Date: January 14, 2010 

Contact: Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office
(216) 902-6020 office
(216) 310-2608 cell

U.S. Coast Guard assists with Haitian Earthquake Relief Operations 

CLEVELAND - The U.S. Coast Guard is one of many U.S. response agencies participating in the humanitarian effort to assist the country of Haiti after the country experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, Tuesday.

The entire Dept. of Homeland Security, including the U.S. Coast Guard, extends its sympathy for the devastation and loss of life in Haiti following Tuesday's earthquake.

A U.S. Coast Guard Public Affairs Team, including Petty Officer Brandon M. Blackwell of the Ninth District Public Affairs Office, here, is deployed to document the U.S. Coast Guard's Haitian Earthquake Relief Operations.  Still and video imagery of Coast Guard operations will be uploaded to the U.S. Coast Guard Visual Imagery page.

CLICK HERE for still imagery.  CLICK HERE for video imagery.

The Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office will work with the USCG Public Affairs Team to identify Coast Guard responders that are from your respective areas; and will make every effort to connect you with those responders.

For any additional media inquiries, contact the Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office at (216) 902-6020.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Date: December 21, 2009 

Contact: Ninth District
Public Affairs
(216) 902-6020 office
(216) 310-2608 cell

New Jersey-based Coast Guard Cutter to arrive in Cleveland 

CLEVELAND - The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Penobscot Bay is scheduled to arrive at the Cleveland Moorings at approximately 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 22, 2009.

Media are invited to attend.

Penobscot Bay, a 140-foot icebreaking tug, homeported in Bayonne, N.J., will be temporarily assigned to the Great Lakes region to augment the eight other icebreakers that call the Great Lakes home.

Penobscot Bay’s deployment here will ensure the Coast Guard’s ability to facilitate the movement of vessels, meet the reasonable demands of commerce on the Great Lakes and assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with flood mitigation.

WHO: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Penobscot Bay, a 140-foot icebreaking tug homeported in Bayonne, N.J.

WHAT: The arrival of Penobscot Bay to augment the Coast Guard's fleet of icebreakers on the Great Lakes.

WHEN: Scheduled for 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 22, 2009.

WHERE: Cleveland Moorings, 1055 East Ninth St., Cleveland, Ohio 44114.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Media Advisory

Date: December 2, 2009

Contact: Capt. Dave Truitt
(312)-222-0500, phone

Ens. Shane Alexander
(813)-789-6228, phone

Lt. j.g. Jerry Federer
(630)-986-2145, phone

Delores Robinson
(312)-617-2680, phone

Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw to deliver Christmas Trees to Navy Pier for more than 1,000 needy families

CHICAGO - Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw will be arriving at Chicago's Navy Pier on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009, at 8 a.m. with a delivery of Christmas Trees that will be distributed to more than 1,000 needy families.

A ceremony welcoming the Mackinaw will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 near the "Captain at the Helm" statue south of the pier entrance.

Media is invited to attend.

The ceremony includes presentation of colors by a Sea Cadet Color Guard and a memorial wreath laying ceremony commemorating the merchant marine officers lost on the Great Lakes. The high point of the ceremony is a scheduled fly-over by a Coast Guard helicopter (HH-65 Dolphin) carrying a memorial wreath to be placed on the waves near the Chicago lighthouse.

Three families, representing the more than 1,000 deserving families who will be given trees this year, will be present to receive the first Christmas trees.

Guest speakers include: Capt. George Lisner, member of the Christmas Ship Executive Committee, Cmdr. Scott Smith, Commanding Officer of U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw and Capt. Luann Barndt, Sector Lake Michigan Commander and Chicago's Captain of the Port.

Honored Guests include: Col. Vincent Quarles, Chicago District Army Corps of Engineers, and Lt. Peter J. Piaza, Commanding Officer, Marine and Helicopter Unit, Chicago Police Department.

Public Tours of the Mackinaw will be provided on Friday Dec. 4 – Saturday Dec. 5, 2009 from 1:30 - 5 p.m.  The Mackinaw expects to depart Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009.

