The Greatest Coast Guard Rescue Stories Ever Told

The Coast Guard’s rescue personnel are second to none, and Coast Guard air and sea rescue missions have been the subjects of celebrated newspaper accounts, books, and movies, including The Perfect Storm. The Coast Guard is one of the nation's five military services, which exist to defend and preserve the United States. In The Greatest Coast Guard Rescue Stories Ever Told, the editor has pulled together some of the finest writings about air and sea rescues that capture readers imaginations, culled from books, magazines, and elsewhere. It is an unforgettable collection, and includes stories by Kathryn Miles, Eric Hartlep, Gerald Hoover, Martha Laguardia-Kotite, Geoffrey D. Reynolds, Kalee Thompson, H. Paul Jeffers, and many others.

Jack Nickerson and his faithful lab, Sinbad, wake early one snowy Cape Cod morning, ready for winter fun. Meanwhile, miles away in the ocean, the crew of a cargo tanker ship called the "Pendleton" is in serious trouble. The waves and wind of a raging nor'easter rip the tanker in two, leaving the people to cling for their lives in the wicked, cold storm. There's no time to waste--the Coast Guard, including Jack's friend Bernie Webber, leave Chatham Harbor in search of the "Pendleton" crew. They don't yet know that Jack and Sinbad have snuck aboard the rescue boat as stowaways. Join the young duo in the front-row seat for the greatest small-boat rescue in American history.

Deadliest Sea by Kalee Thompson is the spellbinding true story of the greatest rescue in U.S. Coast Guard history. Recounting the tragic sinking of the fishing trawler, Alaska Ranger, in the Bering Sea and its remarkable aftermath in March 2008, Deadliest Sea is real life action and adventure at its finest. The full story of an amazing rescue—where extraordinary courage, ingenuity, will, and technology combined in one of the most remarkable maritime feats ever recorded—has never been told before now. It’s The Perfect Storm meets Deadliest Catch.

The 1952 Coast Guard mission to save the crews of two oil tankers that were torn in half by the force of one of New England's worst nor'easters.

"This collection, takes you inside the lives of the premier mountain rescue team in Aspen, Colorado; belts you into the seat of a rescue helicopter; puts you behind enemy lines with LRRPs search for a colleague trapped by the North Vietnamese Army in Cambodia; and brings you into the hearts and minds of New York City police and fire fighters in the desperate hours following the September 11th attacks. Includes the work of well-known authors such as Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm and Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down." --Publisher's description.

Since its founding more than two hundred years ago, the United States Coast Guard has rescued over a million people. On any given day, "Coasties" respond to 125 distress calls and save over a dozen lives. Yet despite having more than 50,000 active-duty and reserve members on every ocean and on our nation's coasts, great lakes, and rivers, most of us know very little about this often neglected but crucial branch of the military. In Rescue Warriors, award-winning journalist David Helvarg brings us into the daily lives of Coasties, filled with a salty maritime mix of altruism and adrenaline, as well as dozens of death-defying rescues at sea and on hurricane-ravaged shores. Helvarg spent two years with the men and women of the Coast Guard, from the halls of their academy in New London, Connecticut, to the frigid, storm-tossed waters of Alaska's Bering Sea, to the northern Persian Gulf, where they currently guard Iraqi oil terminals. The result is a masterpiece of adventure reporting---the definitive book on America's "forgotten heroes."

Dramatic, compelling, downright unbelievable accounts of the Coast Guard's often unsung heros.

Recounts the experiences of Jerry Hoover, retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer, including his participation developing rescue swimmer tactics for the NASA escape pod, and his service in search and rescue operations following Hurricane Katrina.