Lifesavers Around the Globe

The day war was declared on the Empire of Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt referred to Dec. 7, 1941, day of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, as “a date which will live in infamy.” Little did he know the nation would face a similar date nearly 60 years later.

The weather was horrific with dark skies, steady rain, and tumultuous seas. The keeper and his crew were quickly away and encountering “fearful seas.”

Lewis had to make what he considered to be one of the most crucial decisions of his life. Peering at the fog below him, he remembers asking himself a question to plunge or not to plunge…

Like many other local mariners on Cape Cod, Isaac Mayo volunteered his professional services as a sailor and boatman to the Massachusetts Humane Society. He quickly proved himself to be a very competent surfman handling boats to rescue shipwreck victims in Cape Cod’s storm surf.

Charles William Sexton challenged danger every day in his duties. While rescuing four fishermen in peril, the seas tragically took him.

“We had no idea what was going to happen. We could hear all the guns going off and could see the landing barges going in. We could see so many of them being hit or hitting mines that were laid underneath the water ...”

Just before the storm’s arrival there was a surround-all, eerie feeling, which seemed to permeate everything. No one was sure of what was approaching—the conversations were hushed and speculative about the silence and the threatening sky.

Napier’s gallantry was never more visible than on the day he risked his life and led his crew into gale-force winds to save six souls aboard a stranded vessel.

Nearly 72 years ago, four men of Coast Guard Station Chatham on CG 36500 staged a rescue of 38 merchant seamen from two tankers during a winter-time hurricane of rare proportions.

Nearly lost to history, the grave of Capt. Lewis Wescott is discovered in the underbrush in Jarvisburg, North Carolina.