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Category: Coast Guard

  • A Presidential Proclamation

     

    USS Virginia BB13

    By Presidential Proclamation, November 2018 is Military Families and Veterans’ Month.

    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/11/01/trump-extends-veterans-day-celebrations-through-all-of-november/

    President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday designating November 2018 as National Veterans and Military Families Month.

    “I encourage all communities, all sectors of society, and all Americans to acknowledge and honor the service, sacrifices, and contributions of veterans and military families for what they have done and for what they do every day to support our great Nation,” the president said in a press statement posted to the White House’s website.

    Trump issued the proclamation while also championing his commitment to the veterans community.

    “I was pleased to sign into law the landmark VA MISSION Act of 2018, which revolutionizes the way veterans receive healthcare and other services vital to their lives,” he said in the statement.

    For full coverage of Veterans Day and veterans’ affairs events this month, visit Military Times’ Veterans Month Salute page

    (N.B.: He did this last year, too, but it went unnoticed in the media. This year, it showed up. Maybe they’ve mellowed a little.)

     

     

  • Coasties rescue man, boy, dog after boat capsizes

    pepperSeaman Tristan Beatty holds “Pepper” who was rescued from the Long Island Sound waters off Cedar Beach, N.Y., along with an adult male and 9-year-old boy, Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Babylon, N.Y. (Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Strohmaier/U.S. Coast Guard via AP) (more…)

  • Coast Guard Mostly Saves Very Stupid People, Study Finds

    Coast Guard

    When it comes to Search and Rescue (SAR) our Coast Guard is world class. But after a while, it must get pretty repetitive saving people suffering from self-inflicted wounds. So a study was conducted, with some surprising results.

    WASHINGTON, DC — Nearly 83 percent of mariner rescues since 1960 involved unrelentingly stupid behaviors and/or people, according to a recent study by the U.S. Coast Guard.

    Though the service treats all search and rescue situations equally, most on-scene commanders will privately admit that a majority of the time “it was just some dumb bastard with no concern for personal safety,” according to the study’s authors.

    “These statistics are unthinkable,” said Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Carla Willmington. “Our service prides itself on response time, SAR organization, and comprehensive rescue pattern analysis. But it’s tough to stay on task when the bulk of these cases involve people paralyzed from the neck up. ”

    To view the article in its entirety, click Here

  • One of the greatest Coast Guard rescues to be celebrated

    Coast Guard

    The Navy Times reports that, beginning Aug. 13, the historical association is planning five days of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Mirlo rescue — one of the most daring in Coast Guard history.

    Mirlo, a British tanker loaded with gasoline was torpedoed seven miles off the shore from Chicamacomico, North Carolina. The badly needed fuel was headed for England in support of it’s forces in Europe during WW-1.

    The six-man U.S. Coast Guard lifesaving crew in Rodanthe led by Capt. John Allen Midgette Jr. pulled the surf boat from its shed to begin what would be a seven-hour rescue.

    “We call that boat the seventh hero,” said Ralph Buxton, a board member with the Chicamacomico Historical Association, pointing to the 26-foot wooden vessel that still sits at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station. “It performed perfectly that day.”

    Beginning Aug. 13, the historical association is planning five days of events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Mirlo rescue — one of the most daring in Coast Guard history.

    In earlier years, the crew had to row to foundering ships. But on that day in 1918, they turned to a boat with the latest 12-horsepower motor, Buxton said.

    “That made a huge difference,” he said. “The motorized surf boats were state-of-the-art technology then.”

    surf boat

    The crew launched it into 15-foot waves coming one set after another. It took four tries to get past the massive breakers.

    “That was like a semitruck coming at you at 30 miles an hour and another one coming just eight seconds after that,” said Carl Smith, retired Coast Guard officer and a board member of the historical association.

    The crew motored toward the tanker, now split in two from multiple explosions. The water was on fire with burning fuel. Midgette and his men maneuvered through flames as the heat charred the paint on the boat and singed the men’s hair.

    One lifeboat and the captain’s gig were launched with several tanker crew members aboard. A second lifeboat overturned, leaving men hanging on in the burning waters.

