USS MOHAWK

Yesterday was a quiet day for obvious reasons.

The emails and telephone calls being received are overwhelming. As George M. Cohan used to say…..My Father thanks you, I thank you.

There is an old Italian saying that death comes in threes. It may be every group subscribes to such a belief. Number two is Larry Harvey. He died Wednesday at the age of 91. Larry was the most loved gay in Key West. I was always impressed by the respect the community had for him. I suspect he must have been one of the first that outed himself. Many years ago.

Rest in peace, Larry.

My home town is Utica, NY. It sits in the Mohawk Valley. The Valley is named Mohawk because way back when there was an Indian tribe living there by such a name. The Mohawks were part of the larger Iroquois Nation.

Many Revolutionary battles were fought in the Mohawk Valley. A significant one was the Battle of Oriskany. Oriskany sits to this day in the Mohawk Valley. The colonists made such a fight of it that the British were delayed in getting to Saratoga. That delay was instrumental in the colonists winning the war.

In 1814, the United States government commissioned the first USS Mohawk. Named after the Indian tribe and Valley. There have been four more since. Some having participated in various wars. With distinction. The last Mohawk vessel was commissioned in 1935.

That Mohawk sits in the Truman Annex waterfront portion of the Key West Harbor. Heretofore, it has been a museum for tourists. The cost to maintain the vessel is $400,000 a year. It can no longer be afforded. The Mohawk will leave shortly for a place off Sannibel Island where it will be sunk. The purpose is to have it evolve into an underwater home for fish and a place for divers to enjoy.

A worthy final resting place. Especially when the alternative was being sent to a naval junk yard and scrapped.

The Mohawk will have a home for all time as the Vandenberg which was sunk for similar purposes off Key West several years ago.

Tomorrow, the Key West Lou Legal Hour. Yes, I am doing the show. Ten in the morning my time. Join me. Great topics to be discussed. www.konkbroadcasting.com. Topics include a misogynist, Limbaugh’s Rich Babes for America, 9 Muslims sentenced in England for raping and prostituting young white girls, North Carolina same sex marriage vote, drunk driving at its worst, a paraplegic woman who ran the London Marathon, Fortune 500 companies, and viewing child porn decreed legal in New York. Plus more.

Enjoy your day!

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