"Reminiscenses [sic]
of the Harriet Lane"; an article by Captain of Engineers F. H.
Pulsifer, USRCS (Ret.), the Chief Engineer of the United States Steam Revenue Cutter
Harriet Lane regarding his experiences. First published in the
Journal of the United States Coast Guard Association I, No. 1
(January, February, March, 1917), pp. 28-34.
Celebrities & Sports Figures:
Arnold Palmer: a 2011 video-interview conducted by Richard A.
Stephenson, Ph.D., National Historian, History Branch, U.S. Coast Guard
Auxiliary in which Mr. Palmer discusses his time in the Coast Guard.
My
Friend! My Brother! My Shipmate! An
article concerning integration in the Coast Guard in the early 1950s
aboard the USCGC Lilac by Coast Guard writer and veteran James
Mooney.
SPAR Lillian Vasilas describes her career in the Coast Guard
during World War II. She attended basic training at West Palm Beach and
then served first as a driver and then as a radio operator in the
Washington, D.C. area
SPAR Norma Choyce
describes her career in the Coast Guard during World War II including
service in Baltimore, Maryland.
SPAR LTJG Harriet Writer, who served
as the first female Quartermaster in either the Navy or the Coast Guard,
describes her time in the service, including earning her commission and
duty with the Aids to Navigation
Office in Boston.
PSC
Sandy "Grandma Gunner" Mitten, a Coast Guard veteran
of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, served with PSU-303.
She describes her experiences in the Coast Guard Reserve and her time in
Saudi Arabia as a patrol boat coxswain.
PSC
Sandy "Grandma Gunner" Mitten, a Coast Guard veteran
of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm who served with PSU-303.
She describes her experiences in the Coast Guard Reserve and her time in
Saudi Arabia as a patrol boat coxswain.
Vietnam:
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jonathan Collom,
commanding CGC Point Cypress, describes his Coast Guard career,
including his time as a member of the Academy's Class of 1966 and his
tour of duty in Vietnam, including the combat action that took the life
of one of his crewmen, Eddie Hernandez.
Joseph
Etienne, who during his 30-year Coast Guard career served
on Prohibition enforcement aboard CGC Champlain, as a surfman
at a lifeboat station, participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal (he
was a shipmate of Douglas Munro aboard the USS Hunter Liggett),
and post war assignments in aids to navigation where he got to know
Arnold Palmer.
Seaman 2/c John Cullen:Cullen was the Coast Guardsman on beach patrol on Long Island who came
across a team of Nazi saboteurs who had just landed from a U-boat.
Horst
Boettge, a German merchant marine veteran who served aboard
the Horst Wessel (now Eagle) recounts what life was
like aboard the venerable sail-training vessel during the war.
Pat
Latorra, a gunners' mate who served aboard cutters
on escort-of-convoy operations on the Greenland Patrol aboard CGC Algonquin
and later in the Caribbean aboard CGC Active.
SPAR Lillian Vasilas describes her career in the Coast Guard
during World War II. She attended basic training at West Palm Beach and
then served first as a driver and then as a radio operator in the
Washington, D.C. area
SPAR Norma Choyce
describes her career in the Coast Guard during World War II
including service in Baltimore, Maryland.
SPAR LTJG Harriet Writer, who served
as the first female Quartermaster in either the Navy or the Coast Guard,
describes her time in the service, including earning her commission and
duty with the Aids to Navigation
Office in Boston. Interview conducted by Dr. Douglas Kroll, USCG
AUX.
Seaman 1/c Jerry
Ciccimaro, USCGR, served on the Coast Guard's Beach Patrol on
the west coast and then went on to serve on the USS Cavalier
in the Pacific. Interview conducted by Dr. Douglas Kroll, USCG
AUX.
GM2/c Charlie
Bulanti, served in the Pacific Theatre on board
the USS Arthur Middleton. He was a veteran of the
landings at Saipan, Leyte, Midnora Island (Luzon) and Okinawa.
