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Our connection to the Navy SEALS

By A Treasure Coast essay by Paul Janensch

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wqcs/local-wqcs-967605.mp3

Fort Pierce, FL – After a Navy SEALS operation killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, under orders from President Obama, the Treasure Coast's own Navy UDT-SEAL Museum found itself in the spotlight. It is the only museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Navy SEALS - which stands for Sea, Air and Land - and their predecessors, the Underwater Demolition Teams and other "Frogmen" who trained on the shore there from 1943 to 1946. When I went to the museum last Tuesday, about twice as many people were visiting as on a normal May weekday. A television truck was parked outside. Other TV crews already had been there. The Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers had published a story saying the museum is trying to get artifacts from the successful raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. They could be showcased in the new part of the museum nearing completion. If you go to the museum, don't miss the 28-foot lifeboat on which a cargo ship's captain was held captive by Somali pirates in April 2009. On orders from President Obama, Navy SEALS took out the pirates with precise sniper fire and rescued the captain. The museum is in Fort Pierce on highway A-1-A on North Hutchinson Island. It's well worth a visit. For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.

Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch is a former newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.