Photograph of Wallis Sands Life-Saving Crew wearing “storm suits” with cork life vests, no date. From U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, U.S. Coast Guard Museum.
World War I was a war that most people wanted to forget. It was a terrible time both for the brave men and women in service, but also for those who remained at home. No one was safe from the influenza scourge that took so many young lives.
Not all heroic service was performed across the sea on the battlefields of Belgium and France. The job of protecting the local seas was an important priority. George Henry Stenstream was a man who is today mostly forgotten. He was born on 27 March 1884 in Gloucester MA, son of Capt. Charles & Hulda A. (Hanson) Stenstream. He was only 6 years old when his father, Capt. Charles Stenstream was lost at sea. These losses were something the sea-faring families of the Northeast coast understood. Continue reading
