Tom McCarthy - The Greatest Coast Guard Rescue Stories Ever Told

The Greatest Coast Guard Rescue Stories Ever Told

Edited by Tom McCarthy

An imprint of Globe Pequot

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Copyright 2017 Thomas P. McCarthy

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McCarthy, Tom, 1952- editor of compilation.

Title: The greatest Coast Guard rescue stories ever told / edited by Tom McCarthy.

Description: Guilford, Connecticut : Lyons Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016059607 (print) | LCCN 2017000141 (ebook) | ISBN 9781493027026 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781493027033 (e-book)

Subjects: LCSH: United States. Coast GuardSearch and rescue OperationsHistory.

Classification: LCC VG53 .G735 2017 (print) | LCC VG53 (ebook) | DDC 363.28/60973dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016059607

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

There is nothing remotely relaxing about reading this bookin the best way possible of course. There is certainly much to be inspired about, and perhaps even be mesmerized by. Awestruck even. This collection will give you much to reflect on as you sit back in the plush comfort of your favorite chair.

But relax? Forget about it.

Whether it is pulling survivors hanging to life by a fingernail from the frigid waters of midwinter Lake Michigan or jumping from a helicopter that is beyond its fuel limit, the US Coast Guard has always done what it was supposed to do. It has done it without fanfare or hoopla or self-centered celebration. The men and women of the Coast Guard have for decades put their own lives at risk so others might live. Plain and simple: They did it and continue to do it because it was what they have been trained to do and what they want to do.

The stories in this collection have two common threads: They are unbelievable yet true, and they are remarkably inspirational. Its important to emphasize the true part, because if these stories were fiction, no one would believe them. Too full of adrenaline and heroics, you would say. But they are true, and along the way readers will learn the rich and stunning history of a service branch few people know much about. It is ironic in a way. People should know more about the Coast Guard, but the people on these pages could not care less about fame and celebrity.

They save lives; that is all that mattersall they want to do.

Here are thirteen dynamic stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat, glad you are safe and warm, and thankful there are men and women out there who will put their lives in danger at the drop of a hat to save you. Never give it a second thought, in fact. Its their job. And you will learn their jaw-dropping skills and daring came after arduous training designed to weed out the weak and the undecided. Make no mistakethe men and women of the Coast Guard are heroes.

Snow, ice, surf, monster waves, enemy attacks, hurricanes, raging seasthe settings and the challenges they presented were simply a minor change in the script. The setting really didnt matter. What mattered were the people in danger and saving them. The Coast Guard went out, went unblinking and unaffected, and calmly accomplished their mission.

People who make their living pulling the unfortunate from icy waters and crashing waves dont decide to take it up on a whim. They know whats in store and do it anyway, with great pride and enthusiasm. And they would return and do it again the next day without complaint.

As one of the heroes here says to a colleague as their rescue boat is overwhelmed by waves, referring to the manual by which they train and live:

The Blue Book says weve got to go out , he snapped at the man. It doesnt say a damn thing about having to come back .

The courageous men and women youll read about here were all active participants in what the bureaucrats euphemistically called search and rescue missions. The search part actually sounds benign, maybe even boring. But of course the reality is the rescue partthe dangerous and sometimes fatal efforts these men and women put forth day in and day out.

The stories here will take you into the Gulf of Alaska to pluck grateful survivors from imminent and certain death to the Atlantic coast looking for German U-boats during World War II. Few people know it, but the Coast Guards most intense lifesaving activity was in the dark days of early 1942, when Nazi submarines were running rampant along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, picking off freighters and tankers even within sight of land.

Youll find yourself in the Gulf of Mexico during Hurricane Katrina and off ship-killing Cape Hatteras during Hurricane Sandy. Youll learn how a Coast Guard crew saved the entire New York Harbor from incineration.

Two Tankers Down, Robert Frumps account in chapter twelve of what many have called the greatest Coast Guard rescue in historywhich is truly saying a lotwas made into the 2016 blockbuster film The Finest Hours . Id assert without going out on a limb that Mr. Frumps account of the sinking oiler tankers off Cape Cod, the ravenous seas, and the unrelenting noreaster is much better than the film.

But of course you already know that reading is much better than watching. That will only be reinforced by the treasures here.

Just dont expect to relax.

Tom McCarthy

The Falls

Martha LaGuardia Kotite

When we would show up on scene for a rescue, youd never know exactly what you were going to get. There was always that excitement, that anticipation that every day was going to be a little different.

For Coast Guard Second Class Aviation Survival Technician Eric Mueller, his first tour as a rescue swimmer was unusual. In just four years at Air Station Detroit, he earned multiple prestigious medals for a variety of harrowing rescues. About that period in his life, the twenty-eight-year-old rescue swimmer recalled, I was on fire. It just happened to be I was in the right place at the right time.

Being in the right place was fortunate for Mueller, who had discovered the Coast Guard by chance. Pursuing a degree in recreational management at Sierra Nevada College in Lake Tahoe, he spent more time snowboarding than studying. After switching colleges a couple of times and averaging a 3.5 GPA, he decided that he did not want to continue his college education. Sitting in class and trying to take notes made him crazy because he believed he was missing something. He talked with his father, a retired U.S. Army colonel, about his future. Serving in the Marine Corps seemed to be a fine idea and a good fit.

Mueller drove two hours to the joint service recruiting building in Cleveland, Ohio, to meet with the Marine recruiter. As he left the meeting to think things over during lunch, something caught his eye. It was a poster of a Coast Guard rescue swimmer jumping out of a helicopter. Halfway down the hall and almost signed up with the Marines, he turned into the Coast Guard recruiters office. He told his story. When he finished, Mueller was surprised that the recruiter refused him. He told Mueller to finish college because he had great potential to become an officer. He wouldnt sign me and told me the rescue swimmer program might be finished by the time I completed boot camp anyway, recalled Mueller. During this period, the Coast Guard was restructuring the aviation workforce.