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Tag: Long Blue Line

Eddie Hernandez’s black and white service portrait showing him prior to his tour in Vietnam. (Courtesy of the Hernandez Family)

Sept. 22, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Eddie Hernandez and smallboat operations in Vietnam

Hernandez was assigned to the 82-foot Coast Guard patrol boat Point Cypress, which served along the Cau Mau Peninsula on the southern-most tip of South Vietnam. 

Iconic image of Jesse Owens losing the 100-yard dash at Ohio Field to Eulace Peacock. This meet was Owens’ third straight loss to Peacock, and one of the ten times Peacock beat Owens in the sprints and long jump. (Courtesy of the author)

Sept. 8, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Peacock—Coast Guardsman and “World’s Fastest Human” 90 years ago

He initially advanced to coxswain designation, but later became a Boatswain’s Mate First Class. Ultimately, he was designated Chief Specialist in athletics.

Photograph of the 75-foot patrol boat CG-249 from around the time of the James Alderman incident. (From The Hanging at Bahia Mar by Hal Caudle)

Sept. 1, 2023

The Long Blue Line: The infamous James Alderman and redemption of CG-249 100 years ago

The next morning, they would return to Fort Lauderdale and resume the grind of chasing rum runners. 

Main images from the third and last story in a series about the SS Marine Electric sinking.

Aug. 23, 2023

The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, part three

The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.

Long Blue Line Marine Electric series part 2 photo highlights.

Aug. 21, 2023

The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, Part Two

The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.

Long Blue Line Marine Electric series part 1 photo highlights.

Aug. 18, 2023

The Long Blue Line: A tragedy remembered — SS Marine Electric sinking 40 years ago, Part One

The shipwreck that prompted the creation of the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Program is recalled by the pilot of one of the helicopters sent to rescue survivors on that fateful night.

Color photograph of the author, then Lt. Wayne Wheeler, on the bridge of Ironwood (WLB-297) in its home waters of Alaska. (Courtesy of the author)

Aug. 7, 2023

The Long Blue Line: The Ironwood—wartime ATON in Vietnam

"Back then it was less expensive to repair a ship in Japan than in a U.S. shipyard."

This desegregation article series is dedicated to the all-African American crews of the Coast Guard’s Pea Island Lifeboat Station located in North Carolina. (U.S. Coast Guard)

July 26, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Part III “When I say Americans, I mean all Americans!” — Segregation’s take-down by President Harry Truman

Denial of employment and promotion, and separate dining and restroom facilities often characterized the experience and limited upward mobility for African American workers.

Major Charity Adams inspects arrivals to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, comprised of African American women serving during World War II. (National Archives (531249))

July 24, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Part II — “Available and needed workers have been barred from employment” — the segregated military and civil service environments

The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (USRCS), predecessor to the United States Coast Guard (USCG), utilized both free and enslaved Black people, and restricted their roles to cooks, stewards and seamen.

The mixed-race crew of African American enlisted men, with white officers and NCOs, on board cutter Yocona in 1919, at the time of the U.S. government’s segregation policy. (U.S. Coast Guard)

July 20, 2023

The Long Blue Line: “There Shall be Equal Opportunity for All” — Why President Truman’s desegregation orders were necessary

On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed a pair of executive orders, the combination of which banned racial segregation in the armed forces and federal civil service.