Coast guard

“ The Coast Guard in fact is an establishment of service and opportunity—service to those whose fortunes are cast with the deep and along our shores, opportunity for the young men of the nation of character, stability and fixedness of purpose, to follow the Stars and Stripes in the ever-beautiful cause of humanity. ”

“ With every minute the incoming tide ran stronger, washing the struggling men toward shore, where now were burning the welcome beacons of the crews from landward Coast Guard stations. Again and again they tried to launch their surfboats, and as often were beaten back. Now they stood at the edge of the waves, waiting to assist their comrades from the ship.
Ceaselessly the searchlight of the Iroquois played upon the breakers, and on her bridge officers stood with glasses and watched the awful fight. Miraculously the struggling men drove steadily toward the shore. ”

“ As an Active Service force the Coast Guard is far from fulfilling modern fighting requirements, which are so exacting that a man’s efficiency depends upon his being continuously associated with highly technical duties on board ship, and employment in the Coast Guard (even with the arranged periodical training in the Fleet) is found to be inconsistent with these requirements. ”

“ Should an unreckoned-with disaster cast a vessel on the breakers, there is not a mile of beach that the Coast Guard does not watch.
Far in the northern Bering Sea, a Coast Guard cutter blazes the hidden trail through Polar ice for the oncoming fleet of whalers, and carries [vi] American justice to where, as yet, no court has been; out in the mid-Atlantic, when the Greenland icebergs follow their silent path of ghostly menace, a Coast Guard cutter watches and warns the great ocean liners of their peril ”

“ Stout of heart, indeed, must be the men who belong to it; for when others are fleeing for their lives, the Coast Guard is always heading straight for the danger, to rescue those incompetent or unable to effect their own rescue. Let those who think the age of romance is past but read the story of the Coast Guard and they will change their minds. ”

“ The United States Government naturally turned to the Coast Guard—then known as the Revenue Cutter Service—well assured that whatever was possible in the realm of human courage and skill would be done.
Between the marooned whalers and civilization lay a thousand miles and more of the most fearful road that man has ever had to travel, a road un [204] trod, with cold like to the bitterness of death as its constant state and the howl of the blizzard for its sole companion. ”

“ The primary functions of the Coast Guard include maritime search and rescue, law enforcement, and operation of the nation’s aids to navigation system. In addition, the Coast Guard is responsible for port safety and security, merchant marine inspection, and marine pollution control. The Coast Guard operates a large and varied fleet of ships, boats, and aircraft in performing its widely ranging duties. ”

“ Dugald told me as we walked back how the men from the Coast Guard Stations patrol the shores of our country so that there is not a bit of our seacoast that is not guarded. One starts out from one station and meets another from another station and they exchange little checks which they take back so that their commanders know they have been all the way. Is it not a lovely feeling to think that as we sleep someone is watching our shores by night? Only I wonder how if there are any pirates, and Captain Davies said there still were, they can land anywhere without one of these guards seeing them. ”

“ Today, Coast Guard contributions to our Nation in the areas of national defense, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, aids to navigation, merchant marine safety, environmental protection, ports and waterway safety, and boating safety have become a benchmark by which professional maritime excellence is judged. ”

“ He shook hands heartily with his rescuers, and the three sailors went tramping up to the deck.
“You told the truth, Henry,” said the captain, after the sailors had gone, “when you said they were engaged in a fine sort of work. It is a life full of hardships, this life of a Coast Guard, and yet the men love it. If you are looking for a job, you can find an opening right in this service.”
“What could I do?” asked Henry. “I don’t know a thing about the sea. I don’t have any desire to be a mechanic, and so I wouldn’t make a good engineer. ”

“ The functions vested in the President by Section 106 (a) of the Act are delegated to the Coast Guard with respect to any release or threatened release involving the coastal zone, Great Lakes waters, ports, and habors. ”

“ Therefore, the maintenance of the Coast Guard by the Admiralty not only entails a reduction of the number of highly-trained active service ratings in the Fleet at sea, but also an unnecessarily large expenditure on a Reserve. ”

“ Governors Island was managed by the United States Army and the United States Coast Guard for nearly 200 years, but is no longer required for defense or Coast Guard purposes. It provides an excellent opportunity for the public to observe and understand the harbor history, its defense, and its ecology. ”

“ America's boat owners and operators play a large role in helping ensure passenger safety. The United States Coast Guard initiative "You're in Command" serves to educate boaters about how to enjoy our Nation's waters safely and responsibly. ”

“ Soon the darkness of night came on and from the disabled boat signal lights flashed every little while telling of the seriousness of their condition. These signals were seen and understood by the Highland Coast Guard crew. It was seen that the boat was being driven nearer and nearer the sea-swept sand bars.
Over the dark and rushing sea came to those on shore by the flashing signals this message: “We are helpless; both anchors are down but they do not hold us and we are slowly but surely going to our destruction; unless you can send help we must surely perish.” ”

“ Weather patrol vessels, four in all at any one time, were manned by the Coast Guard. Weather observers were civilians from the U. S. Weather Service. The ship's complement for wartime was 175 men and 12 officers. However, its officers' country, formerly owner and guest quarters, add 20-24 officers and extra officers were frequently assigned for sea duty familiarization after a prolonged period of shore duty or upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy. ”

“ But the boat was launched and the Life Savers pulled away. Soon they reached the side of the ship and called to the men in the rigging to come down. Eight of them after much effort and assisted by the Coast Guard crew were finally gotten into the boat. Capt. Tobin of the Coast Guard crew said to one of the rescued sailors, “Why don’t those other men come down?” “They cannot,” was the reply. “They are dead, frozen to death.” ”

