This the first book on the distinguished past,
hazardous present, and uncertain future of an organization whose roots extend
back nearly 200 years. Each year, the Coast Guard's powerful motorized lifeboats
and other small water craft respond to over 37,000 calls for assistance and help
in saving more than 4,000 people in imminent danger. Despite the fact that the
small boat stations are the very symbol of rescue upon the water, the public
knows little about what takes place in them and about the professionals who put
their own lives at risk in this way every day.
A retired member of the Coast Guard, Dennis Noble traveled from unit to unit
capturing the stories of their brave crews, riding the waves with the lifeboat
sailors who accepted him as one of their own. Movingly he tells of witnessing
the tragic deaths of three Coast Guardsmen on a rescue mission - deaths he
believes did not have to occur. Lifeboat Sailors bears witness to the courage of
a unique breed of seaman and sounds an alarm for the rescue of a cherished
American institution.
