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| coastguard.dodlive.mil |
Aloha! I am incorporating CELEBRATE LITTLE VICTORIES as a Saturday column here at SOS Aloha. Today we celebrate a BIG victory - it is the 222nd birthday of the United States' Coast Guard! From the USCG's website (at this link),
The U. S. Coast Guard is simultaneously and at all times a military force and federal law enforcement agency dedicated to safety, security, and stewardship missions. We save lives. We protect the environment. We defend the homeland. We enforce Federal laws on the high seas, the nation's coastal waters and its inland waterways. We are unique in the Nation and the world.
The Coast Guard's official history began on 4 August 1790 when President George Washington signed the Tariff Act that authorized the construction of ten vessels, referred to as "cutters," to enforce federal tariff and trade laws and to prevent smuggling. Known variously through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the "revenue cutters," the "system of cutters," and finally the Revenue Cutter Service, it expanded in size and responsibilities as the nation grew.
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| wikipedia.com |
I know several Coast Guard families here in Hawaii. One veteran noted that the Coast Guard is smaller than the New York Police Department ... but protects xx times more territory! Romanceland is lucky to have a handful of authors connected to the Coast Guardian, including Gail Barrett, Mary Blayney, Larissa Ione, Catherine Mann, Cathy Maxwell, and Linda Wisdom. In honor of this grand birthday, I am giving away a Coast Guard tote bag plus book choice from my convention stash. To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about the Coast Guard - have you seen the Guardians in action? For international readers, do you have a similar service?
2. This giveaway is open to all readers.
3. Comments are open through Saturday, August 11, 10 pm in Hawaii. I'll post the winner on Sunday, August 12.
Semper Paratus - Always Ready,
Kim in Hawaii
Here's an interesting trivia from Coast Guard history - actors Lloyd Bridges (father) and Beau Bridges (son) both enlisted in the Coast Guard (at this link).
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| Image from U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary |
Only on tv with Katrina and Andrew, great work all of them
ReplyDeleteKimh
Only in movies. I've never been close to the water or around water long enough for a Coast Guard to do their duty.
ReplyDeleteRaonaid at gmail dot com
Happy Birthday to the USCG. I haven't seen them in action, but a few of my classmates lived on Governors Island when it was a Coast Guard base.
ReplyDeleteWow that is an interesting piece of information about them doing more and covering more territory than the NYPD. Thanks for sharing their birthday with us.
ReplyDeleteI have seen the coast guard in action when I was in Texas, visiting my aunt. Her son was training to be one of them and I got to go visit him at the training facility.
ReplyDelete~Heather F.
book_lover6983@yahoo.com
I not seen the coast guard in action but I have seen the shows on them.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Dutch coast guard but I have very little knowledge of what they do. Or when their birthday is. Also never seen them in action. Perhaps it's time to do some online research...
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday US Coast Guard. Since I'm not much of a water person, I've never seen the Coast Guard in action.
ReplyDeleteWOW!! I didn't realize it was 222 years!! Happy Birthday US Coast Guard. My sister in law served for a few years before medical retirement. I have only seen pictures and news clips.
ReplyDeleteMel
Only on TV or in the movies for me also... although the Tom Clancy book/movie Clean and Present Danger included the Coast Guard... I'd forgotten that the Bridges family had served!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to the Coast Guard!!
As a former 9-1-1 Dispatcher for the State of New Hampshire (with a tiny coastline) I dealt with notifying them when a boating accident on the ocean occurred or the sighting of a shark got our beach goers in a panic! Their eagle-eyes work wonders and I appreciate all they do for all our coastlines in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI have lived in South Florida since the late 60's. Our news is very frequently loaded with Coast Guard news. They are very active here where we get people entering the US illegally or smuggeling drugs into the country.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the Coast Guard in action except on tv or in the movies.
ReplyDeleteWe have coast guards in Canada but never seen them in action.
