Other USCG:
USCG Cutter-Crewman WWII:
A special note for the USCG:
I always respected the Coast Guard, I am very clear about how many Fishing Boats and Fishermen owe their lives to the Coast Guard Rescue operations from providing a tow, providing extra pumps for flooding vessels, and airlifting the injured and sick to safety. They have helped make our fishing vessels be as safe as they can be, and I personally saw the changes in fishermen and the boats. They are there to check on any illegal fishing (I’ve never heard of it by US Fishermen in Alaska, I might add), and how operations are done now as compared to 20 and 30 years ago have gotten far more… serious now, when under the Dept. of Transportation, there was far less funding I think, they got the job done just fine, and the Guardsmen were very relaxed. Changes in the Coast Guard Vessels and Air Craft, have come a long way, when I was young, at least up in Alaska, then men had beards, and wore jeans with their blue shirts, and tennis shoes, the boats were nice but old, and probably obsolete cutters, but politics changed and the ice breakers, and Bouy Tenders, and all the cutters have gone through many upgraded hull designs now, some may be looking for illegal fishing, but the Americans don’t do that, and there is the Fish and Game and they have vessels that are really nice ex-fishing boats, and they are looking for just that, others coming across the border lines maybe but I’ve never seen it done by Americans, there has always been quotas set by the government, and strictly adhered too, Alaska fish should last forever, but the warm water is starting to raise hell, we have pre-season inspections, and are often boarded at sea as well, and there is no funny business-we care about and respect each other, be nice if they could get some help guarding our boarders however, god bless these people, the have helped the fishermen and their boats so many times. So the pictures are some from when I was there, and the boarding, was here not too long ago, but since I retired the same boat.
I had a baby sitter, when I was quite young, living in Lakewood California, ‘Chipper’, he went into the Coast Guard back in 1969 about, to get away from the Army / Marine Draft that was in full force, and geez the Coast Guard was under the control of the department of transportation for ‘Pete’s Sake’, but they sent him to Vietnam anyway, tI think he may have had a hard time of it there, haven’t been in contact for many years, was a great family though. And this is what sparked my interest in this part of the uniform collection.
Hat’s off to all the sailors and fishermen working on the sea, they are special people that look at life differently, having big respect for nature.
Mark Stone.