“ And the old-time prejudice against the men has had plenty of time to die away during the eighty years or so in which the coastguard service has existed. There are still, however, some eleven or twelve old hulks in use as coastguard stations; principally in the estuaries of the Thames and Medway.
The Preventive Water-Guard, from which the existing coastguard service was developed, was not only the old coast-blockade reorganised, but was an extension of it from the shores of Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, and Essex, to the entire coast-line of the United Kingdom. ”

“ The Coast Guard from Nauset and Chatham reached the64 scene as promptly as they could, but they were a long distance from the wreck, and the nature of the cargo made it practically impossible to send a line over the vessel, and the distance from the shore where the craft lay still further operated against the rescue of the unfortunate crew.
Sometimes the Government has fits of economy, but the Coast Guard service is a poor place to begin the practice of it. Some time before the Coast Guard Station at Orleans had been abandoned, that is, the crews had been withdrawn and the station locked up. ”

“ There’s a good chance to work up in this service if a fellow will only take it.”
“How do you get a job in the Coast Guard anyway?” asked Henry.
“The officers, of course, attend the Coast Guard Academy at Fort Trumbull, up in Connecticut. It’s just like West Point or Annapolis. It trains the officers for the Coast Guard ships. Everybody else gets his job by enlistment.”
“Are there good openings? Could I, for instance, get a position?”
“You could enlist as a seaman, or you could enlist for wireless duty if you know anything about wireless.”
“He does,” smiled the chief electrician. ”

“ At a time when port security has become increasingly important, and in which we have learned what a tiny fraction of incoming ships and containers are being searched for weapons of mass destruction, the Coast Guard is reducing its interdiction capability by sending one-sixth of its patrol craft to the Persian Gulf. How many more Haitian refugees will be able to land on our shores? How many more drug shipments will make it in? How many ships in distress will have to wait to get help? How many terrorists will be able to land on our shores? ”

“ Out into the breakers rushed the waiting guards from the shore. Strong arms were thrown around weak and fainting forms, and limp bodies were carried bodily through the waves. Again and again the sturdy guardsmen from the shore rushed back into the waves and aided more men ashore, while others toiled to resuscitate the few who had all but succumbed.
Around the fires now pressed the rescued seamen, increasing in number as man after man gained the sands, until they formed a great ring about the flames. Their numbers brought joy to the watchers on the Iroquois. ”

“ Now, if you live by the sea and are grown-up you know that if you find anything on the seashore (I don’t mean starfish or razor-shells or jellyfish and sea-mice, but anything out of a ship that you would really like to keep) your duty is to take it up to the coast-guard and say, ‘Please, I’ve found this.’ Then the coast-guard will send it to the proper authority, and one of these days you’ll get a reward of one-third of the value of whatever it was that you picked up. ”

“ To help ensure that individuals stay safe on America's waterways, the United States Coast Guard urges citizens to take basic safety precautions such as wearing a life jacket, participating in a boat safety course, getting a free vessel check, and never boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. By practicing responsible boating habits, citizens can help contribute to a safer, more enjoyable experience on the water. ”

“ When the keeper began the sentence, the Coast Guard station had been a scene of peace and comfort with a group of men lounging around a hot fire, some reading, some playing dominoes and others plying needle and thread. But, before the sentence was over, almost every man was in his oilskins, some [141] were just pulling on their long boots, while others, even more nimble, had reached the boat and the apparatus-cart. ”

“ The Task Force will consider the impact on Coast Guard roles, missions, and functions of future prospects in various areas, including technology, demographics, the law of the sea, marine pollution, and national security. ”

“ And now a few words for the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, another body intended for defensive purposes in the event of war. There is a corps known as the Coast Guard, to fulfil service on the coast in case of invasion ”

“ Provided, That any such flags, standards or colors taken by the Coast Guard of the United States, while, operating as a part of the Navy pursuant to law or direction of the President shall be deposited, for preservation and display, in the United States Coast Guard Academy at New London, Connecticut, under the care of the Superintendent thereof. ”

“ Their little stone huts are on the highest point in their particular area, and their homes usually are only a couple of hundred yards distant. Their chiefs are coast-guards of the old days called back to their former service in the Royal Navy. These men rule the volunteers with a rod of iron. No matter what section of the coast one may pick, the coast-watcher is ready with his glasses or telescope. Suspicious acts of any individuals receive speedy attention, and each batch of the guards vies with the next for keen performance of duty. ”

“ If a landing near a harbor is successful, the advance guard will strive to take the same unawares, to seize those coast sentinels at hand and to destroy the telegraph and signal service along the coast. ”

“ The men of the coast guards are an odd people, when you come to think of it, and a queer kind of life they live; their thoughts are forever concentrated on the sea and on the vessels moving over the surface of the sea. ”

“ Circling Great Britain are thousands of expert coast-watchers, whose duty not only is to watch for ships, wrecks, and smugglers, as in the days before the war, but also to be on guard for enemy submarines and suspicious craft. It is the oft-spoken opinion of many an inland inhabitant that certain sections of the coast would afford a base for U-boats. ”

“ The Creed of the United States Coast Guardsman
I am proud to be a United States Coast Guardsman.
I revere that long line of expert seamen who by their devotion to duty and sacrifice of self have made it possible for me to be a member of a service honored and respected, in peace and war, throughout the world. ”