What's Your Story? LLS, Revised
London Steverson
London Eugene Livingston Steverson is a retired Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) and Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). He is known as being one the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the Coast Guard, he was charged with recruiting minority candidates as a means of desegregating the Coast Guard Academy. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988. In 1990 he was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration. He is author of seven books and a member of the New York State, New York City, and Tennessee Bar Associations.[1]
(London EuGene (above, right) and Gary Anthony)
(Above, Karen Yvonne Steverson)
Even at the age of 13, Steverson was pursuing the Greek Ideal of a strong mind in a strong body.
He was ready for the rigorous regimen he would face at the Coast Guard Academy.
He is a 1964 graduate of Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee where he graduated valedictorian.[2]
(London Steverson's High School Graduation photo in 1964.)
(A family photo taken in December 1964 at the Blue Light Studio, Memphis, TN.)
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[3] but the service academies lagged in officer recruiting.
President Kennedy specifically challenged the Coast Guard Academy to increase appointments to qualified black high school students.
Steverson was one of the first to be offered such an appointment in 1964, becoming the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. He had a Black classmate from New Jersey, Kenny Boyd. They would become known as "The Kennedy Cadets", because the pressure to recruit them originated with President John F. Kennedy.
On June 4, 1968, Steverson graduated the Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and a commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.[4]
In 1974, while still an active duty member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University. He graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.[5]
(Above
is CGC Glacier (WAGB-4) as she appeared in 1968-1972. Two Navy Flight
Crews were onboard. Steverson flew on the helicopters from the ship to
McMurdo Station to pick up the mail several times.)
He deployed to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, Operations Deep Freeze. He noticed how difficult it was to see the ship below in the ice because it was painted white. Only the Flight Deck was black, and that was less than a third of the ship in length.
In the After Action Reports, Steverson recommended that consideration be given to painting the vessel a bright International Orange color in order to render it more visible in the Antarctic pack ice.
(Above, the USCGC Glacvier with a new coat of paint, in International Orange.)
Some years later the recommendation was adopted, CGC Glacier was painted International orange.
Aside from standing 4 hours watches as The Officer of The Day and breaking ice, his duties were to support the research operations of the USARPS (United States Antarctic Research Project Scientists) and the (NSF) National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station.
(Sailing into the ice fields at Antarctica for the first time was a Defining Moment.)
The USARPS were comprised of leading scientists in the field of Oceanography from prominent American universities and leading universities around the World. They were under the command of a Coast Guard Officer, CDR Jim Seabrooke. The scientists had good senses of humor. They joked that USARPS really was an abbreviation for Useless Scientific And Ridiculous Projects.
Bob Dale was in charge of the NSF crew. He was assisted by Norman and Susie Bruer. They commanded a NSF research vessel and worked out of Punta Arenas, Chile.
During the 1969 patrol Glacier responded to a request for assistance from the Argentine icebreaker General San Martin, which had become beset in the ice. With Glacier's assistance, General San Martin was freed.
His next assignment was at Coast Guard District Seventeen in Juneau, Alaska from 1970 to 1972 as a duty Search and Rescue (SAR) officer. Steverson was the duty SAR officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The aircraft was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the SAR effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.
(Above, see USCGC Storis moored alongside teh Soviet F/V LAMUT on January19, 1972.)
Steverson was involved during the seizure of two Soviet fishing vessels, the F/V Coljvan and the F/V Lamut for illegal fishing in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In a dramatic law enforcement action, on January 17, 1972, USCGC STORIS found two Soviet fishing vessels within the territorial waters of the United States. Radar picked up the two vessels inside the protective zone and upon further investigation, STORIS found the 278-foot fishing vessel, KOLJVAN offloading its catch to the 362-foot fish processor LAMUT in violation of U.S. laws. STORIS sent armed boarding parties aboard each of the Soviet ships and ordered them to the naval base in Adak, Alaska.
The initial attempts at seizing the Soviet vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the two vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Soviet Air Force MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as U.S. fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the vessels changed course and steamed back toward Alaska, where the U.S. Attorney from Anchorage was waiting to prosecute the vessels.
Taking advantage of his icebreaker experience, Steverson was also assigned as the Seventeenth District's first collateral duty Ice Operations Officer. With the increased activity around Point Barrow and on the North Slope of Alaska brought on by the discovery of the vast oil reserves, more Coast Guard icebreakers were making patrols north of the Bering Sea.
