The liberty ship, S. S. Good Eddie (the laden one in on this side)
in Kaohsiung harbor, 1967. This was my first ship as an officer.
I sailed both the Good Eddie and the Good Willie, each X-Chinese
vessels, under provisional U.S. registry. We had American
officers and Chinese crews. Each made one round trip from
Taiwan to Saigon with AID cargo, before the AID people pulled
the plug on the provisional registry due to state-side union out-
rage. (See newspaper clipping below.)
     I got the job "off the board" at the Yokohama Seaman's Club
(USS) just after sitting for my original third mate license in
Yokohama. I've often wondered if I was the last American seaman
to get a license there.
     Previous to getting my license, I had been an AB on the USNS
Pheonix, an MSTS (now MSC) Victory ship, which had been shuttling in the Far East. The crew was relieved at Pusan, Korea and the vessel recrewed by Koreans. Damn! I hated that -- it was a great ship and a great run! After spending about two weeks on
the beach in Pusan, I took a ferry to Japan, rented a small room
in Yokosuka and hit the books.

Above: Deck cargo and cargo lighters alongside the S.S. Good
Eddie or Good Willie in the Saigon River, opposite Saigon, 1967.
At right: Taking a sunline somewhere in the South China Sea
on the Good Eddie.

SEAMEN OUTRAGED
BY "ILLEGAL" REFLAGGING

This is a newspaper clipping of uncertain
date, telling of the Good Eddie/Good Willie
hubbub -- probably from the St. Louis Post
Dispatch. Sent to me while I was still aboard
one of the ships. The unlicensed unions were
pretty hot about the provisional registry.

The MM&P and MEBA unions had sent a
master and chief and first assistant engineers
out to Taiwan before they realized what a stir
the ships would make with the other unions.
After that, the company had to scour the Far
East for the rest of their officers, thus the job
was posted on the "board" at the United
Seamen's Service Club in Yokohama where I
happened to see it.

I joined the International Organization of
Masters, Mates & Pilots union (former
Local 90) while I was on the Good Eddie,
and have been a member ever since.

To my knowledge the provisional registry
wasn't used again until the reflagging of the
Kuwaiti tankers. By then, the merchant marine
had declined to such a degree, and the
unlicensed unions had become so weak, that
there were no protests, and no seamen
demonstrating in Washington. How times do
change!