Pan-American Highway (South America) among these countries. It is crossed by three large rivers, but an international system of ferries helps cross these natural obstacles. The highway begins its path through South America in Colombia. However, a branch called the Simon Bolivar Highway runs through Venezuela. This stretch of the highway is an important link between Caracas and Bogotá. The road begins as Venezuela Highway 9 in Güiria, a small town in the state of Sucre just west of Trinidad along the Gulf of Paria coastline. From Güiria, the highway winds west towards the town of Yaguaraparo. Once the highway reaches Yaguaraparo, on the
USS Simon Bolivar (SSBN-641) R. Charette served as an Independent Duty Corpsman onboard "Simon Bolivar". He was a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor. Known as "Doc" to his shipmates, he was held in the highest regard during his tour of duty aboard "Simon Bolivar". "Simon Bolivar" like all U.S. ballistic missile submarines, had two crews, the Blue and Gold, in order to maximize the at-sea time of the ship itself. During the approximately 2 1/2 months of a patrol, crew members worked every day standing watches then performing their in-rate duties. Those that were not qualified