He traveled the country looking for qualified minority high school students who could compete for admission. Since the Coast Guard Academy is the only one of the United States military academies that does not require a Congressional appointment, and admission is strictly on the basis of the Scholastic Aptitude Test with additional consideration of extra-curricular involvement, minority applicants stood a better chance of being admitted to the Coast Guard Academy than to Annapolis, West Point or the Air Force Academy.
His efforts were rewarded in 1973 when 28 Black cadets were sworn into the Class of 1977, and again in 1974 when 20 Black cadets were admitted as part of the Class of 1978. It was from these cadets that the Coast Guard's first African-American officers of flag rank were to come in the 1990s; officers such as Captain Joseph Jones, Rear Admiral Errol Brown and Vice Admiral Manson K. Brown.[6]
While Steverson was charged first and foremost with recruiting cadets for the Coast Guard Academy (because that is where the bulk of the career officers came from), he was also requested to find minority college graduates who were willing receive direct commissions as lawyers and as aviators. These officers were already college graduates and had no need to attend the four year Academy, instead received a three-month orientation at the Coast Guard Officer Training Center.
He recruited several people from the Vanderbilt University Law School.
After serving two years in this position, he was replaced by the Academy's first graduate from Guam, Juan Tudela Salas.[7]
These law specialists were line officers who had passed the bar exam who would rotate out of Coast Guard legal billets. Frequently these "out of specialty" tours were in law-related areas.
Steverson worked as a Law Specialist in the 12th Coast Guard District Office, San Francisco, California and as an Assistant U. S. Attorney for the collection of Civil Penalties under the Federal Boating Safety Act from 1979 to 1982. As Assistant District Legal Officer, he was required to defend as well as prosecute military members who had been charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Occasionally he was asked to represent other officers in administrative actions involving sexual harassment and discrimination.
One such case was the Case of Christine D. Balboni against the Department of Transportation and the United States Coast Guard (DOT Case No. 82-177). Ensign (ENS) Balboni was one of the first female graduates of the Coast Guard Academy. She graduated in the Class of 1981 and was assigned to USCGC Rush, a high endurance cutter stationed in Alameda, California. She filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment against three senior officers onboard RUSH. She alleged that false special fitness reports had been written concerning her and that the captain of the ship had requested her immediate transfer off the ship long before her normal rotation date.
After no other lawyer would take her case, CDR Ronald Mathews, Chief of The 12th District Legal Office, assigned LCDR Steverson to represent ENS Balboni in a formal departmental administrative hearing before a federal administrative law judge. The charges made by ENS Balboni were determined to be valid. The relief granted was to have the false special fitness reports removed from her service record and destroyed. She was promoted to the next higher rank. While her career was saved, no disciplinary action was ever taken against the offending officers.[8]
Steverson next served a four-year tour of duty as the Chief Marine Investigating Officer[9] at Marine Inspection Office in Battery Park, New York from 1982 to 1986. This job was similar to that of a city prosecutor. With a staff of ten investigating officers, he oversaw the investigation of marine casualties for negligence and causes of action. Any marine personnel found to have violated a marine safety law would be charged and tried before a Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge at the World Trade Center.
In the case of a major marine disaster with multiple loss of life, a formal Board of Inquiry would be convened under the direction of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). These Inquiries often would result in promulgation of new marine safety regulations under Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
One such incident was the Case of The Joan LaRie III, a charter fishing vessel that sank of the coast of New Jersey on October 24, 1982.[10] On Sunday, October 24, 1982, the charter fishing boat Joan LaRie III was returning from a sport fishing trip when it was struck by a big wave about 8.5 nautical miles east of Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey, about 11:16am. The boat was swamped, and about 11:46 it sank. Of the 22 persons onboard, both crew members and 4 passengers were drowned; 2 passengers were missing and presumed dead.
Steverson represented the Government at a formal Board of Inquiry was convened under the direction of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to determine the cause of the incident. It was determined to me mechanical failure. One of the local divers who took part in the rescue and investigation was given a Coast Guard Commendation Award. He was Patrick Yannaton.
In 1986 he was detailed to the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System (NNBIS) under the Office of Vice President at the time, George H. W. Bush.
When he retired in 1988 he became the first African-American Coast Guard Academy graduate to retire as a regular line office from the United States Coast Guard.
