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Letters to the Editor

January 2004

(Editor’s note: The Seafarers LOG reserves the right to edit letters for grammar as well as space provisions without changing the writer’s intent. The LOG welcomes letters from members, pensioners, their families and shipmates and will publish them on a timely basis.) In Search of Identity of SOS Paper Notes I belong to a group which collects military related coins and paper money. We have been trying for many years to identify a series of paper notes which were printed for a group called the Seamen's Overseas Service (SOS). They were printed by the American Banknote Company, are of excellent quality, and virtually nothing is known about the notes or the SOS organization. I've attached a scan of one of these notes [right] from a book about World War II, in the hope that someone in your organization may be able to shed some light on this mystery. These notes are somewhat similiar to the military payment certificates used by the U.S. military from 1946 until 1972. Thanks for any information you may be able to provide about the SOS. David Klinger CAPT USN, Ret. 2klinger@cox.net Thankful Retiree I am 85 years old and wish to thank the Seafarers Health and Benefits Plan for helping me and my family over the years. I sailed from July 1946 to December 1981 on more than 50 ships and to more than 50 countries. I walked the strike lines in 1946 and made two round-the-world trips. I never can say enough thanks to the SIU for all they’ve done for me. Lester J. Moore Livingston, Texas