Feb. 7, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Ocean Station—Coast Guard’s support for the Korean War 70 years ago!

Scott T. Price, Chief Historian United States Coast GuardAfter 21 days of being slammed around by rough cold sea swells 20 to 50 feet high, and wild winds hitting gale force at times, within an ocean grid the size of a postage stamp, you can stand any kind of duty.Coast Guard Cutter Pontchartrain battles heavy seas on Ocean Station duty. (U.S.

Feb. 7, 2022

The Long Blue Line: The last Nazi–U-234 surrenders 75 years ago!

Argo on patrol displaying her World War II armament and haze gray paint scheme. (U.S. Coast Guard Photo)Described as a “lanky, hawk-faced man,” Charles Eliot Winslow was born in 1909 and grew up in the Boston area. He preferred using his middle name and, by 1940, he was a successful paint salesman and engaged to be married. Winslow had second

Feb. 7, 2022

The Long Blue Line: BMCM “Big Wave” Dave Duren–leader, mentor and FRC namesake

Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class William A. Bleyer, United States Coast GuardDuren’s peers considered him an outstanding boat driver who operated with common sense and a great respect for the sea. He never asked anything of his crew that he hadn’t already done or was willing to do at the time.                PA1 Levi A. Read, “BMCM Dave Duren: A Surfman

Feb. 7, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Chief Journalist Alex Haley—the Coast Guard years

Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Kroll, United States Coast GuardNewly enlisted Alexander Palmer Haley in his dress white uniform. (U.S. Coast Guard)August 11th marks the birthday of Alex Haley, considered one of the best-known and recognized members of the U.S. Coast Guard. Most service members can recite a one-line bullet point about who he was and what he

Feb. 7, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Patterson–FRC namesake and Gold Medal hero of 135 years ago

The United States Coast Guard will soon be commissioning a new Fast Response Cutter named for John C. Patterson, a recipient of the Congressional Gold Lifesaving Medal for heroism. John Patterson was born in 1834, in the town of Howell, New Jersey, to a local farm couple. Like his father, John worked as a farmer and also learned basic carpentry and

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: How 80 Coast Guardsmen saved an Alaskan town during the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1919

BM1 William A. Bleyer, United States Coast GuardCoast guard-manned USS Unalga underway in an Alaskan ice field. (NOAA)Occasion sometimes arise . . . in which the officers and crews are called upon to face situations of desperate human need which put their resourcefulness and energy, and even their courage, to the severest test.             “The

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Caribbean tender Acacia and Nazi sub U-161

U.S. Army mine planter General John P. Story, (later USCGC Acacia) location unknown prior to U.S. Lighthouse Service buoy tender conversion. (U.S. National Archives). . . at daybreak, a shot was heard three points off the ship’s starboard bow. It was not long before the surfaced U-161, a type IXC German U-boat, came into view.CDR C. Douglas Kroll,

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: “Selfless devotion to duty”—Seaman Scheuerman and the bloody landings at Salerno

Although mortally wounded before he could deliver effective fire he remained steadfast at his post in the face of imminent death, thereby contributing materially to the protection of his ship against further attack. Scheuerman’s fearless action, great personal valor, and selfless devotion to duty under extremely perilous conditions were in keeping

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Edward “Iceberg” Smith—Coast Guard’s admiral of the ice!

To the officers of the Greenland Patrol vessels: This is your command. Your first command. Your first great chance. It is hard, responsible, vital duty. War duty. Don’t fail your country or your ship or me.                                                           Rear Admiral Edward “Iceberg” Smith, 1944In 1944, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Edward

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: 150 years of Arctic operations and the Polar Security Cutter

Early photograph of Revenue Cutter Bear assisting a vessel trapped in ice off of Alaska. (U.S. Coast Guard)If you are subjected to miserable discomforts, or even if you suffer, it must be regarded as all right and simply a part of life; like sailors, you must never dwell too much on the dangers or sufferings, lest others question your