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Quentin Walsh—D-Day planner and Cherbourg liberator 80 years ago!
—Walsh’ s career spanned some of the most eventful years in Coast Guard history, including Prohibition, World War II and the post-war modernization of the service.
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Eddy Priestly and D-Day’s Saviors
—At the tail end of D-Day at Gold Beach, after being sent back out to sea, their landing craft’s engine failed, and they found themselves drifting helplessly into a minefield. The Royal Signalmen shouted for help, but nearby watercraft were too busy to pay attention. Then when all seemed lost a United States Coast Guard vessel appeared out of nowhere.
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Combat Cutter Pickering—lost 225 years ago, now an OPC namesake
—After refitting late in the summer of 1800, the master and crew of revenue cutter Pickering boarded their vessel at Newcastle, Delaware, for their next Caribbean war patrol. It would be the last time they set foot on dry land.
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The Espionage Act—supporting Coast Guard port security for over 100 years!
—Port security has been one of the longest-running missions of the United States Coast Guard. And, historical events, such as World War I, have brought greater attention to the importance of this service specialty.
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BMCM Maurice Poulin, World War II and my U.S. Army father-in-law
—After being transferred from the Coast Guard to the Navy in World War II, Poulin saw action in the Atlantic and Pacific while participating in many invasions while assigned the USS Leonard Wood.
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Jimmy Crotty—Joint forces hero of the Pacific War
—Mine sweeper, demolitions expert, and hero of Corregidor, Crotty served as a member of the Coast Guard, Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
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Hoyle’s Hell—Coast Guardsman masters the bloody beaches of the Pacific
—Not every American amphibious assault in the Pacific was a bloodbath. Some were executed with considerable strategic acumen and tactical guile. Eniwetok would be Hoyle’s finest and toughest hour as a Beachmaster.
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80th Anniversary of the Leyte liberation—Merry Christmas from General MacArthur and the Coast Guard
—On Dec. 25, 1944, after a six-week campaign to liberate the Philippine Island of Leyte, Allied forces under General Douglas Macarthur were mopping up the last vestiges of Japanese resistance.
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Mirlo Rescue — the Coast Guard’s baptism of fire!
—Despite any fears Chicamacomico station keeper John Allen Midgett had about entering the flames surrounding the tanker, he mustered his crew and initiated rescue operations within minutes of the explosion.
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The attack on Pearl Harbor—“a date that will live in infamy”
—The U.S. Coast Guard was supporting the war effort even before Pearl Harbor, and had proven itself Semper Paratus or “Always Ready” to perform any naval or maritime mission required to defeat the enemy in World War II.