Maritime Day 2002 honors legacy of Merchant Marine
"I did not apply myself well at school," said Trimmer. "I went out and found myself a job on a tug boat."
Trimmer, 75, of Baltimore, was one of five Merchant Marine veterans honored May 22 in a National Maritime Day Ceremony, at the U.S. Navy Memorial, in Washington, D.C. Trimmer was cited by Capt. William Schubert, Maritime Administrator, for having served in three conflicts ?the Korean War, the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.
As the years went by, Trimmer usually found himself on tug boats but serving at successively higher ranks. In the Korean War, he was assigned to a troop carrier that moved soldiers between West Coast ports and Korea.
More than 20 years later, Trimmer was in the Vietnam War. His most memorable experience in the conflict involved shepherding barge loads of cargo from Cam Ranh Bay to such Vietnamese coastal ports as Phan Rang, on the South China Sea.
"We felt we had a job to do," said Trimmer. "We did not have time to think about the danger. It came with the job."
When Desert Storm came, Trimmer had 14 years experience as a pilot and was getting ready to become an instructor at the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies, Linthicum Heights, Md. Afforded another opportunity to go to sea, he joined a cargo ship as chief mate. He made one shipment from Oakland, Calif., to Saudi Arabia. Once in the war zone, Trimmer said his vessel was used for several intra-region ammunition shipments.
Other honorees included Capt. James Parese, the operator of a New York Harbor ferry who voluntarily evacuated people from the city to New Jersey following Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"We came out of the dust and it looked like the whole New York Harbor fleet was there to help out," said Parese.
Attendees of the ceremony heard Rep. Duncan Hunter call for a more robust American Flag fleet and Merchant Marine presence.
"We used to have thousands of American ships, said Duncan, Chairman, Merchant Marine Panel, House Armed Service Committee. We have to resolve to rebuild the industry. We need to flag American, manned by Americans serving on American-built ships."
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