Enter Richard "Jerry" Dodson (shown here), a maritime attorney who co-founded the Baton Rouge, Louisiana - based Dodson & Hooks law firm, one of the world's leading maritime law firms. A graduate of Louisiana State University (LSU) Law School, Jerry is an advisor and frequent presenter at LSU's annual Rubin Maritime Law Seminar.

Luckily for me, for the past forty years, Jerry has also been a passionate collector of maritime art and antiques. Through the years he has collected numerous "ships passports" and donated his collection to LSU Law School (The Richard J Dodson Maritime Art Collection).

At one point, J. Revell Carr, former president and director of Mystic Seaport's museum of The America and The Sea Society, spent a week in Baton Rouge, and discovered that Jerry possessed the passport of the USS Jamestown (the document shown here), the first U.S. ship to transport food to Ireland during the 1847 potato famine, and featured in my book: Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable Story of America's First Humanitarian Mission.

Jerry, who said he enjoyed Voyage "immensely," was kind enough to share this news with me -- I had no idea the passport even existed!

Officially, the document is called a "Mediterranean Passport," and was created after the United States concluded a treaty with Algiers in 1795. America was one of several nations paying tribute to the Barbary states in exchange for the ability to sail and conduct business in the Mediterranean area without interference from pirates. This treaty provided American-owned vessels with a "passport" that would be recognized by Algeria and other Barbary states, which allowed the ships safe passage. In general, virtually any American vessel -- whether they were venturing into the Mediterranean area or not -- was required to carry the passport. Hence, the Jamestown's passport issued by President James K. Polk.

My thanks to Jerry Dodson for sharing this information and this rich piece of history!

I was also honored to do "double duty" in Everett, MA this spring with two Dark Tide appearances on the same day -- one at Everett High School in the afternoon, and one in the evening at the city's Parlin Library.

If you've received my e-blast before, you know how much I enjoy visiting high schools! Everett was no different. Some 70 Everett High U.S. history students participated in a lively discussion, asked great questions, and took part in an enjoyable book-signing afterward. I'm shown here with EHS students Byron Calixto, Mama Gassama, and Loosandie Dieujuste; and alongside David Huezo Erazo.

The library crowd made me feel very welcomed in the evening. I'm shown with the energetic Everett Community Book Club! My thanks to Mary Puleo (no relation!), Coordinator of Libraries for the Everett Public Schools; and Kathleen Slipp, Parlin's Adult Services Coordinator, for organizing these two great events; and also to the Friends of the Parlin Library, for sponsoring the wonderful evening.

My deepest thanks to the Town of Marshfield (MA) and the Friends of the Ventress Memorial Library for sponsoring my recent appearance to discuss my book, Voyage of Mercy..

And I was gratified to see that people came from other places too -- for example, I'm shown here with Lily Woo, a high school teacher of AP European history at Bow High School in New Hampshire!

I'm also shown with the Friends committee who sponsored the event and organized a perfect evening, including providing wonderful refreshments! They are (from left): Mary Gina Stilwell, Colleen Timberlake, Joyce Kinsman, Lisa Lenon, Janice Brown, and Pam Patch. Thanks, Marshfield, for making my 659th appearance as an author such a terrific time!

On a personal note, over the past few years, Kate and I have been visiting communities throughout Massachusetts on a quest to walk or hike in all 351 cities and towns!

Happy to say we have reached 120 communities, a little more than a third of the way through! We love the combination of history and nature (it's the more local version of our "road trips" that I chronicled above).

Most recently, we visited the towns of Marion and Mattapoisett on the south coast, with an additional walk in adjacent Rochester.

Here's Kate at the Osprey Marsh boardwalk in Marion and at the beautiful Munn Preserve harbor in Mattapoisett.

I'll update our quest from time to time.

Memorial Day is approaching, and I think it's so important to find a few minutes to reflect and remember. It's the day we remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice -- laying down their lives in battle for their comrades and their country.

With the accompanying photo, I take you back 80 years -- to WWII in 1943. When I teach my college WWII class, I tell my students that 1943 was the "slog year" for the U.S. and its Allies, as opposed to the more "celebrated" years of 1942 (a victory at Midway that turned the tide of the war in the South Pacific), 1944 (the successful D-Day landings), and of course, 1945 (the end of the war with Allied victories in Europe and the Pacific). In contrast, 1943 was a year of hard fighting, slow progress, rationing, and an overall feeling of sadness and resignation for Americans on the home-front that they were in this war for the long haul.

In its September 1943 issue, Life magazine published this photograph of three dead Americans on a beach in New Guinea. The photo was significant because it was the first time the War Department censors allowed the printing of a photo of dead Americans -- the first time Americans had seen their dead in a photo. This particular photo was chosen by editors -- and allowed by censors -- because the soldiers' faces are obscured. It was a more innocent time, for sure; the thought of being protected from the sight of dead bodies today seems almost quaint.

Each time I look at this photo, it haunts me. I think of the pain Americans at home and abroad must have felt during this hard year of all-encompassing war -- the sacrifices made, the lives lost, the families torn apart. There is gallantry and heroism in war, but there is horror and suffering as well. Eighty years ago -- 1943 -- was the most difficult year of the war for Americans.

It's why I think, on Memorial Day, we have a solemn obligation to remember -- always -- those who gave their lives in battle for the ideal of freedom. The three dead American GIs in this

For previous books I've recommended, you can always go to my "What I'm Reading" section of my Website (this issue's selections will be added shortly).