Wendall Smits was born in South Holland, Illinois in 1936. After graduating high school, a friend convinced him to join the Coast Guard Reserve at the age of 17. He completed two weeks of boot camp in 1955 at Cape May, New Jersey and became an…

Mark Northrup was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1957. He graduated high school in 1975 and attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota before opting to enlist into the Coast Guard for its Officer Candidate School. Northrup attended the OCS program in…

Gord Youngquist served in the United States Coast Guard from 1977 to 1987. During this period Gord served in a wide variety of positions and locations from Cortez Florida, Sarasota Florida, Saint Petersburg Florida, as well as aboard an ice breaker…

Bob Rimmer was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1923. He grew up in Minnesota, Michigan, and Kansas before enlisting in the Coast Guard in March 1942. After basic training he was stationed at Bay City, Michigan as a truck driver then aboard the USS…

Kent Fisher was born on July 1, 1946 in Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the Coast Guard in the summer of 1968 and was called up for service in December 1968. He received his basic training at Cape May, New Jersey then received further training at…

Thomas Pacic was born in Youngstown, Ohio on November 23, 1927. After graduating from high school in 1945 he enlisted in the Coast Guard in December 1945. He received orders to go to Curtis Bay in Baltimore, Maryland for basic training. He reported…

Edwin Jamros joined the US Coast Guard in 1940 because he knew the United States was going to war. After going to Ellis Island for basic training, he was assigned to the USS Joseph Dickman as an electrician's apprentice. While on the Dickman, he…

Curly Garner enlisted in the Coast Guard shortly after graduating from high school. He trained on Government Island in California and was sent to the Aleutian Islands during WWII. Their job was to try and rescue pilots that went down near the top…

Louis Begin Jr. was born to Hungarian immigrants in Pennsylvania. His family then moved to Detroit, MI after his father lost his job. He enlisted in the Coast Guard after the attack at Pearl Harbor. He was then assigned to guard ships going in and…

Gerald Bradley was born in Madison, Michigan on April 22, 1922. He graduated from high school in 1938 and attempted to enlist in the Navy and Coast Guard. Gerald was rejected due to his eyesight, but eventually enlisted in the Army in 1943. After…