By this message, I want to recognize a "special" contributor to the ALCWMB, Mr. Greg Starbuck.

Mr. Starbuck is the Director of Education and Programs at the Port Columbus Civil War Naval Center in Columbus, GA.

If you are not familiar with this wonderful facility you may visit their website at: http://www.portcolumbus.org/portcolumbus.htm

I first became familiar with this museum several years ago as I have an interest in Civil War era ironclads. On display at the museum are the hull remains of the ironclad CSS Jackson (Muscogee) and the gunboat CSS Chattahoochee.

The museum has numerous artifacts on display, as well as, modern recreations of a hull-section of the USS Hartford and, one of the major exhibits in the new museum is a view of the CSS Albemarle sitting dockside in Plymouth, North Carolina in October 1864. The casemate is open for touring and includes a special theater section where visitors experience several combat episodes with U.S. Navy ships.

If you have queries about naval engagements in Alabama, sailors of Alabama, etc., Mr. Starbuck is certainly an authority and representative of an organization that can answer your questions.

If you've not visited the museum, plan a weekend trip, it's fantastic.

Jim Martin