During his combat career he met Jack Dempsey and Bob Crosby (brother
of Bing), started his own band, survived kamikaze attacks, bar
fights, and even transported Japanese prisoners-of-war.
Interview conducted by Dr. Douglas Kroll, USCG AUX.
Radarman 2/c George O'Leary, USCGR, served on beach patrol along the California shoreline and at
sea in the Pacific on board a U.S.S. Gallup [PF-47]. Interview conducted by
Dr. Douglas Kroll, USCG AUX.
One
Among Many: The Memoirs of BM2 Douglas M. Pierpont, USCG: 1941-1947; BM2 Pierpont's exciting illustrated memoir of his service in the
Coast Guard through World War II and after. He enlisted prior to
Pearl Harbor and saw action as a coxswain assigned to the Boat Division
aboard USS Leonard Wood--he participated in the invasions of
North Africa, Sicily and then landings throughout the Pacific Theatre.
After the war he served in Alaska aboard USCGC Bittersweet and Unalga.
The
oral history of Radioman First Class Glen Boles, who served
as a radio operator during the war. RM1c Boles had spent time in
Hollywood and on Broadway as an actor before joining the Coast Guard
after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After attending basic training
in Manhattan, he went through training as a radio operator in Atlantic
City before volunteering for duty at a radio-monitoring station in
Brazil. Here they intercepted German radio messages to their
South American agents. RM1c Boles also includes information of his
life after the war.
The
oral history of Chief Damage Controlman Clyde Allen, USCG (Ret.). Chief Allen served during World War II and retired from active duty
in 1965. He had a variety of duty posts during his Coast Guard
career, including the service with the Beach Patrol, the troop
transports USS General Hugh L. Scott and the USS General H. F.
Hodges, ocean station duty aboard the Minnetonka, LORAN
construction duty aboard the Kukui, a tour aboard the buoy tender
Sweetbrier in Alaska, and patrol duty aboard the Morris.
He is the father of the former Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad
Allen, USCG.
"Tales
of an Old Sea Dog": A series of fascinating and informative
autobiographical articles written by Captain C. William
"Bill" Bailey about his distinguished 30-year career in
the Coast Guard, from World War II through 1973! He commanded a
total of nine cutters, including 5 buoy tenders and the Eastwind,
Coos Bay and Chase.
John Bach:
Bach discusses his service in the Coast Guard as a sonarman during World
War II. As a sonarman Bach relates information about sonar technology as
well as imparts information relating to military life. He recounts
training at Curtis Bay (Maryland) and sonar school (Key West, Florida)
including the development of new training courses, creation of insignia,
shipboard equipment shortages, and other difficulties incurred while
expanding the military. Serving aboard the [USS] Thetis, [CG] a
patrol boat that escorted convoys along the East Coast, he relates his
shipboard role, coastal encounters with German submarines, and the basic
nature of the sonar technology.
Kelly Clifton:
Clifton joined the Coast Guard at the end of World War II and, after
attending radar school, was assigned to the tender Walnut where he
trained as a QM striker. He saw ATON duty and supplied Loran
stations, and was injured during one beaching. He also survived a
tsunami in Hawaii in 1946 and helped recover bodies.
Radioman
First Class George C. Larsen's memoir of service & surviving the
attack on Pearl Harbor. Larsen lived through the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor while serving at a radio monitoring station.
He had served on the Taney, and shortly after the attack was
transferred to the Kukui, and while aboard he took part in the
"liberation" of Niihau Island which had been "taken"
by a downed Japanese pilot. He then saw service aboard the Tiger.
"A
Radioman in the U.S. Coast Guard" by Chief Radioman Michael
Chartuk. RMC Chartuk served as a radio intercept operator
during World War II in a little-known Coast Guard operation to intercept
coded Nazi radio messages. He served first at a radio monitoring
station at Southmpton, New York and then established a radio monitoring
station in the Dominican Republic.