Steverson worked in the World Trade Center (WTC) for 2 years in Room 313. His DD-214 Certificate of Discharge from the military lists his last Duty Station as NNBIS at the WTC, New York, NY.
In July 1990 he was appointed a federal administrative law judge by the Social Security Administration during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
He was assigned to the Ninth Region of the Social Security Office of Hearings and Appeals in California.[12] He resided in Downey City, CA, where he was president of the Downey Sister City Association for seven years, and an International Peace Ambassador.
The Steverson Collection at www.ekmk.hu and the Steverson Collection Book Club[13] were his major attempts to improve literacy and to spread American culture in the non-English speaking countries of Europe. He donated his extensive personal collection of new, used, and rare English books to the American Corners of Hungary. In April 2009 he was awarded the Cultural Diplomacy Award by the American Ambassabor. He is married and divides his time between the United States and Hungary where he provides technical advice to the American Corner of the U. S. Embassy for the Steverson Collection and the Steverson Collection Book Club. [14]
1. Coast Guard Unit Commendation Ribbon 2. Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon 3. National Defense Service Medal 4. Antarctic Service Medal 5. Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon 6. USCG Expert Rifle Ribbon 7. USCG Expert Pistol Ribbon.
"Who is London Steverson?", Omnilexica, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
Five Drowned As Fishing Boat Capsizes Off Jersey Shore, New York Times, 25 Oct 1982.
"About: London Steverson", Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
Truman Library - Executive Order 9981
"Black cadets at the United States Coast Guard Academy", Wikipedia, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Prominent Alumni by Field: Law", George Washington University Alumni, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Vice Admiral Manson Brown of the U.S. Coast Guard", Diversity Careers in Engineering and Technology, Winter 2013/Spring 2014, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Black cadets at the United States Coast Guard Academy", Wikipedia, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Coast Guard Captain tells court of steamy sex at sea", Ottawa Citizen, February 22, 1984, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"INQUIRY ON SINKING ENDS WITH RESCUE TESTIMONY", New York Times, November 6, 1982, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Lieut.
Comdr. London L. Steverson and Capt. Ronald C. Pickup appear during
Coast Guard inquiry into the sinking of the vessel Joan La Rie III.", The Courtroom Sketches of Ida Libby Dengrove, 1982, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"African-Americans in Coast Guard History: A Historical Chronology", United States Coast Guard Historian's Office, Last Updated July 24, 2015, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Social Security Administration, Office of Hearings and Appeals", OHA Telephone Directory, September 2003, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"America Week 2015 - Steverson Collection Book Club", American Corner Hungary Veszprem, March 24, 2015, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Steverson Collection Book Club Celebrates 100th Session", Military Justice, November 2, 2011, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
"Upcoming Programmes in the American Corner", University of Pannonia, October 14, 2011, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
London Eugene Livingston Steverson is a retired Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) and Social Security Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). He is known as being one the first two African Americans to graduate from the United States Coast Guard Academy. Later, as chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the Coast Guard, he was charged with recruiting minority candidates as a means of desegregating the Coast Guard Academy. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1988. In 1990 he was appointed to the bench as a Federal Administrative Law Judge with the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Social Security Administration. He is author of seven books and a member of the New York State, New York City, and Tennessee Bar Associations.[1]
Contents
Early life and education
Judge Steverson was born and raised in Millington, Tennessee, the oldest of three children of Jerome and Ruby Steverson. They were London EuGene, Gary Anthony and Karen Yvonne.
He is a 1964 graduate of Woodstock High School in Memphis, Tennessee where he graduated valedictorian.[2]
(London Steverson's High School Graduation photo in 1964.)
A Presidential Executive Order issued by President Truman had desegregated the armed forces in 1948,[3] but the service academies lagged in officer recruiting.
President Kennedy specifically challenged the Coast Guard Academy to increase appointments to qualified black high school students.
Steverson was one of the first to be offered such an appointment in 1964, becoming the second African American to enter the previously all-white military academy. He had a Black classmate from New Jersey, Kenny Boyd. They would become known as "The Kennedy Cadets", because the pressure to recruit them originated with President John F. Kennedy.
On June 4, 1968, Steverson graduated the Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and a commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Coast Guard.[4]
In 1974, while still an active duty member of the Coast Guard, Steverson entered The National Law Center of The George Washington University. He graduated in 1977 with a Juris Doctor of Laws Degree.[5]
Career
U.S. Coast Guard
Operational Assignments
Steverson's first duty assignment was the Antarctic research logistical support vessel USCGC Glacier (WAGB-4), where he served as Deck Watch Officer and head of the Marine Science Division Officer.