    Midgette first brought those men aboard his boat and then helped bring the other boats closer to shore. The surf boat safely unloaded its cargo of survivors, then made three more trips to get the others in the boats beyond the breakers. The crew rescued 42 of 51 aboard the Mirlo.

    Midgette later recorded in the log, “Crew very tired.”

    Always Prepared- Semper Paratus is the official motto of the US Coast Guard. The unofficial motto is, “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.” It’s as true today as it was in 1918.

  • Pilot missing after landing plane on Cape May beach

    Pilot missing after landing plane on Cape May beach

    A plane usually used to tow banners for Paramount Air Service landed on a Cape May beach, a Coast Guard facility. The Piper PA12 pilot skipped out after touching down nose first, according to the Cape May Star and Wave Newspaper;

    Personnel from Training Center Cape May, county Sheriff’s Department and Cape May police continued searching Monday for the pilot of a banner-towing plane that illegally landed on a secured Coast Guard beach Sunday night and fled the scene.

    According to Barbara Tomalino, president of Paramount Air Service, one of her pilots took a banner towing plane without authorization. She did not know if the aircraft landed on the Coast Guard beach as a result of mechanical difficulties.

    Coast Guard watch standers became aware of the incident at 7:52 p.m., after the plane was seen landing on the beach by closed circuit cameras.

  • Coast Guard rescue 89-year-old Floridaman from sinking Toyota

    Coast Guard rescue 89-year-old Floridaman from sinking Toyota

    Eggs sends us a link to the story from Panama City, Florida where an 89-year-old driver rolled over a roadside barrier and into the Bay with his Japanese Toyota. The Coast Guard happened to be nearby and pulled the driver from the drink.

    Panama City Police said the man was in his Toyota Camry around 12:30 p.m. Saturday when he suffered a medical issue that caused him to drive off the southwest side of the St. Andrews Marina.

    Coast Guard members aboard Coast Guard Cutter Marlin observed the car go into the water and launched a boat crew to assist the man.

    He was treated at a local hospital.

    Panama City Firefighters and White’s Wrecker Service also responded to remove the car from the water.

    You can watch the video of the rescue at the link above.

  • Ryan W. Lowden; phony Coast Guardsman says he was only trying to help

    Ryan W. Lowden; phony Coast Guardsman says he was only trying to help

    Green Thumb sends us another story from The Missoulian about Ryan W. Lowden, the fellow in Montana who is charged with impersonating a Coast Guardsman on Flathead Lake. He says that he was only trying to help and that he never gave anyone the impression that he worked for the Coast Guard.

    People reported that Lowden drove in front of their boats while on his Jet Ski, which some said was equipped with flashing lights. Some of those who were allegedly stopped said Lowden was wearing a jacket with Coast Guard markings on it and that he presented them with a badge number. In some cases, they said he asked to see their life preservers.

    Lowden claimed that none of that happened.

    He denied to police that he wore any jacket with Coast Guard markings, but they searched his abode and found a jacket stashed in a pit in the crawl space beneath the home. So things aren’t looking good for him. Even though he has flashing lights on his Jet-Ski, he says that he’s never used them.

    There is a Coast Guard Auxillary on Flathead Lake staffed with volunteers, however, Lowden, who claims that he was in Coast Guard a few years ago was never a member on the unit.

  • Phony Coast Guardsman in Montana

    Phony Coast Guardsman in Montana

    Green Thumb sends us a link to a story in Polson, Montana’s Lake County Sheriff’s Office search for a fellow who is pulling over boats on Flathead Lake pretending to be a member of the Coast Guard with his little jet ski, which, by the way, is fitted with lights and a siren;

    Lake County Sheriff Don Bell said officers are currently interviewing witnesses to complete the investigation before potential charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer are filed.

    Bell said his office initially received reports of the man attempting to stop boats on the river near Polson a couple of weeks ago.

    By the time the sheriff’s office was able to launch its boat, the man had disappeared.

    The man showed up again last weekend and sheriff’s deputies were able to get a number from the personal watercraft he was riding on, but the numbers didn’t match the watercraft.

    On the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, one of his victims reports that he tried to confiscate their beer when he pulled them over recently.