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So Others May Live; Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers: Saving
Lives, Defying Death, by Marth J. LaGuardia-Kotite is the best non-fiction book I have ever read. Each chapter is a new and exciting adventure. This book is about Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers, who risk their lives for complete strangers on the verge of death. This book covers 12 true, amazing, and inspiring stories of this country's forgotten heroes.
This first story actually takes place in Sitka! On December 10, 1987 Jim Blades and his son Clint needed rescue during a brutal unforeseen storm. After pushing the helicopter to its limits, even despite several close calls, coast guard pilots and rescue swimmer Jeffry D. Trunks successfully rescued the father and son. Next, the book travels to Astoria, Oregon where Kelly Mogk rescued a crashed National Guard pilot in the Pacific Ocean. The guardsman was tangled in his parachute chords, but this didn't stop Mogk. The book remained in Oregon to cover a unique rescue because it took place in a cave! Where Tristan Heaton battled wave after wave to save a victim. The book moved East to Air Station Clearwater, Florida, where Daniel W. Edwards saved the crew of a fishing vessel during a hurricane-like storm. The next story takes place north at Niagara Falls where Erik Mueller and his crew rescued a tourist stuck in the strong currents headed right for the falls! He almost died himself, but he wouldn't give up. It paid off. Next, Dave Foreman rescued a crew of a tanker set ablaze. Mario Vittone saved a one-month year old and her family out of a tropical storm. Mike P. Thomas was the next subject when he saved 5 people from a flood in Virginia. The next courageous rescue took place 400 miles east of North Carolina. The H-30 Jawhawk helicopter that David Yoder rode in that day was involved in the longest SAR mission in Coast Guard history. The 800 mile round trip was staggering and only left 15 minutes to actually complete the mission in order even have a chance to return safely. With courage the crew completed the rescue and made history. Normally, you only see people jumping into a helicopter within seconds of an explosion in the movies, but it actually happened. John Green rescued 50 people from an oil rig off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico after a fire started. The rig was bound to blow anytime, but he stayed and saved everyone before even starting his own rescue. As the helicopter arrived Green knew he didn't have time to even wait for the helicopter to even land, so he ran and dove into it. Sure enough, seconds later the rig exploded into a fiery ball of flames. Returning to Alaska, this mission isn't one that you might expect to see from the Coast Guard. After a Cessna model plane crashed into a mountain near Amber Bay, Robert E. Watson was dispatched. After battling fog they were able to locate the plane. When the rescue swimmer reached the plane, he saw the gory aftermath. He located and saved a survivor, who he had to bring down the mountain. The last story is the efforts of multiple rescue swimmers after Katrina in 2005. The Coast Guard rescued over 7,000 survivors in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the U.S. of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Many rescue swimmer completed a life time worth of rescues in only 8 weeks. The Coast Guard was highly honored in their efforts in Katrina.
On the outside, all of the characters in this book are different, but inside they are all the same people inside. Not just anyone can just become a rescue swimmer. They have to be diligent, and want to do it so bad that they will sacrifice themselves to get the job done. Being a rescue swimmer strains the body physically and mentally, therefore there is always two battles going on within the rescue swimmer. One, they have to push their bodies to limit and beyond. They can't give up, and if they do they could kill someone. Two, the have to fight the mentality that they cannot complete their mission. As soon as they start thinking this, they will fail. Rescue swimmers are faced with the most impossible question, there is no right answer! They have to decide who lives and who dies. To make these decisions and not let them interfere with their job takes a true hero. Not to mention the guilt that they might feel after the fact. Rescue swimmers are special. Special as in they will not let anything get in their way, not waves, not caves, not explosions, not even death knocking on the front door. Special as in they would do the job even if they didn't get paid. Special as in they care about the awards, the only recondition they want is a thank you. These people are amazing human beings.
The theme in this book is diligence. Every one of the rescue swimmers in this book were truly dedicated, not only to their job, but to saving lives. Every story showed diligence in there own way. Whether it was not giving up on a victim, or having to give up on a victim. I think that especially in Katrina rescue swimmers showed diligence, 2-3 hours of sleep between saving hundreds of lives.
I loved this book! It was so inspiring! The sacrifices these people make for strangers is incredible. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. One thing, make sure to stick it out in the beginning, until at least chapter 4. The first couple were a little bland, but around chapter 3 it started getting exciting. Make sure to read about the rescue swimmers at the end, it is very interesting!
The rescue swimmer program had an extremely rough start. At the beginning in 1995, the initial program was kept hushed because people's reactions might ground the program before it even had a chance. Up to that point in the coast guard, rescues were either conducted by boat or pilots of the helicopter lowering the basket to the vessel. This was inefficient because if the basket couldn't reach the target they were forced to abandon the rescue. Rescue swimmers now secure people in the basket or hook them to their harness and pull them up. This increases the success rate from before the program enormously. Even though the swimmers were very valuable to rescues, at the beginning of the program swimmers were a last resort, and even discriminated upon assignment to a base. This seems idiotic in my view because at that point the swimmers were being trained at the Navy Rescue Swimmer School, which has a very excellent reputation, along with the navy swimmers. So, I think that people should have realized how valuable the swimmers were. Today, swimmers are essential in rescue operations, and save hundreds annually. It's hard to think how the coast guard conducted rescues before the rescue swimmer program!