He deployed to Antarctica during two patrols from July 1968 to August 1969, Operations Deep Freeze. He noticed how difficult it was to see the ship below in the ice because it was painted white. Only the Flight Deck was black, and that was less than a third of the ship in length.
In the After Action Reports, Steverson recommended that consideration be given to painting the vessel a bright International Orange color in order to render it more visible in the Antarctic pack ice.
Some years later the recommendation was adopted, CGC Glacier was painted International orange.
Aside from standing 4 hours watches as The Officer of The Day and breaking ice, his duties were to support the research operations of the USARPS (United States Antarctic Research Project Scientists) and the (NSF) National Science Foundation's Antarctic Research Project in and around McMurdo Station.
(Sailing into the ice fields at Antarctica for the first time was a Defining Moment.)
The USARPS were comprised of leading scientists in the field of Oceanography from prominent American universities and leading universities around the World. They were under the command of a Coast Guard Officer, CDR Jim Seabrooke. The scientists had good senses of humor. They joked that USARPS really was an abbreviation for Useless Scientific And Ridiculous Projects.
Bob Dale was in charge of the NSF crew. He was assisted by Norman and Susie Bruer. They commanded a NSF research vessel and worked out of Punta Arenas, Chile.
During the 1969 patrol Glacier responded to a request for assistance from the Argentine icebreaker General San Martin, which had become beset in the ice. With Glacier's assistance, General San Martin was freed.
His next assignment was at Coast Guard District Seventeen in Juneau, Alaska from 1970 to 1972 as a duty Search and Rescue (SAR) officer. Steverson was the duty SAR officer on September 4, 1971 when an emergency call was received that an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 airline passenger plane was overdue at Juneau airport. This was a Saturday and the weather was foggy with drizzling rain. Visibility was less than one-quarter mile. The aircraft was en route to Seattle, Washington from Anchorage, Alaska with a scheduled stop in Juneau. There were 109 people on board and there were no survivors. Steverson received the initial alert message and began the coordination of the SAR effort. In a matter of hours the wreckage from the plane, with no survivors, was located on the side of a mountain about five miles from the airport. Later a full investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause of the accident was equipment failure.
Steverson was involved during the seizure of two Soviet fishing vessels, the F/V Coljvan and the F/V Lamut for illegal fishing in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In a dramatic law enforcement action, on January 17, 1972, USCGC STORIS found two Soviet fishing vessels within the territorial waters of the United States. Radar picked up the two vessels inside the protective zone and upon further investigation, STORIS found the 278-foot fishing vessel, KOLJVAN offloading its catch to the 362-foot fish processor LAMUT in violation of U.S. laws. STORIS sent armed boarding parties aboard each of the Soviet ships and ordered them to the naval base in Adak, Alaska.
The initial attempts at seizing the Soviet vessels almost precipitated an international incident when the two vessels refused to proceed to a U. S. port, and instead sailed toward the Kamchatka Peninsula. Soviet Air Force MIG fighter planes were scrambled, as well as U.S. fighter planes from Elmendorf Air Force Base before the vessels changed course and steamed back toward Alaska, where the U.S. Attorney from Anchorage was waiting to prosecute the vessels.
Taking advantage of his icebreaker experience, Steverson was also assigned as the Seventeenth District's first collateral duty Ice Operations Officer. With the increased activity around Point Barrow and on the North Slope of Alaska brought on by the discovery of the vast oil reserves, more Coast Guard icebreakers were making patrols north of the Bering Sea.
USCG Minority Recruiting
In July 1972, Steverson was reassigned from Alaska to Washington, D.C. to become the Chief of the newly formed Minority Recruiting Section of the Coast Guard, and was charged with working toward desegregating the nearly all-white Officer Corps, starting with the United States Coast Guard Academy. From 1876 until 1962 the Academy had not admitted any African-American cadets. One graduated in 1966, two graduated in 1968 (including Steverson) and one graduated in 1970. After that none were admitted until Steverson was placed in charge of the national recruiting effort. As the second minority cadet to enter and graduate from this institution, Steverson was offered this newly created assignment.He traveled the country looking for qualified minority high school students who could compete for admission. Since the Coast Guard Academy is the only one of the United States military academies that does not require a Congressional appointment, and admission is strictly on the basis of the Scholastic Aptitude Test with additional consideration of extra-curricular involvement, minority applicants stood a better chance of being admitted to the Coast Guard Academy than to Annapolis, West Point or the Air Force Academy.
