inadequate oversight,” Holder continued. “And far too many public defender systems lack the basic tools they need to function properly.”
As a result, he went on to say, “too many defendants are left to languish in jail for weeks, or even months, before counsel is appointed.” Children and adults lack access to legal guidance upon entering the criminal justice system, and some defendants are encouraged to waive their right to counsel.
Many do, agreeing to plea deals that must be accepted immediately, research shows.
Justice, others say, is not being served for reasons that are many, ingrained in an economic and political infrastructure of tough-on-crime laws and stiff penalties, coupled with an overtaxed and underfunded legal system.
Take, for instance, the view of former judge and former FBI Director William S. Sessions, writing in the forward of a 2011 book sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants.
“Our nation’s public defense system in state courts, with few exceptions, should be a source of great embarrassment for all of us: judges, bar associations, lawyers, public officials and all other citizens.
“For nearly half a century, almost every state has persistently underfunded public defenders and private lawyers who represent the indigent in criminal and juvenile cases. Such widespread resistance to clear the mandate of the Constitution … has, in effect, created one of our legal system’s most shameful deficiencies.”
A System of Pleas
Consider that another provision under the Sixth Amendment – the right to trial – is rarely exercised as roughly 95 percent of all criminal cases in state and federal courts are disposed by plea bargaining, regardless of guilt or innocence.
“We have a system of pleas in the United States,” said Sarah Turberville, senior counsel at The Constitution Project and a former assistant public defender in Maryland.
“We don’t have a system of trials. In too many instances, (public) defenders are in the position of just trying to stay above water,” Turberville continued.
The Constitution Project, headquartered in Washington, D.C., was founded in 1997 as an advocacy group seeking policy reform and public education initiatives in connection with constitutional challenges, the right to counsel among them.
The Ali~Liston fight in Lewiston, Maine
The Night the Ali-Liston Fight Came to Lewiston http://nyti.ms/1KhQvor
Wavertree off to drydock for major repairs
https://tugster.wordpress.com/2015/05/19/wavertree-waivers-no-more/
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Honoring the Granite Workers of the Penobscot Bay Region
We like to say that we value work but we rarely honor labor. So it was gratifying to walk the waterfront of (aptly named) Stonington, Maine and see this tribute to the granite workers of the region. Granite from nearby Vinalhaven Island built the Cathedral of St. John in New York, among other landmarks. Their story is told at the Deer Isle Granite Museum, open daily in July and August.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Caulking Wood Planking with Louis Sauzedde // Tips from a Shipwright
Louis Sauzedde is a great teacher and craftsman. His Tips from a Shipwright videos are masterful and well produced.
