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An incredible story of men against the sea and the U.S. Life Saving
Service of the 19th century. Dramatic events culled from documented
reports describe the forgotten service that saved lives from ships
foundering on Rhode Island's shores. Included are synopsis of Rhode
Island's worse marine disasters as the passenger steamer SS
Larchmont in the dead of winter was holed and sunk by the schooner
Harry Knowlton with a loss of 145 lives, to the rumored purposeful
shipwrecker's on Block Island who decoyed wayward vessels to their
doom to salvage wreckage and cargo. Dozens of shipwrecks and
rescues by the men assigned to the Life saving stations are covered
with direct words from the rescuers themselves. Varoujan Karentz
describes the nine Life Saving Stations along Rhode Island's
southern ocean shore and on Block Island. The men's feats who's
motto "you have to go out, but you don't have to come back" often
resulted in acts of heroism. For over 40 years they lived an
extraordinary drama while at the same time made maritime history,
which somehow faded into the past and disappeared. The author
brings this all back coupled with actual reports from the Life
Saving Service's archives. At each station its crew lived together
and individually walked as a beach patrol looking for vessels in
danger and signaling them to change course or summoning beach
apparatus or launching their surfboat to attempt a rescue. Stories
include the successful use of the breeches buoy where passengers or
crew were hauled ashore directly from stranded vessels. The
stations were manned during the winter months where severity of
storms were maximum often mixed with snow and ice. Frostbite,
exhaustion and boredom was common as was the fear of the sea.
Karentz brings this all back in a realism of a variety of actual
shipwreck events which happened at each station. The Life Savers
with its saga of men who's stories are told event by event captures
the imagination of brave men and thankful survivors. It is
meaningful reading of yesteryear and how men suffered to save
another unknown human being from the ravages of the sea.
They came from everywhere, mostly as immigrant orphans who lived
through the modern world's first ghastly genocide, convinced they
were the very few left who must save their heritage. "Mitchnapert"
tells how Armenian churches, schools and organizations became
established in Rhode Island and about the most difficult political
crisis that split the community for fifty years, caused by the
assassination of an Archbishop in another state. "Mitchnapert"
follows the Armenians as they assimilate into the American
mainstream, providing the reader a lucid and rare historical
examination of what Armenians in Rhode Island accomplished and how
they gained such notoriety in their Diaspora.
The "street stories" and historical essays of past events
provide much factual evidence and familiarity to those who lived
through the more recent periods. The early business scene and
descriptions of neighborhoods where Armenians lived are recounted.
Complex issues of how they are surviving the ethnic "melting pot"
syndrome, both present and in the future are examined as second and
third generation Armenian Americans become the community's new
decision makers. Included is a "Who's Who" cross-section of
Armenians who live and work in the state and those who moved
elsewhere but still retain their Rhode Island roots.
They came from everywhere, mostly as immigrant orphans who lived
through the modern world's first ghastly genocide, convinced they
were the very few left who must save their heritage. Mitchnapert
tells how Armenian churches, schools and organizations became
established in Rhode Island and about the most difficult political
crisis that split the community for fifty years, caused by the
assassination of an Archbishop in another state. Mitchnapert
follows the Armenians as they assimilate into the American
mainstream, providing the reader a lucid and rare historical
examination of what Armenians in Rhode Island accomplished and how
they gained such notoriety in their Diaspora.The street stories and
historical essays of past events provide much factual evidence and
familiarity to those who lived through the more recent periods. The
early business scene and descriptions of neighborhoods where
Armenians lived are recounted. Complex issues of how they are
surviving the ethnic melting pot syndrome, both present and in the
future are examined as second and third generation Armenian
Americans become the community's new decision makers. state and
those who moved elsewhere but still retain their Rhode Island
roots.
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