His efforts were rewarded in 1973 when 28 Black cadets were sworn into the Class of 1977, and again in 1974 when 20 Black cadets were admitted as part of the Class of 1978. It was from these cadets that the Coast Guard's first African-American officers of flag rank were to come in the 1990s; officers such as Captain Joseph Jones, Rear Admiral Errol Brown and Vice Admiral Manson K. Brown.[6]
While Steverson was charged first and foremost with recruiting cadets for the Coast Guard Academy (because that is where the bulk of the career officers came from), he was also requested to find minority college graduates who were willing receive direct commissions as lawyers and as aviators. These officers were already college graduates and had no need to attend the four year Academy, instead received a three-month orientation at the Coast Guard Officer Training Center.
He recruited several people from the Vanderbilt University Law School.
After serving two years in this position, he was replaced by the Academy's first graduate from Guam, Juan Tudela Salas.[7]
Law
The Coast Guard does not have a separate Judge Advocate General's (JAG) staff corps. Coast Guard lawyers were referred to as "law specialists".
These law specialists were line officers who had passed the bar exam who would rotate out of Coast Guard legal billets. Frequently these "out of specialty" tours were in law-related areas.
Steverson worked as a Law Specialist in the 12th Coast Guard District Office, San Francisco, California and as an Assistant U. S. Attorney for the collection of Civil Penalties under the Federal Boating Safety Act from 1979 to 1982. As Assistant District Legal Officer, he was required to defend as well as prosecute military members who had been charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). Occasionally he was asked to represent other officers in administrative actions involving sexual harassment and discrimination.
One such case was the Case of Christine D. Balboni against the Department of Transportation and the United States Coast Guard (DOT Case No. 82-177). Ensign (ENS) Balboni was one of the first female graduates of the Coast Guard Academy. She graduated in the Class of 1981 and was assigned to USCGC Rush, a high endurance cutter stationed in Alameda, California. She filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment against three senior officers onboard RUSH. She alleged that false special fitness reports had been written concerning her and that the captain of the ship had requested her immediate transfer off the ship long before her normal rotation date.
After no other lawyer would take her case, CDR Ronald Mathews, Chief of The 12th District Legal Office, assigned LCDR Steverson to represent ENS Balboni in a formal departmental administrative hearing before a federal administrative law judge. The charges made by ENS Balboni were determined to be valid. The relief granted was to have the false special fitness reports removed from her service record and destroyed. She was promoted to the next higher rank. While her career was saved, no disciplinary action was ever taken against the offending officers.[8]
Steverson next served a four-year tour of duty as the Chief Marine Investigating Officer[9] at Marine Inspection Office in Battery Park, New York from 1982 to 1986. This job was similar to that of a city prosecutor. With a staff of ten investigating officers, he oversaw the investigation of marine casualties for negligence and causes of action. Any marine personnel found to have violated a marine safety law would be charged and tried before a Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge at the World Trade Center.
In the case of a major marine disaster with multiple loss of life, a formal Board of Inquiry would be convened under the direction of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). These Inquiries often would result in promulgation of new marine safety regulations under Title 46 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
One such incident was the Case of The Joan LaRie III, a charter fishing vessel that sank of the coast of New Jersey on October 24, 1982.[10] On Sunday, October 24, 1982, the charter fishing boat Joan LaRie III was returning from a sport fishing trip when it was struck by a big wave about 8.5 nautical miles east of Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey, about 11:16am. The boat was swamped, and about 11:46 it sank. Of the 22 persons onboard, both crew members and 4 passengers were drowned; 2 passengers were missing and presumed dead.
Steverson represented the Government at a formal Board of Inquiry was convened under the direction of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to determine the cause of the incident. It was determined to me mechanical failure. One of the local divers who took part in the rescue and investigation was given a Coast Guard Commendation Award. He was Patrick Yannaton.
In 1986 he was detailed to the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System (NNBIS) under the Office of Vice President at the time, George H. W. Bush.
When he retired in 1988 he became the first African-American Coast Guard Academy graduate to retire as a regular line office from the United States Coast Guard.
Steverson worked in the World Trade Center (WTC) for 2 years in Room 313. His DD-214 Certificate of Discharge from the military lists his last Duty Station as NNBIS at the WTC, New York, NY.