WHO: Chicago’s Christmas Ship Committee, International Shipmasters’ Association, Chicago Marine Heritage Society, Friends of the Marine Community, Chicago Yachting Association, Navy League of the United States, U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Navy Pier.

WHAT: The arrival ceremony for the new state-of-the-art Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw will take place at Chicago’s Navy Pier Friday, Dec. 4, 2009 at 8 a.m., welcomed in grand fashion by Fire and Police boats, a live military band and hundreds of students throughout the morning.

WHEN: The major event occurs on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2008 at 10 a.m. near the “Captain at the Helm” statue south of the pier entrance.  The Mackinaw will be welcomed in honor of the Chicago Christmas Ship tradition bringing Christmas trees to over 1,000 deserving families in the Chicago area.

WHERE: Navy Pier, 600 East Grand Avenue, Chicago, Ill.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Date: May 18, 2009

Contact: Frank Jennings
(216) 902-6094 office

America's Waterways Watch needs you

CLEVELAND -  The U.S. Coast Guard and its safe boating partners will highlight the importance of America's Waterways Watch for a media availability at the Cleveland Moorings here Tuesday, May 19, at 1 p.m.

Within the U.S. maritime domain, there is approximately 95,000 miles of shoreline and more than 290,000 square miles of water, dotted with thousands of facilities and infrastructure vital to the lifeblood of our Nation. Keeping watch over so much is an extraordinary challenge.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Date: Feb. 20, 2009

Contact: Chief Gregory Zerfass
(419) 798-4445 office

Coast Guard exhibits ice safety techniques 

SANDUSKY, Ohio - U.S. Coast Guard Station Marblehead will conduct an ice safety demonstration with the Sandusky Fire Department at the Sandusky Central Fire Station, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009.

Station members and firefighters will standardize and dsicuss ice safety practices and review equipment between the Coast Guard and the fire department.

The schedule of events is as follows:

8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. - continental breakfast

9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. - safety and equipment review

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - lunch

12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. - ice rescue training

The ice rescue training evolutions will take place in the Shelby Street Basin.

Media are invited to attend and are free to participate in the training as either victim or rescuer.

The Sandusky Fire Department will provide safety equipment for interested media participants.

The training site is located at 600 W. Market St.

For official Coast Guard video of recent ice rescue training, click on the following links:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=454407

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=232276

For further inquiries, please contact Chief Gregory Zerfass, Executive Petty Officer, Station Marblehead, at (419) 798-4445.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Date: Dec. 19, 2008

Contact: Petty Officer Bill Colclough
(216) 902-6020 office
(216) 310-2608 cell

Video and photos available to the public of Port Clinton-based Coast Guard Welcome Home ceremony 

PORT CLINTON, Ohio -- Videos and photos of the Welcome Home ceremony of Port Security Unit 309 captured at the Port Clinton High School here are available to the public.

Photos can be found at the Coast Guard Visual Imagery (CGVI) site, and copies of the video can be obtained upon request.

To download official Coast Guard photos of the ceremony, click on the following link:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=441783

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=441798

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=441810

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=441828

After a deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, more than 150 family members, friends and guests such as Congressman Robert Latta (R-OH) attended the return of the Port Clinton-based Coast Guard unit.

For further inquiries, please contact the Ninth Coast Guard District Public Affairs Office at 216-902-6020 or 216-310-2608.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Date: August 27, 2008 

Contact: L.t. j.g. Chris Yane
(231) 463-8806

FALLEN COAST GUARDSMAN REMEMBERED

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City will be holding a memorial ceremony for one of its members at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Open Space in downtown Traverse City. 

The ceremony will be in memory of Airman Charles J. Krause, who drowned while swimming in West Grand Traverse Bay on August 30, 2007.

At 1:30 p.m. one of Traverse City's rescue helicopters will fly over West Grand Traverse Bay and deploy a remembrance wreath in his honor. 

