[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17370]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            TRIBUTE TO U.S. COAST GUARD CUTTER ``MACKINAW''

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART STUPAK

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an 
extraordinary vessel stationed in my district. For the last 60 years, 
the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw and her crew have sailed the 
northern Great Lakes, keeping these vital waters open and safe. On 
August 12, past and present crew members of the Mackinaw will gather in 
Cheboygan, Michigan to celebrate the ship they affectionately refer to 
as ``Big Mack'' or ``Queen of the Seas,'' and its six decades of 
service to the State of Michigan and the United States.
  In 1941, the United States Congress authorized the construction of a 
new ice breaker for the Great Lakes. Three years later, on December 20, 
1944, the Mackinaw was commissioned in Toledo, Ohio and made its maiden 
voyage to its new home, Cheboygan, Michigan. At 290 feet long, the 
Mackinaw was, and is, the largest and most powerful Coast Guard vessel 
on the Great Lakes.
  Today, there are still men and women in Cheboygan who remember the 
Mackinaw's arrival in their harbor when thousands gathered on Christmas 
Eve to welcome the new cutter to their city. Since then, the residents 
of Cheboygan have taken enormous pride in the Mackinaw as the ship and 
her crew worked to keep shipping lanes open. In its first year of 
service, the ship opened waterways nearly six weeks ahead of schedule, 
which allowed vital cargo to reach its destination and kept our 
nation's war machine running at top capacity.
  As the nation shifted to peacetime production, the Mackinaw kept up 
its wartime pace. It continued to break up ice several feet thick every 
spring to ensure the safe arrival of essential raw materials for the 
steel and auto industries of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. 
The Mackinaw has seen the extraordinary expansion of American industry, 
and made an extraordinary contribution to that expansion.
  Mr. Speaker, my most fond memory of the Mackinaw is the bitterly cold 
winter of 1993-1994. During that winter, the Mackinaw showed her brute 
ice-breaking strength time and time again. The Mackinaw freed countless 
vessels from frozen icy impasses. She has rescued stranded boaters, 
provided safe passage, and even rescued animals in peril.
  Staff of the Mackinaw so admire the vessel and the Cheboygan 
community that they gather every five years for a reunion of current 
and past shipmates.
  Mr. Speaker, the Mackinaw and her crew have played a role not only in 
national and international commerce, but also in more local 
relationships. The crew of the Mackinaw has long been an important part 
of the community in Cheboygan, with members pitching in to fight fires, 
forming relationships with residents, and many even settling in 
Cheboygan after their retirement.
  As we move closer to 2006 when this historic vessel is decommissioned 
and replaced with a new cutter Mackinaw, Mr. Speaker, I ask the House 
to join me in paying tribute to the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw 
and her crews over the last 60 years. They deserve our deepest 
gratitude, and I wish them well when they gather next month to 
celebrate 60 years of fond memories.

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