Flying signal flags and riding low in Guam's Pacific-blue harbor, the USCGC Basswood (WLB-388) sits in sharp chrome-era color in this J&R Guam Production postcard — a working buoy tender commissioned in 1944 whose peacetime mission was to service navigational aids across the Micronesian Islands, a vast and lonely beat in the western Pacific. Roy, writing from Agana, Guam on 17 April 1994, tells his friend Bob that this is "the last of the 10 postcard samples" and cheerfully notes that "this ship has been on Guam a long time" — a brief, friendly exchange between what appear to be postcard dealers or enthusiasts comparing stock, the card itself thus serving as both subject matter and commercial sample. The 19¢ Hot Air Balloon stamp (Scott #2530) from the 1991 Balloon series is cleanly cancelled with a circular Guam postmark. The Basswood was eventually decommissioned; her long Guam tenure made her a local institution, and USCG vessel cards from Pacific stations are modestly sought by both military and Guam topographic collectors.