My Coast Guard News

. Photo of Menhaden fishing vessels about to be converted to naval vessels for wartime service. (Naval History and Heritage Command)

Jan. 14, 2022

The Long Blue Line: “Men against the Sea”—anatomy of a Coast Guard cutter lost at sea

[This essay is adapted from the non-fiction book chapter “Men against the Sea,” Sea, Surf and Hell: The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1945), 72-78.]The Coast Guard patrol craft Wilcox was lost off the Mid-Atlantic coast Sept. 30, 1943. The following account is taken from the statement made by its commanding officer, Lt.

Official photograph of Capt. Walter Handy in dress blues not long before his retirement in 1971. (Courtesy of the Handy family)

Jan. 7, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Captain Handy—savior of the Coast Guard Reserve!

Learn about Capt. Handy's rich career saving the Coast Guard Reserve.

As Logistics Officer, Lt. Cmdr. Carol Rivers, meets with local suppliers to purchase equipment and materials for PSU 301. (Courtesy of the author)

Dec. 17, 2021

The Long Blue Line: The Persian Gulf War—a female officer’s experience 30 years ago

During 1990, I was assigned as the training officer for Reserve Unit Syracuse, New York. One of my responsibilities was to ensure that each member of the unit had committed to an appropriate two-week training period. That year, the district office in Cleveland, Ohio, forwarded a request to fill 25 billets at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., for a

Dec. 3, 2021

The Long Blue Line: The attack on Pearl Harbor—“a date that will live in infamy”—80 years ago

In his war declaration speech, President Franklin Roosevelt labeled Dec. 7, 1941, as a “date that will live in infamy.” On that day, without forewarning or a declaration of war, forces of Imperial Japan attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In the battle, Coast Guard units served alongside the Navy firing anti-aircraft barrages

Official shield for Coast Guard Base Charleston. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Nov. 26, 2021

The Long Blue Line: Charleston—over 230 years of Coast Guard service and growth in South Carolina!

The City of Charleston, S.C., has been a Coast Guard base of operations for over 230 years and its importance to the service has increased throughout its history.The nation’s first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, founded the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1790, stationing one of the “first fleet” of 10 cutters, the South Carolina, in

Photograph of Harold Tantaquidgeon, Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, later in life. (National Coast Guard Museum Association Facebook site)

Nov. 12, 2021

The Long Blue Line: Harold Tantaquidgeon, Chief Boatswain’s Mate and Chief of the Mohegans

Prohibition was an era of illicit liquor, bootleggers, and adventure on the high seas, most notably on the East Coast. It became illegal to produce, sell, or transport liquor for consumption on Jan. 17, 1920. The United States Coast Guard had its share of the action searching for bootleggers offshore and along the U.S. coastline and inland

Posed professional photograph of Tampa’s captain, Charles Satterlee, taken in London in April 1918, just a few months before the loss of the Tampa. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Oct. 22, 2021

The Long Blue Line: Satterlee—the last full measure of devotion

Captain Satterlee was a particularly competent and efficient officer and made a record of which the best might well be proud. “Official Record of Charles Satterlee,” Coast Guard Personnel Office, October 18, 1918Charles Satterlee was born in Essex, Connecticut, in 1875. His naval career began after completing the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service’s