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Transcription: [00:11:07]
{SPEAKER name="Lisa Chickering"}
Further along the beach, you can still see the foundations of warehouses, where ammunition was stored for our use during the American revolution.
[00:11:15]
They performed another gallant gesture, too, on our behalf. In 1776, Gov. [Johannes] de Graaff, who lived in this house, gave the order to salute the rebel American flag.
[00:11:27]
And here inside Fort Oranje, the same cannons fired the first salute ever given by a foreign nation to the newborn flag of the United States of America, flying from the brig Andrew Doria.
[00:11:41]
In 1939, President Roosevelt presented this plaque to St. Eustatius to commemorate the historic event. And as Americans, one can't be help feel a great warmth and sense of gratitude to this little island which so bravely contributed in its way to our history.
[00:12:02]
From St. Eustatius, we flew south across the Caribbean to the continent of South America and the country of Suriname, a little-known exotic land of incredible contrasts.
[00:12:16]
It covers an area of over 55,000 square miles with many broad rivers cutting through the dense, impenetrable jungles and tropical rain forests, which cover more than nine tenths of the jungle--- and the country.
[00:12:29]
In these steaming jungles only the most primitive tribes of man live. And here, large areas still remain unexplored.
[00:12:38]
At the edge of the jungle, along the flat coastal area, is the developed section of the country. And overlooking the Suriname River is the capital and only city, called Paramaribo.
[00:12:50]
Here, Paramaribo's Dutch heritage is seen, not only in the old Colonial Dutch architecture, but even the bicycle is a favorite means of transportation.
[00:13:01]
The country, formerly known as Dutch Guyana, was a colony of Holland until 1954, when it received it's autonomy and became officially Suriname.
[00:13:10]
The Spanish discovered it in 1499, but they didn't stay here. Later, the English came. And still later, both England and Holland claimed the territory. In the 1600s, after years of struggle, a treaty was signed, giving Suriname to Holland.
[00:13:26]
Well, this pleased the Dutch, as it was thought to be a rich land. And in return, Holland gave England an insignificant piece of their property called New Amsterdam, or New York. Now that was quite a real estate deal!
[00:13:44]
The population of the entire country is 300,000. And of that number, 118,000 live here in Paramaribo.
[00:13:52]
This is Government Square, which is the focal point of official life. Here the governor's stately residence stands, along with other government buildings. The governor is the highest-ranking official in Suriname, representing Queen Juliana.
[00:14:08]
Here he, to the left of the man in black, along with the members of the cabinet, is coming to the square to review the troops.
[00:14:16]
This is where celebrations of all kinds take place, and today's parade is in honor of Prince Bernhard's 53rd birthday.
[[end of segment]]

Transcription Notes:
Brig "Andrew Doria" is correct, not to be confused — as I did at first — with the "Andrea Doria," an Italian ocean liner which sank after colliding with another vessel in 1956, about 50 mi. south of Nantucket. Also, I have been rendering the island name as "St. Eustatius." In Dutch it would be "Sint Eustatius," but the speaker pronounces it in the American way, as "saint." I don't know if this is correct style. Prince Bernhard was born (source:Wikipedia) on June 29, 1911, dating the celebration mentioned at 14:20 to June 1964.