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Every now and then we can treat ourselves to a lazy day. How I might describe that is a day doing something you will enjoy but is not a honey do list item or manual labor. I had been wanting to spend some time with a very special friend and treat that him to his day to do what he might enjoy. i friend is becoming more and more unique as he is a WWII veterans of the US Merchant Marine. Retired Seaman Edward Louis Tresch born November 27, 1927 in New Orleans at a little known and no longer The French Hospital. Eddie born right before the Great Depression knew what it was like during those times because it was a struggle for his parents to keep a home to live in. Yes, it was not an easy time for anyone young or old. Finding a job was difficult, even if you wanted to work at any wage. As luck would have it, a relative married a Lenfant, who had the famous Lenfant’s around Canal Blvd. At fourteen his work career in the service industry began as dish washer, bus boy, and back of the house cocktail maker. Lenfant’s was near Bayou St. John where boats were built along its banks. One man later to become a world famous boat builder would eat lunch almost daily and have a few cocktails with other men. That gentleman who had a good appetite and was fond of bonded bourbon was none other than Andrew Higgins. The man whose boats so helped in the invasions in WWII. The war for America began in 1941 and no matter what your age, you wanted to help. Having had a tuff time keeping up with work and school Eddie decided to tell his father he wanted to join the Navy. There was only one slight problem, he was only sixteen years old in early 1944. His parents said with a silent sense go ahead and see if he could enlist. A visit to the recruiting station of the Navy proved useless because of his age. The recruiter suggested go next door to the Coast Guard station to become a merchant marine. That is just what Eddie did. With a promise of enlisting and getting a sailor’s uniform, he was in. At the time as young man, he knew all the good looking young ladies fell in love with a man in a uniform. There was boot camp and training in Florida for this new enlistee. One important goal in order to get rank a able body seaman was to be certified as a lifeboat operator which required hours of rowing in Tampa Bay. That was an easy task for a strong sixteen year old.
