"The planes were strafing us...you could hear metal hitting the ship...and then we realized we were really at war." (Audio interview, 8:25)

Ralph C. Nash

War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: Coast Guard Unit: USSCGC Shoshone; USSCGC Taney; USSCGC Tiger; USS Philadelphia Service Location: South Pacific Rank: Chief Boatswain's Mate Place of Birth: CO

Attracted to the Coast Guard by its reputation as the oldest continuous seagoing service, Ralph Chester Nash departed for Hawaii in 1939 to serve aboard the USCGC Tiger. Patrolling the waters outside of Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7th, he and his crew spotted a small submarine; they chased it with no success. In the moments before the first wave of Japanese airplanes flew overhead, the Tiger came under fire from the “mother” submarine stationed out at sea. After the attack, Nash spent the remainder of the war escorting troop and ammunitions ships through the South Pacific, protecting them from enemy submarines.