News & Events

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.

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.

The crew sprang to their places at the oars, and when the next sea lifted the craft, the soldiers pushed it out and the oars were put in motion. The rescuing party was off on their perilous errand.

Chief Gus Jablonski was a critical figure in the early days of helicopter development. His technical knowledge and hands-on skills helped helicopter turn Igor Sikorsky’s fragile machine into a tool that could do useful work for the military.

While many are familiar with the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944, few know about the landings that took place several months prior in Italy.

Native Americans have been members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services for well over 200 years.

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of schooner Carroll A. Deering’s crew of 11 or 12 men has never been solved although the Department of Justice had been called in to investigate rumors of “piracy.”

In 1946, the Scotch Cap Lighthouse is destroyed by a tsunami wave estimated at well over 120 feet high that also impacted the greater Pacific.

Dropping more than 33 inches of rain in portions of North Carolina, the storm caused widespread destruction that people could never have imagined.

Over its service of nearly 65 years, Storis set the record for length of service for a White Hull cutter, steaming 1.5 million miles and recording many firsts and setting many records, including some that have endured to this day.

It was at Guanica on a stormy night in 1914 that Domingo Suarez witnessed a pilot boat capsize beyond the mouth of the bay. Without hesitation, he jumped into the water and assisted the boat’s crew to safety, earning a U.S. Lighthouse Service commendation.

In 1942, Native American Joseph Robert Toahty deployed for Guadalcanal, the Allies’ first amphibious operation of World War II.

The storm grazed the Florida Keys and slipped into the sheltered waters of the Gulf of Mexico before unleashing devastation in Texas.

In Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the Coast Guard was Semper Paratus in responding to both hurricanes Irma and Maria.

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.

As a member of the Emergency Service Unit, he and his fellow officers were the first to enter the doomed Trade Center. He called home to his wife and told her it was real bad up in the Towers.

Saving lives was what drew Jeffrey Palazzo to the Coast Guard, and on Sept. 11, 2001, Palazzo, a Coast Guard Reservist, was one of hundreds of New York Fire Department personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save others.

In the early 1990s Coast Guard Intelligence made extensive contributions to mass migration preparation and response.

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

While 1980 is most remembered for the arrival of 125,00 Cuban refugees during the Mariel Boatlift, thousands of Haitians also arrived in south Florida by sea that same year. They were collectively referred to as “Cuban-Haitian Entrants.”

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…

"On August 31 the American Steamer George E Starr was seized on Puget Sound by a detail of four officers and 18 men sent from the Wolcott. Two Chinese subjects, together with a quantity of opium, were discovered secreted on board. "

Three decades after Adm. John Klime officially promulgated the service’s core values as “Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty,” these core values stand the test of time.

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.

It was 3 p.m. and Thrun had already made three perfect landings. He was starting his run for his fourth take-off, when something happened.

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

“Planes! They’re coming from the stern!” With seconds to react, Coast Guard Seaman First Class Rollin A. Fritch leaped into action and peppered the incoming kamikaze with a hail of 20mm gunfire.

While Omaha saw the worst fighting on D-Day, Utah beach would prove a career highlight for Seaman First Class Robert Ward.

Eighty years ago, on June 6, 1944, Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, in what was the largest amphibious invasion of World War II. Among those 15 Coast Guardsmen killed in action at Normandy was 21-year-old John “Jack” Albert DeNunzio.

One of the most reproduced photographs to come out of June 6, 1944—D-Day was captured by Coast Guard Chief Photographer’s Mate Robert F. Sargent and entitled “Into the jaws of death.” Sargent.

As America struggled with issues of racial inequality and segregation, African American Bobby C. Wilks was breaking barriers and blazing a trail for minorities.

“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 . . ..”

“DeVita, drop the ramp!” For a few seconds I froze, because I knew when I dropped that ramp, the machine gun bullets will come into the boat. And then for the third time he yelled, punctuated with colorful profanity and I dropped the ramp. The bullets that were hitting the ramp came into the boat.

Early in the War of 1812, the Madison had set sail on an unsanctioned cruise to capture British merchantmen. It would be the cutter’s last patrol.

Learn how howitzer cannons have changed over time in size, shape, and utilization during their service.

Asian nationals began serving in the United States Coast Guard 175 years ago, playing an important role in the history of the Coast Guard’s ancestor agency of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service.

Charles Jones Soong is the most famous individual of Chinese ancestry to serve in the United States Coast Guard. However, his fame is little known in the U.S. compared to his celebrity in the Far East.

Facing kamikaze attacks, Joseph Gerczak provides an example of unrelenting courage.

The Coast Guard officially welcomed its tenth Legend Class National Security Cutter, USCGC Calhoun WMSL 759, in a commissioning ceremony April 20, 2024, in Charleston, South Carolina.

The bronze placard is the only verified artifact from the Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, which sank in September 1918 off the coast of Wales, just before the end of World War I.

The worst place for an American to be in the spring of 1812 was anywhere along the Canadian border—it was like a winding stretch of gunpowder ignited on one end.

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.

Adm. Fagan highlighted operational accomplishments while focusing on workforce and mission readiness and strengthening Service culture.

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.

Edith Munro will always be remembered for raising one of the Coast Guard and Marine Corps’ greatest heroes…but few people know that Munro was also Lt. Munro, of the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Corps—also known as SPARs.

Coast Guard Capt. Dorothy M. Stratton held a life-long commitment to public service and was an inspirational leader during a very difficult time in the nation’s history.

On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed a pair of executive orders, the combination of which banned racial segregation in the armed forces and federal civil service. This article offers context on this occurrence and explores their significance more than 75 years after being signed.

A 20-year veteran of the service, the first African American woman to achieve the enlisted rank of master chief and distinguished role model for the Coast Guard’s core values.

After hearing about a ship rescued by the United States Coast Guard, Melvin Williams, Jr. knew that would be his path in life and enlisted in the Coast Guard.

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

The history of African American participation in the Coast Guard and its predecessor services dates back to the very founding of the Service in 1790.

On Aug. 23, 1899, the terse message: “Sherman is sighted,” announced the return of the troopship after the Spanish-American War. Transmitted from Lightship 70, this message was the first wireless ship-to-shore telegraph message in U.S. history.

Despite their vintage, the iconic Reliance class cutters and their dedicated crews continue to carry out Coast Guard lifesaving, law enforcement, and homeland security missions.

The story of how three United States Coast Guard cutters successfully break through and officially chart what had become known as the fabled Northwest Passage.

Over the years, various Coast Guard cutters have celebrated Christmas either in port or at sea. Being away from home and family no doubt left a void as evidenced by letters written home. Commanding officers allowed the observance of Christmas with a dinner with all the trimmings. Some men would go ashore and celebrate Christmas while on liberty; others chose to remain on board. Oftentimes, cutter logbooks would say “omitted general quarters on account of holiday” as the only mention of any Christmas celebrations. It was just another day on board.