Student: Top Marks
To Paul Hall CenterThe following is addressed to my fellow brothers and sisters in the deck department.
I recently sat for the USCG Third Mate-Oceans Exam (new testing), and am happy to report that I passed this 800 lb. gorilla! This was, without a doubt, the most difficult undertaking of my life (and I ain’t no Boy Scout). After accumulating the necessary 1,080 days of sea time, driving my 2/M and C/M crazy to proctor the onboard assessments, and attending months and months of upgrading back at Piney Point, I had finally satisfied everything required to sit for the test. Next came two solid months of intense study, and then I was ready to go for it!
The hawsepipe can still be climbed, but it now takes tremendous dedication and unsinkable determination to see you through. This is a long hard fight, but as members of the SIU, we benefit from the free courses, lodging and travel that others do not.
I have compared what I received from the Paul Hall Center free of charge to other “commercial sea schools” and have saved over $60,000 in out-of-pocket expenditures!
I owe my success and gratitude to the fine staff of the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education. Thank you!
Respectfully Submitted,
Michael Thomas
(Via email)
Remembering
Paul Warren
I want to thank all the old-timers who sailed during World War II for the sacrifices they made for all mariners. I do support H.R. 3729 (the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act) to amend Title 46 of the United States Code.
My true regret was in hearing of a very good friend’s death in the April issue of the LOG. Paul Warren was indeed a fine, smart man. He was a good sailor (whom I sailed with), a good union patrolman and a man I worked with on many occasions while organizing Cities Service Oil Company tankers in Lake Charles, La.
I ended up on the vessels Bradford Island and the Abiqua, where I spent nine months and obtained my union book (#11,111 Gulf original and then to C-263). I sailed for 20 years.
Again, I give my thanks to Paul Warren for his advice to me in conversations, and I mourn his death.
Harold E. Crane
Opelousas, La.
(The writer is a former Delta Lines port steward)
McCartney Had Time
For All Seafarers
My name is Samuel Garrett, and I’m an A-seniority member upgrading again at the Paul Hall Center.
When I first met George McCartney in the 1990s, he had this energy about him and always had a smile on his face, with a greeting for each and every member of the SIU. George had this special way of communicating with the membership that always was positive.
One of the things he told me was to always support the SIU, its loyal brothers, sisters and officials—because blood is thicker than water, and you’re part of our family, he would say.
George inspired new and old members to be truthful, loyal and have heart. Today, I’m a better, stronger person because of George and other officials like him. George was always busy, but never too busy to stop and speak with me and others. He wanted to know from every member how he could help them. Sometimes that meant just listening to a member discuss a personal problem.
George will always be missed by everyone in the Seafarers International Union.
Samuel Garrett
Piney Point, Md.
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