Krause was assigned to Air Station Traverse City in May 2007, and was undergoing training to become an Aviation Maintenance Technician. He entered the Coast Guard in August 2005, and he was previously stationed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Katmai Bay in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

His awards and decorations include the Coast Guard Rifle Marksman Ribbon, the Coast Guard Pistol Marksman Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Coast Guard Sea Service Ribbon.   

Krause is survived by his parents, George and Mary Sue Krause, of Neenah, Wis.

For more information, please contact Lt. j.g. Christopher Yane at (231) 463-8806.  After duty hours, contact the Air Station's Operations Center at (231) 922-8212. 

Date: August 13, 2008 

Contact: Lt. Jeremey Loeb
Air Station Traverse City
(231) 922-8225

U.S. Coast Guard Air Station records busiest week of rescue season 

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City has recorded its busiest week of this summer's search and rescue season. 

In a five-day period the Coast Guardsmen have logged more than 50 flight hours on 12 search and rescue cases resulting in four lives saved.

On Friday a single helicopter crew rescued three people in two separate cases: rescuing two overdue fishermen who were clinging to their capsized vessel near Alpena, Mich., and finding a missing kayaker in Torch Lake, Mich.  On Wednesday helicopter crews airlifted and medically evacuated a 42-year-old male from the Burns Harbor, a 1,000-foot laker.  The vessel was 60 miles east of Marquette, Mich., in Lake Superior.

During this period, the air station nearly doubled their weekly average flight time.

"In a typical five-day period, we would fly approximately 30 hours of training missions and routine patrols," said Capt. Stuart Merrill, commanding officer of Air Station Traverse City.  "This week we almost doubled that time and it was solely dedicated to the search and rescue mission."

This five-day period took the helicopter crews from Marquette, Mich., to Sheboygan, Wisc., and as far south as Chicago and several other locations in between.  But this is normal operations for the air station, whose area of responsibility encompasses five states, three of the Great Lakes, and sometimes Canada. 

"I am tremendously proud of the dedicated efforts of our aviation crews," said Merrill.  "During the past week, they have committed unbelievable time and energy protecting the safety of the mariners and beachgoers throughout the Great Lakes region."

"Our ethos of 'Safe Search and Rescue Response Readiness' is embodied in their actions each and every day and particularly during this demanding past week," he added.

Air Station Traverse City operates five HH-65C Dolphin helicopters and assists with search and rescue services throughout the Great Lakes Region encompassing more than 94,000 square miles of water and 10,900 miles of shoreline.

For media inquiries or to interview an Air Station member concerning the busiest week, contact Lt. Jeremey Loeb, Air Station Traverse City Public Affairs, at (231) 922-8225.

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Saving Lives and Guarding the Coast Since 1790.
The United States Coast Guard: Proud History.  Powerful Future.

Date: Feb. 1, 2008

Contact: Senior Chief Petty Officer Paul Decker
(440) 288-1206 office

COAST GUARD CONDUCTS ICE RESCUE TRAINING

LORAIN, Ohio -- Coast Guard Station Lorain will be conducting ice rescue training with a local fire department today at the rear of the station's building.

Ice rescue and recovery techniques will be demonstrated. Station and fire department members will be conducting hands-on training to maintain current qualifications.

Station Lorain is located on 110 Alabama Ave.

For further media inquiries, contact Senior Chief Paul Decker with Station Lorain at (440) 288-1207.

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Date: Dec. 20, 2007

Contact: Lt. Greg Fondran
(216) 902-6020 office
(216) 990-2611 cell

COAST GUARD COMPLETES INVESTIGATION OF OVERDUE KAYAKER

 CLEVELAND - The Coast Guard announced today the investigation of an overdue kayaker reported missing near Port Sanilac, Mich. has been completed.

The Coast Guard commenced a search Jun. 16, 2007 for 36-year-old William Wertheimer III of Farmington, Mich.

Local authorities discovered Wertheimer's body the following morning.

The commander of Coast Guard Sector Detroit ordered an Administrative Investigation to address questions regarding communication with local agencies in the conduct of this search and rescue case.

For further inquiries or a copy of the investigation, contact the Ninth District Public Affairs Office at 216-902-6020.

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