Rescue Warriors: The U. S. Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes »

DAVID HELVARG is founder and president of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a Washington, D.C.—based organization working for ocean and coastal conservation. An award-winning journalist, he has written for The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian, Popular Science, Sierra, and The Nation, and has produced more than forty documentaries for PBS, the Discovery Channel, and others. He is also a licensed private investigator, body surfer, and scuba diver. His previous books include The War Against the Greens, Blue Frontier, and 50 Ways to Save the Ocean. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The first big, narrative nonfiction book about the U.S. Coast Guard, from its founding in 1790 to the present, including dozens of gripping stories of dangerous rescues and first-person reporting, by an award-winning journalist.

School Library Journal

Adult/High School–An informative history starting with the Coast Guard’s beginnings in the 18th century, written in straightforward prose. The emphasis is on the fifth armed service’s record during the 20th and 21st centuries, especially its unparalleled effectiveness and heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Readers will discover the avenues into its officer corps through its academy in Connecticut (a no-cost education). Helvarg notes particularly how the Coast Guard stresses command opportunities for its junior officers earlier than the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines for their second lieutenants and ensigns. He provides insights into enlisted careers open to young people. The marked differences in primary missions among the five services are accented–the other services underscore combat and the Coast Guard highlights mainly rescue and law enforcement. The author writes: “In addition to saving lives, the Coast Guard conducts port and waterfront security patrols, directs port traffic, responds to water pollution and oil spills, seizes illegal drugs and migrants at sea…licenses mariners, maintains and repairs…aids to navigation…,” and so on. This is an excellent title for students interested in the Coast Guard, especially as a possible career choice.–Alan Gropman, National Defense University, Washington, DC

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: You Have to Go Out xi

1 New Orleans Saints 1

2 The Boot and the Factory 31

3 Hamilton's Legacy 57

4 Calling All Boats 77

5 Gunners 101

6 Warriors 127

7 Surfmen 153

8 Aviators 173

9 Frontiers 197

10 Duck Scrubbers 225

11 Deepwater 249

12 Red, White, and Black 279

13 The Next Surge 307

Select Bibliography 335

Index 341