My Coast Guard News

Posed photograph early in the war of Joseph Gerczak in his dress blues uniform. (Courtesy of the Gerczak family)
Photo showing LST-66’s bow doors open to debark troops to the beach. (Navsource.org)

April 19, 2024

Joe Gerczak’s service and sacrifice from Philly to New Guinea

LST-66 ended the war as the most-decorated LST serving in the Coast Guard.

A March 1959 color photo of LTJG Bobby Wilks posing in front of an HU-16E “Albatross” fixed-wing amphibian aircraft. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Feb. 23, 2024

Bobby Wilks — distinguished aviator, mentor, and minority trailblazer

“I was in awe of him, as not only he was the first senior ranking African American officer at that time, but also an aviator. He shared with me the challenges, which he was quick to call them opportunities, that he took full advantage of that mapped out his successful Coast Guard career.” - MCPOCG Vincent W. Patton (Ret.)

A rare vintage painting of the all-African American crew of the Pea Island Life-Saving Service Station, circa 1896. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Feb. 16, 2024

Lewis Wescott—the lost grave of a heroic Pea Island lifesaver

A discovery uncovers the whereabouts of a Pea Island Keeper, one whose last resting place was lost for more than 70 years.

A July 1921 photo of staff at Air Station Morehead City, the Coast Guard’s first air station and crew, in front of a flying boat and hangar. Officer standing in the center is Capt. William Wishar with another officer and enlisted men posing in the hot summer sun. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

Nov. 3, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Aviator #8 recounts the early days of Coast Guard flight

“I didn’t know whether he should have a court-martial for risking the plane and his life or be recommended for a medal for bravery beyond the call of duty. He retired as Rear Admiral.”

Villarreal in flak vest and combat helmet standing beside Point Banks’s deck gun. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Sept. 15, 2023

The Long Blue Line: Villarreal - Silver Star savior of Vietnam 55 years ago

"It was one of those things. I just didn’t think we were going to, . . . we just weren’t going to survive. We just weren’t going to survive. It was just too much."

Aug. 16, 2023

The Coast Guard is investing in underway connectivity ... and it’s paying off!

This next-generation upgrade provides a twenty-fold increase in the speed of shipboard networks.

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.