Historian - November 2007

Over the years, St. John’s Lodge has enjoyed many close associations with members of the Coast Guard. One in particular is the subject of this month’s article. In researching him, I discovered some things that I didn’t know, and many other things that brought back great memories of a wonderful time in our Lodge.

Alvin Charles Bissell was born in Detroit, Michigan on October 21, 1930. As a boy he loved to fish and camp along the lakes and rivers around his home with his parents and grand parents. The love of the water inspired him, and in 1945 he joined the Merchant Marines on the Great Lakes where he sailed on Lake Freighters. On October 30, 1947, he decided to make the military service his career and he enlisted in the Coast Guard. He shipped out right away and attended Boot Camp in Mayport, Florida. As a Coast Guardsman he excelled, and together with several other top rated Navy and Marine sailors, he went into Advanced Company after only five weeks of basic training.

In mid December 1947, Al arrived in Boston, assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Arundel, a sea going tug boat and ice breaker. As some of you will remember, the winters of ’47 and ’48 were particularly cold and snowy. This situation kept Al and the crew of Cutter Arundel busy as they worked to keep the harbors and bays from freezing over. Soon after, he transferred to Cutter Unimak, also out of Boston, doing weather patrols in the North Atlantic.

From January 1952 until January 1953, Al was stationed in the Philippines and temporarily served onboard USS Telfair, a Navy transport ship carrying troops to China and Korea. On returning from his overseas assignment, he was given the choice of his next duty assignment and opted for his first command on a small tug boat out of Boston doing small jobs around Boston Harbor. When his tug was transferred to New Bern, NC, Al was transferred to a lifeboat station in Nahant, MA, where as a First Class Petty Officer, he was second in command. Over the next year, as he prepared to make Chief Petty Officer, he was transferred to several Coast Guard stations and boats – Point Allerton Station in Hull, MA; Situate Station in Situate, MA; Garnett Point Station in Plymouth, MA; and Cutter 83486 out of Provincetown, MA.

In 1958, Al was promoted to Chief Petty Officer and took charge of Nahant Station in Nahant, MA. In 1959, he was transferred to Boston Lightship as Executive Officer until 1960 when he was transferred to the Cutter Casco. On Cutter Casco, he returned to weather patrol in the North Atlantic. In 1961 he was transferred to Gloucester Station as its Officer-in-Charge and as Executive Officer to Group Command Gloucester, an organization that consisted of several stations and light houses from Salem, MA to York, ME.

In 1964 he requested a transfer to Portsmouth Harbor Station in New Castle, NH, where in the Spring of that year he took command of the station and carried the title, Officer-in-Charge. After three years of exceptionally distinguished service at Portsmouth Harbor Station, Al retired from the Coast Guard on November 1, 1967.

Al’s dedicated service to our nation as a career Coast Guardsman was truly outstanding. His family life has been equally rich and rewarding, and his Masonic career has been nothing short of exemplary. We’ll describe these other parts of Al’s life in next month’s Trestleboard when, among other things, we recall the year 1973 when Al served as the 113th Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge.

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