One can easily imagine his emotional trauma on September 11, 2001 when he watched in horror as others who still worked in the WTC jumped without parachutes from the 100th Floor and above to their deaths on the sidewalk below. It is easily understandable that he suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Syndrome (PTSD) as he watched the bodies pile up by the hundreds on the pavement below. People jumped to their certain deaths rather than face the white hot flames and let themselves be bar-b-qued or roasted alive.
LT Steverson had been promoted to the Rank of (O-4) Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) in 1978. He was in the Zone for promotion to Commander (CDR) six or more times between 1978 and 1988. Captain John Eckmann was his Commanding Officer at MIO, New York. As such, it was CAPT Eckmann's duty to formally advise him each time he was eligible for promotion but was not selected for the next higher rank. These were private meetings.
Four times between 1982 and 1986 CAPT Eckmann made that annual trek to LCDR Steverson's Office to tell him that the Selection Board had decline to advance him to the next higher rank. CAPT Eckmann was apologetic and dumbfounded because he had given Steverson the highest ratings possible on the regular Officer Evaluation Forms. According to the OERs, Steverson could "walk on water", but yet the Coast Guard High Command was determined that Steverson would never again rise in rank. Obviously there were forces at work that neither was aware of. If one were to consider that for the last two years he was on active duty, he was directed to submit a urine sample for every unit drug test, a picture would begin to unfold. The Tests were supposed to be "random". For Steverson, they were required. It appears that someone had a score to settle with LCDR Steverson, or perhaps someone was determined to do all in their power to ensure that Steverson did not became the first African-American Coast Guard Academy graduate to retire as a regular line office from the United States Coast Guard. He held the rank of Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) during his last 10 years of service.[11]
Social Security Administration
He initially retired to Dumont, New Jersey and practiced law in New York, with a focus on family law and defending Coast Guardsmen accused of violating the UCMJ or of federal crimes.
In July 1990 he was appointed a federal administrative law judge by the Social Security Administration during the administration of President George H.W. Bush.
He was assigned to the Ninth Region of the Social Security Office of Hearings and Appeals in California.[12] He resided in Downey City, CA, where he was president of the Downey Sister City Association for seven years, and an International Peace Ambassador.
Retirement
In April 2009 he retired from the Social Security Administration Administration and devoted himself to philanthropic endeavors.
The Steverson Collection at www.ekmk.hu and the Steverson Collection Book Club[13] were his major attempts to improve literacy and to spread American culture in the non-English speaking countries of Europe. He donated his extensive personal collection of new, used, and rare English books to the American Corners of Hungary. In April 2009 he was awarded the Cultural Diplomacy Award by the American Ambassabor. He is married and divides his time between the United States and Hungary where he provides technical advice to the American Corner of the U. S. Embassy for the Steverson Collection and the Steverson Collection Book Club. [14]
Bibliography
-
- The Case of CDR Benjamin Strickland: Unrestricted Coast Guard Chronicles (UCGC) Volume 01 Number 01 (Volume 1) (2015)
- CONDUCT UNBECOMING an Officer and a Lady: A Case That Will Live In Infamy. The Conviction of Webster Smith (2011)[15]
- SocialNsecurity: Confessions of a Social Security Judge (2010)[16]
Awards and decorations
The State Department Cultural Diplomacy Award is designed to honor distinguished representatives of American culture whose efforts and artistry advance America's goals of mutual understanding and the deepening of friendship between the United States and others.
1. Coast Guard Unit Commendation Ribbon 2. Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon 3. National Defense Service Medal 4. Antarctic Service Medal 5. Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon 6. USCG Expert Rifle Ribbon 7. USCG Expert Pistol Ribbon.
References
- "Alum pens book about Social Security System", USCGA Alumni Association, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
External links
- Integration of the Armed Forces 1940-1965, chapter 20 Limited Response to Discrimination - includes info about President John F. Kennedy's personal involvement with the first attempts to desegregate the USCG Academy, which was a direct cause of London Steverson's admission into the Academy.
- "PROMISES, PROMISES: For blacks, Coast Guard Academy numbers lag despite decades of effort", Fox News, September 8, 2010, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
- "Notable Alumni", List of George Washington University People, George Washington University Wiki, Retrieved on August 30, 2015.
