The U.S. Coast Guard

Saturday, June 3, 2017

 

• In the 1790s, the Revenue-Marine (or the Revenue Cutter Service) merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard.
• The Guardians serve to protect our waterways and ports and to save the lives of sailors in peril.
• Although one of the U.S. branches of the military, the Coast Guard isn't a part of the Department of Defense. Instead, it is an arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
• During the 1870s, the Coast Guard "ran" Alaska.
  They enforced hunting and fishing laws, rescued ships in the region, held "court" for the purposes of prosecuting criminals, and supplied provisions like food, medicine, and supplies to the villagers along the coast.
• Lloyd Bridges, Beau Bridges, Jeff Bridges, Arnold Palmer, and Cesar Romero were Guardians.
  And so was Popeye.

 

• On any given day, the Coast Guard conducts over a hundred searches and rescues, saves a dozen lives, seizes hundreds of pounds of marijuana and cocaine, and investigates any number of vessel casualties.
• Like the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, the Coast Guard has its own aviators. In fact, two of them flew in the Space Shuttle program.

I've been amazed about all the different things that the Coast Guard does. Here's an interesting blurb from a drug seizure earlier this year. 

 

The Coast Guard offloaded approximately 4.2 tons of seized cocaine, worth an estimated $125 million in wholesale value, at Coast Guard Sector San Juan. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Napier seized the contraband and apprehended four Guyanese smugglers following the interdiction of the 70-foot fishing vessel, Lady Michelle, in international waters north of Paramaribo, Suriname Feb. 16, 2017. (DEA courtesy photo)

Lord, thank you for these men and women who work tirelessly to keep our shore lines, ports, and waterways safe. We are very fortunate to have them.