221116-N-N3764-0304 SINT EUSTATIUS, Netherlands - (Nov. 16, 2022) – Sailors assigned to the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) conduct a gun-salute for Statia Day off the coast of Sint Eustatius, Netherlands, Nov. 16, 2022. Statia Day is a national holiday celebrated on the Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius. It celebrates the “first salute” when Sint Eustatius, locally known as Statia, became the first country to recognize the United States as a nation 245 years ago when after the U.S. declared independence, a Continental Navy ship fired a gun salute upon entering the harbor, and the island, by order of the Dutch governor, returned the salute. Milwaukee is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Gunner’s Mate Seaman Hanna Westbrook/Released)