Mr. America

Mr. America, 1971 while serving on the USS Sellers (DDG-11) and deployed in the Mediterrean Sea our Captain determined that we needed to take a day off. We held a Swim Call. The Motor Whale Boat was put in the water with a coxswain, an engineer and a gunner's made armed to shoot any sharks. With this set up we all felt safe and we dived off of the Fantail into the water about fifteen feet below. We boarded the ship using a cargo net that was rigged over the side. A volunteer photographer for our Cruise Book took this picture and the Swim Suit has now become an icon for the "Flower Child" to model every Fourth of July. The bottom two view are from July 4, 2007 in the Pocket Garden near the Home of the "Flower Child."