As told by the skipper of a Coast Guard cutter in the Village bar in Kodiak sometime in the early to mid 80s. I had asked him what incident in his entire career had left it's mark on him.
"That's an easy one," he said. "it was a kid just fresh out of Cape May."
"What about him?" I asked.
I had just taken my first Cutter command a couple of months earlier and we had this kid come aboard. I was pretty surprised he graduated form Cape May, actually. He didn't appear to be sharp but he was the most enthusiastic non-rate I ever met. He worked like a dog, even off watch and always did a good job on everything he touched.
He was also the biggest pain in the ass we had because he was always asking about when we were going to do 'real Coast Guard stuff'. It was constant. The crew was sick of it.
Anyway, a big blow was coming through and I decided we should hole up in Dutch (Harbor) and it kept getting worse and worse. We were ordered off the dock to prevent it from damaging either the dock or the boat and we were jogging into it in the harbor. It was wild but in the harbor we at least had some protection. I handed the boat off to the XO and laid down to get some sleep.
I was awakened by the emergency generator being fired up and the sounds of guys running all over hell and heard someone say "Somebody ought to wake the Old Man" and someone running past hit my door a couple of times. I went straight to the bridge and looked at the XO and the Chief and asked what was going on.
"Some fishboat a couple hours out sounds like they're in over their head and needs help," the Chief said to me. Then he added the entire crew has taken it upon themselves to show the new kid some 'real Coast Guard $hit. It's your call, of course, but if you say no you're probably going to have a mutiny on your hands!"
So I told the XO "Let's go."
It was wild out, the wildest I'd ever seen it. To this day I'm surprised we didn't lose the entire boat! Anyway, we arrived and the deck of the fishboat was awash and there were 5 guys in survival suits handing on for dear life. We got as near as we dared and managed to get a line out to them. I later heard it was the kid that managed to throw a heaving line to it. He must have calculated the wind because he got it on the first try.
We tied 5 separate lines to the heaving line and had them haul it to themselves and tie themselves to them and then we hauled them over to the cargo net we had alongside. Inside of ten minutes the boat went down like a stone.
Anyway, we heard we had all 5 on board and left to head back to Dutch.
I wasn't privy to the details of what happened on deck until later. I was very relieved to hear all five souls were on board.
Once we were underway for Dutch the kid popped into the bridge and announced, "We got 'em all! All five!" I was mildly annoyed at the interruption and turned and saw the kid standing there with a gash on his forehead, a chipped tooth, bleeding like a stuck pig and the absolutely biggest smile I have ever seen in my life. It was a look of pride and satisfaction. When I faced him he looked at me and simply said, "THAT'S why I joined the f***in' Coast Guard, Sir!"
I didn't have the heart to tell him he shouldn't have walked into the bridge like that and neither did COB (Chief Of the Boat) Cob took the helm and told the helmsman to take him to sick bay and have his cut looked at.
The look on that kid's face was the high point of my entire career!
What happened to him?" I asked.
The officer's face smiled. "That's another story but I have time."
A couple days later I asked the guys on deck detail about the operation and they told me in detail how it got pulled off. Then mentioned that the kid had successfully gotten the line to the fishboat on the first try. That got my attention. I asked how the kid had pitched in and my two petty officers looked at each other, laughed and said "Sir, he was a problem. We had one hell of a time holding him back. When the survivors got close to the boat he went down the cargo net to horse them in. He carried the last one up the net!"
"And you let that happen? That little runt?" I asked.
"We couldn't stop him, Sir. He's an animal and after the third time we just gave up on him and let nature run its course. He actually went into the water to snag the last one. We know he's a striker and have tried to figure out what to do with him. He's unstoppable. He's do or die!"
When I asked what they think they ought to do with him they looked at me and said they thought he should be sent to AST school.
"Rescue Swimmer?" I shot back. "He'd bilge out on the academics! How well does he swim?"
"He doesn't quit," said my First Class. "He doesn't know HOW to quit!
Long story short, unheard of, the entire crew recommended him, COB and a couple of petty officers made a few phone calls and I had a quiet word with the Kodiak COMMSTA CO and got him a slot and six months to get him into shape. They got the entire Syllabus for the AST rating and pounded it into him and made sure he'd spend time during 'Office Hours' with the instructors.
COB called someone later on and told me the kid made it. He had graduated at the second to bottom of his class. When I announced it to the crew they were astounded and cheered.
"What happened next? I asked.
A few years later I heard he had reenlisted, he told me. Then he said something to me that stunned me.
"I signed that kid's death warrant because there's no way in hell he's going to survive until retirement. Not in that business as a20, 30 year career. But I can meet my maker with a clear conscience because I helped a man do what he was clearly cut out to do. He HAS to go out. That's the way he is. He doesn't know anything else. He's fully aware he doesn't have to come back in again."
Take it or leave it. I heard it at the Village. It is what it is.
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