The
memoir of Chief Warrant Officer Fred Mann, USCG (Ret.).
Mr. Mann enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1939 and retired in 1971 after
32 years of continuous service. During his career, which began
aboard the old cutter Saranac, he served aboard Navy transports,
where he saw considerable action at Guadalcanal, earning a Silver Star
for heroism in combat in that early amphibious assault. After the
war he served on a ocean station weather patrol, commanded patrol craft,
saw service aboard numerous buoy tenders (and commanding one). He
also had duty at many shore stations around the country.
Radarman Second Class Collingwood Harris.
RM2/c Harris served aboard the Coast Guard-manned destroyer escort USS
Peterson
during World War II and saw action in the convoy battles of the North
Atlantic, including the loss of the Coast Guard-manned USS Leopold
and the sinking of the U-550!
Invasion
of Iwo Jima diary: Coast Guard veteran Gunner's Mate First Class
Robert Mullins wrote a detailed diary during the bloody assault on
Iwo Jima in 1945. GM1 Mullins served aboard a Coast Guard-manned
LST. (pdf file)
Captain
David W. Sinclair's memoir. CAPT Sinclair has provided us
with his memoir of his Coast Guard career that stretched from 1935
through his retirement in 1969. He describes life as a cadet in
the Coast Guard Academy's Class of 1939, life aboard a Treasury Class
cutter just prior to the U.S. entering World War II, his service in
World War II, including the Greenland Patrol, flight training, and
aerial patrol duties. He then goes on to describe his post-war
Coast Guard career.
A
Coast Guard Aviator in World War II: The Oral History of Lieutenant
Commander W. E. Prindle, Jr., USCGR (CG Aviator #144; CG Helicopter
Pilot #24), a continuation of his career after he left the Marion
and went to flight training.
An
illustrated first-hand account of the Magic Carpet operation written
by Seaman First Class Wilbur Selbrede in 1945. He served
aboard the Joseph T. Dickman as a member of a special amphibious
beach party and saw action at Okinawa and then participated in the
"Operation Magic Carpet" voyages that returned former Allied
Prisoners of War, some who were the survivors of the Bataan Death March
in the Philippines in 1942 as well as those who had been captured on
Wake Island in December, 1941, back home from Japanese P.O.W. camps.
An
account of the relief of convoy SC-177 that was taken from an
unpublished book, Bloody Winter -- The Lighter Side, by the late
Captain John M. "Muddy" Waters, Jr., the first President
of the Ingham
Association.
Illustrated
memoir of Signalman Third Class William L. Sprague, who
describes his World War II experiences, including Basic Training
at Curtis Bay, Maryland, service in the Captain of the Port Office and
on a patrol boat in Newport, Rhode Island, travel across the U.S. by
train and plane, Signalman School in California, and service on board
the USS Corpus Christi in the Pacific Theatre.
Illustrated
memoir of Coast Guard veteran Norman Taylor, who describes
his World War II experiences, including Basic Training at the
Manhattan Beach Training Station, service on the Beach Patrol, "EM"
School, and service on the USS FS-396 in the Pacific Theatre.
("pdf" file)
LCDR Andrea Sacchetti served as the Air
Operations Officer during the 2008 "Concept of Operations" deployment to
Barrow, Alaska.
Rescue
Swimmer AST1 Wil Milam describes in his oral history the
rescue of the four-man crew of the fishing vessel Illusion from
the Bering Sea in February, 2007.
Captain
David W. Sinclair's memoir. CAPT Sinclair has provided us
with his memoir of his Coast Guard career that stretched from 1935
through his retirement in 1969. He describes life as a cadet in
the Coast Guard Academy's Class of 1939, life aboard a Treasury Class
cutter just prior to the U.S. entering World War II, his service in
World War II, including the Greenland Patrol, flight training, and
aerial patrol duties. He then goes on to describe his post-war
Coast Guard career.
