Digest>Sep/Oct 2015

Photo Caption:

On March 9, 1945 a group of U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U. S. Coast Guard personnel gathered at Barbers Point Lighthouse to officially transfer the still-camouflaged painted lighthouse back to the Coast Guard for its peacetime duty of protecting the ships and sailors at sea. On hand for the ceremony and shown standing in the middle was William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey, who was the World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion from 1919 to 1926. Also known as “Kid Blackie” and “The Manassa Mauler,” Dempsey was the public’s most popular boxer of his time. He joined the Coast Guard Reserve in early 1942 as a Lieutenant and was later promoted to Lt. Commander, and then Commander. During World War II he served on a number of vessels and was onboard the attack transport USS Arthur Middleton (APA-25) for the invasion of Okinawa. He was honorably discharged from the Coast Guard in 1952.
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Barbers Point Lighthouse
Back to the edition of: Sep/Oct 2015

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