Meet 4/C Edward F. Barlage IV, a Facilities Engineering major from Guilford, Connecticut. He attended Guilford Lakes Elementary School, Baldwin Middle School for grades five and six, Elisabeth C. Adams Middle School for grades seven and eight, and Guilford High School.
Spending summers in Cape May, New Jersey and fishing with his dad helped Edward develop a love of being in, on, and by the ocean.
As young Edward drove a boat in Mystic, Connecticut and took the wheel of a Duck Boat in Boston, Massachusetts, he may have been dream of his sea-going career.
Today, Edward is thriving at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He is thrilled that the TS Kennedy will depart for the Caribbean tomorrow. Edward would like to give a shoutout to all of the schools from Connecticut participating in the Follow The Voyage-Share The Experience Program.
Eddie is pictured below driving a Duck Boat in Boston. Today, Duck Boats are tourist attractions in coastal cities across the United States. Perhaps you and your family have taken a tour in one of them. In Boston, the Duck Boats have also been used for celebratory rolling rallies for the Boston Red Sox, the Boston Celtics, New England Patriots, and Boston Bruins after championship seasons.
The original purpose of the boats, however, was much more serious. DUCW boats made their first appearance in 1943 for the Invasion Of Sicily. The “D” stood for the “1942 model". The “U” meant that the boat was “amphibious”. “K” represented “all-wheel drive", and “W” meant “dual rear wheels”. Soldiers nicknamed the boats, “ducks". The name stuck.
Middle school and high school students may enjoy reading this article, Duck Boats Offered A Unique Problem To A World War II Problem.