5 DROWN AS FISHING BOAT CAPSIZES OFF JERSEY SHORE.
POINT PLEASANT, N.J., Oct. 24—
Five men drowned and three others were missing and
presumed lost today when a chartered fishing boat with 22 people on
board foundered in choppy Atlantic seas. The 50-foot boat capsized
within sight of the New Jersey shore about 40 miles south of New York
City.
The boat's captain and the mate were among the dead,
and the cause of the sinking - which occurred while small-craft
warnings were posted for mariners - was not immediately known, the Coast
Guard said.
Some survivors, however, told of a huge wave that
appeared suddenly and struck broadside on the starboard beam, rolling
the boat and her towering flying bridge onto her port side and hurling
passengers and crewmen into the water.
Two Survivors on Critical List
Fourteen people, including one woman, were rescued.
Two were in critical condition from the effects of submersion and
exposure suffered in heaving, 55-degree seas as survivors watched their
stricken vessel, the Joan La Rie III, slowly ship water and sink about
eight and a half miles east of Point Pleasant at about 11:30 A.M.
The survivors clung to life preservers, seat
cushions, doors and other floating debris in six-foot swells and winds
over 20 miles an hour. After up to 90 minutes in the seas, they were
hauled aboard Coast Guard patrol boats and helicopters and the lifeboats
of a passing Brazilian freighter and rushed to hospitals in Point
Pleasant and Neptune.
With hundreds of people on similar fishing
excursions today off the Jersey Shore, hospitals were deluged with
telephone calls from worried friends and relatives.
''Thank God, I'm alive,'' said Vincent Mezzetti, 40
years old, of Warwick, N.Y., whose 20-member group, the Gaelic Cultural
Society of Greenwood Lake, had chartered the 35-passenger vessel at
Point Pleasant Beach for a bluefishing day trip.
Mr. Mezzetti said that a wave much larger than the
swells struck the boat broadside and ''it gently turned the boat over on
its side.'' Those on deck were pitched into the water, he said, and
everyone in the cabin was carried out in the powerful backwash of the
wave, which also tore off the cabin door and sent it adrift.
Rafts on the fishing boat were lashed down, so the
people in the water grabbed and clung to other debris, including life
preservers, ice coolers and seat cushions.
''Some of them,'' Mr. Mezzetti said, ''were hanging
on to pillows that floated off the boat. Some stayed on the boat, but
others swam away because they were afraid they would be taken under when
it sank.''
''Basically, it was every man for himself, but there
was no panic,'' he said. ''People were saying, 'Let's try to stay
together.' ''
Mr. Mezzetti found his 15-year-old son, James, in
the water, and together they clung to the door for about 90 minutes.
''My main concern was keeping the two of us together,'' he said. ''It
was bloody awful cold.''
Six people rescued from the water were taken by
helicopter to the Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune. Five were
pronounced dead on arrival. They were Capt. Charles Housley, 55, of
Ridgewood, N.J., the master; Walter Meisenbacher, 55, of Bricktown,
N.J., the mate; Nicholas Santopietro, 61, of Greenwood Lake, N.Y.; Frank
Jackson, 38, of Middletown, N.Y., and Thomas Nolan, 55, of Southfields,
N.Y.
The sixth person taken to the Jersey Shore hospital,
John Sullivan, 43, of Hamburg, N.J., was reported in critical
condition. Of 13 people taken to Point Pleasant Hospital, one,
7-year-old John Gorman Jr., was in critical condition and three others
were admitted in guarded condition. Nine others were treated for
exposure and released.
The fishing trip had begun before dawn as 19 men and
boys and one woman from the Gaelic Cultural Society left their homes in
the vicinity of northern New Jersey's border with New York about 3
A.M., and drove to Point Pleasant Beach to meet the boat that had been
chartered by John Gorman Sr. of Greenwood Lake.
It was 6 A.M. when the Joan La Rie III shoved off,
bound for bluefishing grounds 10 to 15 miles offshore. ''It was very,
very rough going out,'' Mr. Mezzetti recalled. ''Half the passengers
got sick. We weren't even aware of the smallcraft warnings. The fishing
was very good. I got seven, and one passenger got 26 bluefish.''
At about 10:45 or 10:50 A.M., with most of the
fishermen satisfied, Captain Housley headed back toward shore. The
swells were five to six feet at the time, Mr. Mezzetti said, and many
passengers were sick. About four or five were on deck, and the rest
were in the cabin.
