Help with a celebratory proposal / Coast Guard

[kevinbgoode]

This is a little unusual, at least for me. I have been thinking of writing my Senators (Durbin and Obama) about requesting that the United States government proclaim a special celebration for the United States Coast Guard next August. The Coast Guard traces it's history back to August 4, 1790, and is one of the oldest (if not the oldest) military designations. This isn't the reason I want to ask for some kind of special recognition - not to slight our other military services at all, but the Coast Guard often performs their job with little recognition and even less fanfare.

During Hurricane Katrina, their search and rescue operations were out before the storm had even passed, and within two weeks had managed to rescue some 33,000 people. When you consider they usually only save about 55,000 in an entire year, you can imagine the magnitude of the task they met during the Gulf Coast disaster. But there are other reasons why I think this nation should mount some sort of honor celebration for them - in the midst of all the federal government snafus, an absentee President, problems with both Louisiana and Mississippi disaster plans, the Coast Guard worked constantly during and after the disaster, and every account I have seen or read holds me in awe of the courage and the dangers these men and women faced to save American lives.

I know we owe a Canadian team a lot of gratitude for their assistance, especially so early in the aftermath of the storm. I am assuming that New Orleans, when it is in a better position to do so, will honor everyone who helped, as will Mississippi. That is just part of the character of the people in that region.

But it seems to me that, as a nation, we often ignore the contributions our Coast Guard makes to the safety of Americans every day. And they are often the overlooked military program - quietly going about their duties and performing them with little complaint. I was just thinking that...since August will be just before the anniversary of the Hurricane. . .and that is their birthday, that we should do something special to honor them next year. For one thing, it's a way to keep their role (AND the victims in the Gulf States) before the public - and instead of individual Coast Guard communities issuing local proclamations in honor of the service, that we could all fly Coast Guard flags for a day all over the country.

I'm not sure how to really go about this idea - except I think our Democratic Senators and Congresspeople should certainly look at doing something - they are certainly more important to this nation than just around the localities they serve. We did many honors (and they were well-deserved) for the police and firefighters in New York after 9/11. . .and yes, there are many, many others who should eventually be honored for coming to the aid of the Gulf Coast. But in this case, I think we need to hold these people up for being above the fighting and the pettiness and poor decisionmaking by government officials because they worked around them and accomplished a task that we should all be very proud of in this country.

I'd appreciate any ideas ya'll might have about this. . .

[unhappycamper]

1. The Coast Guard is the most forgotten service.

Since its inception in 1790, the USCG has served this country with distinction. Here's a link to their offical web site - I found the Search and Rescue page very interesting.

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/collect.html

[TahitiNut]

2. The Coast Guard didn't await a go ahead from Brown or Chertoff.

They comported themselves with the distinction that a true "service" organization comes to expect. Despite being abused as a serice in the "War on (some) Drugs," I personally regard the Coast Guard as the only true military 'service' organization. (But I'm biased, having had family members in the Coast Guard and having attended the USCGA myself for two years.)