Posted 5 months ago
Patriotica
(30 items)
There are coffee cups and then there are COFFEE CUPS. You're witty sayings to start your day may not have the same caliber of morning as the coffee cup of Yeoman First Class (Surface Warfare) E-6 Sandra Pack.
In this rare example of a personal item of a military aide to President George W. Bush, YN1 Pack was apparently stationed primarily at Camp David in 2002 since it highlights the Presidential Service Badge in full color on one side and the logo of Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland Catoctin Mountains on the reverse side. The year of 2002 is shown at the bottom by the company that created this personal coffee mug, A&J Mugs of Pensacola, Florida ostensibly her time of service there.
The Presidential Service Badge (see the full item on PSB's on my profile here) has been awarded since 1964 when President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the previous White House Service Badge (see the full item on the WHSB on my profile here, too) retired in favor of a PSB instead. All military personnel stationed at the White House complex or associated presidential properties such as Camp David are awarded the PSB after completing one year of service. All PSB's are numbered in consecutive order and permanently assigned to the military aide as an earned military decoration.
Camp David was renamed in 1953 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for his father and grandson, both named David, to continue it as a 125 acre wooded retreat about a 30 minute Marine One helicopter flight from the White House. It was first used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 converting it from its original use as a Works Progress Administration getaway for federal workers. Roosevelt updated its infrastructure and named it Shangri-La. Today it is a naval facility known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont which explains why YN1 Pack and other Navy personnel are stationed there.
This coffee mug is not standard issue. A&J Mugs confirmed that this mug was personally ordered by YN1 Pack featuring her own special designs to commemorate her service to the president. As a former Army 82nd Airborne paratrooper myself, I thank her for her service not only to the United States, but to the president as well.
Speaking of the president, see my post on the Navy standard coffee mug of Evelyn Lincoln, the personal secretary of President John F. Kennedy, that sports the White House Service Badge, the predecessor of the Presidential Service Badge.
Are there other similar types of coffee mugs that honors one's service in the military, write a comment below.