Captain
Pete E. Prindle's memoir entitled "Grand Fun While It Lasted:
The Coast Guard Career of CAPT Peter E. Prindle, (Ret.) CG Aviator
#1184, CG Helicopter Pilot #581." CAPT Prindle wrote a
detailed memoir of his career as a Coast Guard aviator, which spanned
the years between 1966 to 1992. ["pdf" file]
Joseph
Etienne, who during his 30-year Coast Guard career served
on Prohibition enforcement aboard CGC Champlain, as a surfman
at a lifeboat station, participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal (he
was a shipmate of Douglas Munro aboard the USS Hunter Liggett),
and post war assignments in aids to navigation where he got to know
Arnold Palmer.
"Tales
of an Old Sea Dog": A series of fascinating and informative
autobiographical articles written by Captain C. William
"Bill" Bailey about his distinguished 30-year career in
the Coast Guard, from World War II through 1973! He commanded a
total of nine cutters, including five buoy tenders and the Eastwind,
Coos Bay and Chase.
BMCM
Thomas D. McAdams' Oral History: Master Chief Boatswain's Mate
Thomas McAdams describes his illustrious career in the Coast Guard,
which spanned the years between 1950 and 1977. The highly
decorated McAdams is something of a legend in the Coast Guard's small
boat community and among the fishermen of the Pacific Northwest.
In his remarkable career, which spanned 27 years, BMCM McAdams
participated in more than 5,000 rescues and was credited with saving
more than 100 lives.
"Establishing a New Normalcy" Activities
Baltimore, Before and After 11 September 2001; The Recollections of
Captain Roger B. Peoples, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.) Commanding
Officer, Activities Baltimore. An important oral history that
delves into the shift to the new "Sector" organization.
1957
Northwest Passage: "Notes from Calumet", excerpts from
the journal and letters of Captain Harold L. Wood, USCG during the
transit of the Northwest Passage by U.S. Coast Guard Cutters Storis,
Bramble, & Spar, 1957. Compiled & edited by Captain
Wood's daughter, Lucinda Wood Langjahr.
Captain
Quentin Walsh's Oral History: Captain Walsh discusses his
experiences as a whaling inspector on board the American-flagged
Norwegian whaling factory ship Ulysses, from 26 May 1937 to 11
April 1938. The Ulysses cruised for 30,000 miles and killed
over 3,600 whales. In the middle of his tour, Walsh was asked to
enforce new whaling regulations under the 1937 International Agreement
for the Regulation of Whaling.
MoMM2c Emil Babich's Oral History:
Emil Babich was a Coast Guardsman who was assigned to the Eagle
for her voyage from Germany to the United States soon after
the end of World War II.
Motor Machinist Mate George Cheney's Memoirs:
Petty
Officer Cheney served in the active duty and reserves from 1947 to
1963. He served aboard the Dexter, General Greene, and
Storis as
well as ashore at LORAN Station St. Paul and Sentinel Island Light
Station, both in Alaska. He describes what it was like to: care for old diesel
engines, stand watch in a cold and tossing engine room while serving on an
ocean station, suffering through chronic seasickness, and what life was
like at an isolated light station. (pdf file)
Vernon
Carlson's Oral History: Vernon Carlson discusses his Cold
War service in the Marines, and later enlistment in the Coast Guard.
Upon his discharge from the Marines, Carlson moved to Milwaukee where he
worked for several months before enlisting in the Coast Guard. He
comments on his duties with the Coast Guard including cleaning the guns,
radio and sonar operation, search and rescue, drug patrol, and work as a
LORAN operator. During his second Coast Guard tour, he was on boarding
crew conducting fisheries enforcement on Russian fishing vessels.
Pages
From A Scrapbook: an incredible collection of photos from the
scrapbook of BMC-L Ira Lewis, who served at small boat stations on Long
Island for over twenty years, from the late-1930s to the late-1950s.
His photos document life at these unheralded stations.
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