To the editor:

Mr. Simons, in his Saturday Column of Jan. 17, wrote a poignant piece reflecting on the commissioning of the USS George H.W. Bush. A friend of mine who attended an earlier carrier commissioning of the USS Harry S. Truman echoed many of the same feelings. Unfortunately, Mr. Simons committed a common faux pas many people do when listing the branches of the armed forces. His list of “…sailor, Marine, soldier or aviator” missed including the nation’s fifth armed service: the U.S. Coast Guard. We’re small in comparison to the Defense Department services and don’t fall under its chain of command but the nation’s oldest continuous seagoing service is serving daily to preserve the nation’s security.

David L. Teska,
commander, USCGR,
Lawrence