About the Author

Captain Hank Bracker is a graduate of Admiral Farragut Academy which was in Pine Beach, New Jersey, and Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. His graduate studies were in education at the State of Connecticut University System, as well as language studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and the S.U.N.Y. University in New Paltz, New York. Hank was involved in teachers' labor relations as the President of The Connecticut State Instructors' Organization. He is presently the President of CSEA/SEIU Chapter 425 of the Connecticut State Employees Association Retiree Chapter, in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Captain Hank is also a member of the Propeller Club of America, and The Council of American Master Mariners in Tampa, Florida. Working in the Maritime Industry, Captain Hank was a Harbor Pilot for the Port of Monrovia, Liberia. He was also the Captain of coastal cargo vessels in West Africa and in the United States, where he piloted coastal tankers from Eastport, Maine, to the Chesapeake Bay. With the U.S. Navy in New York, he served as the head of the Navigation Department and was the Navy Port Captain for the Military Sea Transport Service. His military career spanned over forty years, first as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Naval Reserve and later in the United States Army Reserve, where he was an Officer with the Military Intelligence Corps. For twenty-four years, he was employed by the State of Connecticut, both as a teacher and administrator. He is also a recognized contributor to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. Captain Hank's career took him to Cuba during the years of the Castro Revolution, creating a long-lasting interest in the history of this Island Nation.