In 2007 an underwater survey of the coral reef system off Bahia de la Ascension (Punta Allen, Mexico) discovered 26 anomalies among the reef, ranging from "man-made geometric patterns" to "unusual shadows" to "unusual bottom disturbances" to "possible debris fields." It is the search for and the analysis of the impact of these 26 anomalies that is the subject of this report. A Maritime Education and Research Society (MERS) Diving Team, supported by the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática (INAH) and the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve re-visited the area nine years later to inspect these 26 sites to ensure that the reef system remained healthy despite the findings of such anomalies, many of which were clearly man-made and resting on the reef.

The Maritime Education and Research Society (MERS) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose aims and objectives are to research and to advance education and training in the techniques pertaining to the study of various maritime fields of endeavor for the benefit of the public. Such fields include the continuing assessment of ecological impacts on coral reefs around the world, the research of maritime events that have shaped history, underwater archeology, the training of individuals and groups in the above fields, and the publication of all such research for the continuing education of the public. Our first field study was called The Dorado Expedition and continues to this day. This is a research program to determine if a World War II US submarine was lost on the coral reef system off the Yucatan Peninsula as mentioned by Mexican locals in the 1970s.

The story of USS Serpens (AK-97) is an important chapter in Coast Guard history - the most tragic loss of life in the more than 220 years of Coast Guard service to the United States. Contained within these pages is the official ship's War Diary along with some 200 personal letters sent from Serpens' crew to their friends and loved ones waiting for them to return home. On 29 January 1945, while sitting off Guadalcanal, Serpens exploded. Of the roughly 250 crew and Army stevedores on board at the time, only two Coastguardsmen survived. While this is the story of ship and crew, the final chapter still needs to be written - the awarding of the Purple Heart. It was awarded, the two who survived and several families of those killed received them, and then through misstep or miscommunication, the medal was rescinded. This is not acceptable.

We are a gathering of extraordinary individuals who met under extraordinary circumstances. Coming of age in a small high school in Morocco decades ago, we have something unique in common, and decades later it has somehow never left us. We are the Sultans of Thomas Mack Wilhoite/Kenitra American High School. Be it the first graduating class of three Seniors in 1956 to the last Class of 1976, our experiences as students were sharply tuned to our environment. We were not strangers in a strange land; we were welcomed by the Moroccan people as if we were visiting relatives. The sights, sounds, tastes and smells of Morocco were absorbed by hundreds of students no matter what span of years we were there. We can all relate, and laugh at, similar experiences of our teenage years growing up in and around Kenitra/Port Lyautey, Mehdia Beach, Rabat, and other nearby military bases. Within this book are the memories of those days as told by the former students and teachers of our school.

Thousands of hours of research have culminated in this First Edition of U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and Naval Air Transport Service patrol aircraft lost or damaged during World War II. Within these 600+ pages can be found more than 2,200 patrol aircraft across nearly 300 squadron designations; the majority of the aircraft complete with their stories of how they were lost or damaged or simply Struck Off Charge (SOC) and removed from the Navy's inventory. Of interest to the reader may be the alphabetical Index to the 7,600+ names of Officers, aircrewmen and others mentioned in the book.

At last count, more than 80 U.S. submarines recorded some type of actual "friendly fire" incident in which they were involved during their WWII war patrols. From being attacked by Allied bombers, depth-charged by U.S. ships or fired upon by armed Allied merchant ships, submariners quickly came to understand the bitter truth of the maxim: 'The submarine has no friends.' While the majority of submarines and their crew escaped with little more than bruised egos or minor injuries, three submarines and their crews were lost to friendly fire. For the first time in book format, a serious and most comprehensive research effort has gone into capturing all such "friendly fire" incidents involving U.S. submarines during World War II. Compiled through relentless research by the co-authors, their stories of loss and survival by "other than the enemy" is presented within these pages.

The term "Continuity of Government," or COG, runs from the dubious "duck and cover" method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear explosion to the more serious measures of continual government inventories of grain silos, the Strategic National Stockpile, the uncapping of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the dispersal of transportable bridges, water purification, mobile refineries, mobile de-contamination facilities, mobile general and special purpose disaster mortuary facilities. For anyone researching in the field of COG - from Civil Defense to Presidential succession to the various U.S.-based COG operations (Operations OPAL, ALERT, BUSTER, JANGLE. DESERT ROCK, UPSHOT, KEYHOLE, etc.), this book reflects two years of research by the author within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Of interest may be the first 100 pages on the history of COG and also the listing of thousands of COG-related titles that rest on the shelves in NARA for your additional scrutiny.