I’ve been inspired, again. Over the past few years I’ve found numerous things to inspire decisions I’ve made regarding this project. As I’ve acted on these decisions, I’ve found more success than failure, so it keeps me wanting to see what happens if I keep it up. For instance, at one point a few years ago I decided to seek an explorer who might be interested in helping me locate, document and film the wreck of STRONG. My first effort died in the water, so to speak. I didn’t give up and eventually met David Mearns of Blue Water Recoveries, LTD. If we are ever to kick this goal off my bucket list, David is the one who will get us there. Much remains to be done and nothing is certain, but I feel we are on the right track. Next, I thought it might be cool to start a web site to get the word out about the project and hopefully pull more people into the project. That has proved to be a true bounty, as over the past 2.5 years it’s been live I’ve located many more family members of STRONG men. Many of you have found me on your own and I couldn’t be happier. Then, I always thought the STRONG story deserved a book, a comprehensive well written book that told her story and the story of her men. Again, good fortune smiled on me the day I got the first email from Stephen Harding back in 2013. That book is in progress and due to be released in the middle of 2016. So far, I’m batting 1000. That gives me hope for my next set of bucket list goals, and those revolve around locating and documenting the ship. After watching the live stream (and then re-watching it) by Paul Allen and his research team from the wreck site of the IJN MUSASHI in the Sibuyan Sea of the Philippines (see link to project on previous blog), it triggered a lot of pistons in my brain.
In the beginning, aside from a way to honor my great-uncle Billy and his shipmates I had thoughts of using the STRONG expedition should it come to be, as an educational and informational tool. Billy was a teacher prior to joining the Naval Reserve, and I believe he would be totally on board with something such as this. Over 500,000 people from around the world watched the live stream broadcast. That was a one-time deal as far as we know. No one but Mr. Allen has done this before. So what if you had a game plan for an expedition, from start to finish, documenting the steps along the way, something that could be accessed at any time by thousands of people? My idea for following an expedition on film is to do this in short vignettes, maybe no more than 10 minutes each that would describe the events leading up to the discovery, cover the discovery and then the aftermath. In these shorts we could discuss the history of the ship and even focus on some individual stories of the men. There would be primers on the equipment (ROV’s, AUV’s) used to locate the site, such as was seen for the MUSASHI. We could have someone discuss the history of the Solomon Islands during WW2 and the part the islanders played in helping the allies gain control. In addition there could be lessons on weather patterns, geology and volcanism, ocean currents, local wildlife and ecology – so many topics could be covered. These films could be posted on a web site dedicated to school children from kindergarten to high school. I’d especially like to have a focus toward high school kids working to decide on a career path, some things to consider when choosing a major for college. How many different job types are involved in the exploration industry? There are meteorologists, biologists, archaeologists, engineers, historians, marine scientists, mechanics- just a few examples of the many different vocations involved in this type of industry.
In the past I have worked with kids of all ages on many levels. I miss that. This would be the perfect vehicle for pulling in kids, teachers and parents. The key is education and information. Do it in a manner that is entertaining and engaging and offer it to the world. I believe this is one way to help foster concern for these resources and to build respect for the sites that remain to be discovered. Kids dig deep sea exploration, and I for one can never get enough of watching anything on this topic that comes up on NatGeo, Discovery, History Channel or whatever. The kid in me is never satisfied. Let’s feed this information to our children in a way that keeps them seeking and searching for more. Let’s show them the world under the sea, the exploration of this world as they have never seen it. I’d love it to be interactive, where questions could be submitted and responses posted. This way they would know they are heard and their thoughts are important.
It would be awesome to have the resources to pull this off. Bucket list has been updated, and the universe has been notified. I’ve been inspired.
-Tammi
In the beginning, aside from a way to honor my great-uncle Billy and his shipmates I had thoughts of using the STRONG expedition should it come to be, as an educational and informational tool. Billy was a teacher prior to joining the Naval Reserve, and I believe he would be totally on board with something such as this. Over 500,000 people from around the world watched the live stream broadcast. That was a one-time deal as far as we know. No one but Mr. Allen has done this before. So what if you had a game plan for an expedition, from start to finish, documenting the steps along the way, something that could be accessed at any time by thousands of people? My idea for following an expedition on film is to do this in short vignettes, maybe no more than 10 minutes each that would describe the events leading up to the discovery, cover the discovery and then the aftermath. In these shorts we could discuss the history of the ship and even focus on some individual stories of the men. There would be primers on the equipment (ROV’s, AUV’s) used to locate the site, such as was seen for the MUSASHI. We could have someone discuss the history of the Solomon Islands during WW2 and the part the islanders played in helping the allies gain control. In addition there could be lessons on weather patterns, geology and volcanism, ocean currents, local wildlife and ecology – so many topics could be covered. These films could be posted on a web site dedicated to school children from kindergarten to high school. I’d especially like to have a focus toward high school kids working to decide on a career path, some things to consider when choosing a major for college. How many different job types are involved in the exploration industry? There are meteorologists, biologists, archaeologists, engineers, historians, marine scientists, mechanics- just a few examples of the many different vocations involved in this type of industry.
In the past I have worked with kids of all ages on many levels. I miss that. This would be the perfect vehicle for pulling in kids, teachers and parents. The key is education and information. Do it in a manner that is entertaining and engaging and offer it to the world. I believe this is one way to help foster concern for these resources and to build respect for the sites that remain to be discovered. Kids dig deep sea exploration, and I for one can never get enough of watching anything on this topic that comes up on NatGeo, Discovery, History Channel or whatever. The kid in me is never satisfied. Let’s feed this information to our children in a way that keeps them seeking and searching for more. Let’s show them the world under the sea, the exploration of this world as they have never seen it. I’d love it to be interactive, where questions could be submitted and responses posted. This way they would know they are heard and their thoughts are important.
It would be awesome to have the resources to pull this off. Bucket list has been updated, and the universe has been notified. I’ve been inspired.
-Tammi
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