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

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Captain Garcia/Garfield—modern Coast Guard’s 1st minority officer

Photo of Midshipman Henry Frederick Garcia in the yearbook of the United States Naval Academy. (U.S. Navy)Born in Morro Castle, Puerto Rico, on February 17, 1903, Henry Frederick Garcia would become a trailblazer in the history of the Coast Guard.Garcia came from a prominent military family. His father had a career in the U.S. Army and his younger

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Domingo Suarez y Rosa—Towerman of Puerto Rico

Domingo Suarez y Rosas circa early 1920’s. (Photo courtesy Florencia Lemmer Suarez)Born in the Canary Islands in 1862, Don (Mr.) Domingo Suarez y Rosa was part of the largest migratory wave of immigrants from the Canaries to Puerto Rico in the late 19th century.On March 6, 1887, after completing a rigorous entrance process and examination, Suarez

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Rescue Swimmer Milam’s fight for survivors and survival in the frigid Bering Sea

[Editor’s note: This article by PA1 Kurt Fredrickson originally appeared in a 2007 issue of Coast Guard Magazine. It has been updated for re-publication by PACAREA Historian, Dr. David Rosen]Aviation Survival Technician First Class (AST1) Willard Milam in full rescue swimmer suit. (U.S. Coast Guard)Our crew saved four people that night . . . and

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: Hamilton’s grand experiment—230 years of the U.S. Coast Guard!

A few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.                                    Alexander Hamilton, Federalist Paper #12 (November 27, 1787)Alexander Hamilton portrait painted in 1880 by Caroline Ormes Ransom for the Department of Treasury (Treasury

Feb. 4, 2022

The Long Blue Line: 1942—Coast Guard’s history making year 80 years ago!

Remembering events from 1942