ReplyDeleteOne of my uncles served in the Coast Guard during WWII. (All my uncles--and my Dad--served somewhere!) Happy Birthday, Coast Guard.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to share with you a little about my Great-Uncle Paul Browne. He had originally tried to join the Coast Guard when he was a teenager but was too young at the time to be accepted and instead went into the Merchant Marines and the first ship he served on was the MNS Ranger as a cadet in 1914.
At the time he was a Merchant Marine Officer serving as the Captain of the tanker the China Arrow when on February 5th, 1942 when the unescorted and unarmed China Arrow was hit by two torpedoes from U-103, while running on a zigzag course and blacked out off Winter Quarter Shoals. The first struck the starboard side between the #8 and #9 tanks, the other between tanks #9 and #10. The explosion blew fuel oil 125 feet into the air and over the length of the vessel. Fire immediately broke out in these tanks. The live steam firefighting equipment smothered the blaze in tanks #9 and #10 but could not put out the fire in the #8 tank. The nine officers and 28 crewmen on board abandoned ship in three lifeboats 25 minutes after the hits.
The U-boat surfaced and fired 15 to 20 shells into the waterline of the burning tanker, which sank by the stern at 19.30 hours. The men in the lifeboats were spotted by a US Navy aircraft 57 hours after the attack. A Catalina flying boat of the US Coast Guard landed near the boats and the men were later picked up by the US Coast Guard cutter USS Nike (WPC 112), which took them to the Coast Guard Station in Lewes, Delaware.
In 19143 he was presented with the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service medal for historic action performed while he was serving as the commanding officer of the China Arrow.
On May 14th, 1943 his dream finally came true and he became a member of the US Coast Guard until he retired in August of 1960 as Commander Paul H. Browne, USCGR) (Ret.)!
To me the reason his accomplishments were so impressive was that he had to quit school at a young age to help support his family but never gave up learning and always strove to learn everything about making the communities he lived in a better place to be. No task was too great to be tackled and he would studiously study to learn the tasks necessary. He ended up being not only a respected member of the Coast Guard community but was recognized in the communities in which he lived for being a great humanitarian. He was a self-taught wood worker and I'm proud to have had passed down to be some of his beautiful works of art!
Wow, 222 years! Amazing!
ReplyDeleteI've also only seen them in action on TV.
Unfortunately no. Only in movies but would love to if given the chance. :D
ReplyDeletewow 222 yrs.!! Thanks for all the information because I don't know a lot about them but that they do a very important job!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday.
ReplyDeleteHusband volunteers with Auxiliary.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, USCG!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen them in action. I used to go to a bar on the CG base on Oahu. You're picking this winner on my birthday. COOL.
Congrats Coastguard!
ReplyDeleteNo Coastguard experiences from me, just loved the Kevin Costner Coastguard movie.
Happy 222nd birthday to the Coast Guard! I've never seen the Coast Guard in action, but I admire this service very much. I've seen television shows and movies featuring the Coast Guard and I've always thought it sounded like a very important job. If I were in trouble at sea, they would be very much appreciated I know.
ReplyDeleteThere are many here in my state but my only contact is what I have read or seen.
ReplyDeleteThe coast Guard has been very active off the coast of NJ this year - there have been a lot of bad rip currents & some boating problems - tho not personally connected to an incident, it's nice to know they are there.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Coast Guard! No one in family were in the CG, but I've got Navy and Army!
ReplyDeleteI live 20 miles from a Coast guard station. I have seen the CG helicopter rescue an injured logger and fly him top the hospital.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday to the USCG!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen any coast guard in action and our equivalent in Canada would probably be the Canadian Coast Guard.
I am fortunate to live in a Coast Guard town. The Coast Guard Cutter Diligence docks not far from where I work. When the ship is out to sea, I miss it. The waterfront seems incomplete to me when they're gone.
ReplyDeleteNo, I haven't.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen the Coast Guard in action and all I know about them I learned today reading this post! Jeanne, thanks for sharing the story about your great-uncle.
ReplyDelete