Photo Contributed
Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, visited Bishop O’Connell High School for an afternoon discussion with students enrolled in the school’s Global Studies program. Papp was introduced by O’Connell’s Principal, Dr. Joseph E. Vorbach III, a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer who served with Papp when the commandant was the captain of the Coast Guard's sail training vessel Eagle. Papp gave the students an American history lesson as he laid out the evolution of the Coast Guard, beginning with the formation of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1790, and growing to its current role which he summarized by saying: “We protect those on the sea, we protect America from threats delivered by sea, and we protect the sea itself.”