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Below
is the latest letter from Pam Johnson to the visitors of SSEFO
As I am getting my reservations in and plane tickets bought I have been
thinking about my dad a lot. This will be my third year attending the
Mariner's Church in Detroit Michigan. I will be meeting with Rev.
Ingalls and I'm sure other families of the Fitz crew. I am proud to be
able to represent crewman Robert Rafferty.
I have so many memories of my childhood with my dad when he wasn't
sailing around the world or on the Great Lakes. He taught me a lot
about baking. Some that I use today in my own profession. We
used to enjoy Tony Packo hotdogs and a bowl of chili. He loved to
eat as much as he liked to cook. I have good memories of climbing the
tall ladders from the dock to the ships. We were always offered a
meal and lots of baked goodies. Once my dad sailed to Japan and
brought back a set of china.
In a few weeks I will be able to honor all the crew and my father.
There will be standing room only and those in the parking lot will be
listening to Amazing Grace being played on bagpipes. There will be
retired sailors coming to remember their lost brothers at sea. It
will be an honor to be in the same church that rang a bell 29 times
twenty-seven years ago for 29 brave men. What a moving
ceremony. I am so looking forward to my trip. Maybe some of
you will have a desire to attend one day to see for yourself how this
story has truly touched so many lives.
-Pam
Johnson, daughter of Robert Rafferty
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