PRESS RELEASE: LOOSE LIPS - SAVE SHIPS

PRESS RELEASE: Scotts Valley, CA. November XX, 2019: Today, America’s Supremacy on the High Seas is being seriously challenged by Russia, China and Iran. While the United States Navy is strong and well equipped, the United States Merchant Marine, that provides 95% of the supplies for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, has less than 100 U.S. Flag Cargo Ships available for military resupply.

In the first 4 months of World War II, 114 merchant ships were sunk. This is not only an issue about the number of ships. This is also an issue about the crews to operate these ships. Currently, America is short over 1800 Mariners to operate our current inventory of U.S. Flag merchant ships.

Significantly, this is the third time in American history that we have allowed the Merchant Marine to deteriorate.

This situation could prove catastrophic in a future war. This is an Achilles Heel. Russia, China and Iran’s military are fully aware of this weakness in U.S. Military Overseas Operations. This is a real National Security Emergency.

Making this issue more complicated, few Americans are even aware of the existence of the United States Merchant Marine. Despite the Merchant Marine's critical importance to National Security, even fewer Americans are aware of the Merchant Marine’s role in American History.

At a time when the Jones Act is being challenged, the maritime industry requires public support to be able to secure the Congressional support necessary for the significant subsidies that will be required to permit America to rebuild its international ocean-going maritime fleet.

The deterioration of our merchant fleet has been occurring over decades. In an effort to bring the plight of the Merchant Marine to National attention, the documentary film, The Last Liberty was, originally, produced in the 1980’s, when America still had 350 ships. Today, America has less then 100 ocean-going merchant ships in a World Fleet of over 50,000 ships in International Trade.

Recent actions by President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin have made the original film, The Last Liberty, strikingly prophetic. Employing the narration track from Original film and significant new historic and contemporary footage, created an opportunity to craft a modern tale for today’s Americans: the documentary film Lessons of the Last Liberty.

Lessons of the Last Liberty provides a modern perspective of the historical importance of the United States Merchant Marine from 1776 to Today. Starring President Franklin Roosevelt, President Vladimir Putin, with a cameo appearance by Humphrey Bogart.

Lessons of the Last Liberty will, initially, be distributed through a Loose Lips – Save Ships Affiliate Marketing Program to the 650,000 U.S. Maritime Industry workers. Whereby, the various Maritime Museums, Historic Ships, Maritime Unions and Maritime Organizations will be able to generate revenue for their individual organizations, that preserve maritime history, by alerting their membership to this historic film. This Tell of Friend program permits a portion of the rental or sale of the video to be returned to the organization that originated the original lead.

However, this Loose Lips – Save Ships program is only networking within the Maritime Industry and Navy. What is needed to alert the American people is a National Merchant Marine Marketing Campaign. that will permit the Merchant Marine Story to reach beyond the Maritime Industry and Navy to reach Americans a hundred or a thousand miles from salt water, who have no idea that the Merchant Marine even exists.

Lessons of the Last Liberty is an opportunity to bring the story of the United States Merchant Marine to a new generation of Americans by Connecting the Dots – Through Maritime History.

The intent of this film is to bring all Americans to together with an understanding of our common history, so that we actually do something to rebuild our U.S. Flag Merchant Fleet and their supporting Mariners.

The documentary film Lessons of the Last Liberty is, now, available at www.thelastliberty.com Contact: Robert Ferrand producer@thelastliberty.com 650-576-3334