Then the big wave hit, pitching most of those on
board into the water, and the scramble to stay afloat began. Carol
Gorman of Greenwood Lake, the only woman aboard, managed to cling to the
side of the overturned fishing vessel until the boat sank.
The fishing boat had been swamped and overturned so
quickly that there was no time to radio for help. But seamen aboard a
passing Brazilian freighter, the Itape of Rio de Janeiro, spotted the
capsized boat and people in the water and radioed for aid. The
highfrequency signal was picked up by the Coast Guard in Boston and
relayed to New York. Helicopters Aid in Rescue
Three Coast Guard helicopters from Floyd Bennett
Field in Brooklyn, and three Coast Guard patrol boats stationed at
Jersey Shore points were sent to the scene.
In a series of rescues, survivors were hauled aboard
lifeboats from the freighter, then put into hawser slings and lifted
into helicopters, which then ferried them directly to hospitals. Others
were taken aboard Coast Guard vessels that sailed in to meet waiting
ambulances.
Some survivors had body temperatures of 94 degrees.
They were wrapped in hypothermia blankets that use
temperature-controlled liquid to restore normal temperatures slowly.
Point Pleasant Hospital set up a triage operation in
the main lobby with doctors, nurses and technicians giving treatment
first to those survivors who needed it most urgently.
Illustrations: map of New Jersey (page B2) photo of
survivors being removed from helicopter (page B2) photo of boy who
survived sinking being taken from helicopter.
In one of her more dramatic law enforcement missions, on January 17, 1972, STORIS found two Soviet fishing vessels within the territorial waters of the United States. Radar picked up the two vessels inside the protective zone and upon further investigation, STORIS found the 278-foot fishing vessel, KOLJVAN offloading its catch to the 362-foot fish processor LAMUT in violation of U.S. laws. STORIS sent armed boarding parties aboard each of the Soviet ships and ordered them to the naval base in Adak, Alaska.
While the ships were in route to Adak, LAMUT attempted to flee with the Coast Guard boarding party still on board. After an intense one-hour chase, STORIS’ CO, Commander William P. Allen, received permission from the commandant to fire a shot across the bow of LAMUT. STORIS sent a message to LAMUT that she was prepared to open fire and the Soviet vessel stopped. STORIS arrested both Russian masters and took them into custody aboard the cutter. All three ships arrived in Adak and charges were assessed against the two Russian ships.
In the end, the Soviets paid $80,000 in fines and $170,000 in an out-of-court arrangement with the United States, marking an end to the event. Afterwards, the Coast Guard awarded STORIS with a Unit Commendation in Seattle. CDR Allen received a Meritorious Service Medal and the boarding party officers received Commendation Medals. After her dogged pursuit of the Soviet vessels, STORIS earned the nickname “Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast.”
In the above photo USCGC Storis is moored alongside the Soviet F/V LAMUT.
Thursday, January 19, 2017
17 January 1972 - Russian fishing vessels LAMUT and KOLJVAN caught illegally fishing US waters, seized by STORIS
In one of her more dramatic law enforcement missions, on January 17, 1972, STORIS found two Soviet fishing vessels within the territorial waters of the United States. Radar picked up the two vessels inside the protective zone and upon further investigation, STORIS found the 278-foot fishing vessel, KOLJVAN offloading its catch to the 362-foot fish processor LAMUT in violation of U.S. laws. STORIS sent armed boarding parties aboard each of the Soviet ships and ordered them to the naval base in Adak, Alaska.
While the ships were in route to Adak, LAMUT attempted to flee with the Coast Guard boarding party still on board. After an intense one-hour chase, STORIS’ CO, Commander William P. Allen, received permission from the commandant to fire a shot across the bow of LAMUT. STORIS sent a message to LAMUT that she was prepared to open fire and the Soviet vessel stopped. STORIS arrested both Russian masters and took them into custody aboard the cutter. All three ships arrived in Adak and charges were assessed against the two Russian ships.
In the end, the Soviets paid $80,000 in fines and $170,000 in an out-of-court arrangement with the United States, marking an end to the event. Afterwards, the Coast Guard awarded STORIS with a Unit Commendation in Seattle. CDR Allen received a Meritorious Service Medal and the boarding party officers received Commendation Medals. After her dogged pursuit of the Soviet vessels, STORIS earned the nickname “Galloping Ghost of the Alaskan Coast.”
In the above photo USCGC Storis is moored alongside the Soviet F/V LAMUT.
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