Coast Guard Day is held annually on Aug. 4 to celebrate and honor the courageous work of coast guards. When Hurricane Katrina struck the Atlantic coast of America, the U.S. Coast Guardsmen saved over 33,500 lives, an estimated 24,000 of these were rescued from peril in severely dangerous conditions. This year, the U.S. Coast Guard celebrates 223 years of service to the nation. Founded as the Revenue Marine on Aug. 4, 1790 by the first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton who recommended the employment of boats for the security of the revenue against contraband and, in a bill which he presented to Congress, submitted a proposal for 10 boats to be distributed along the eastern seaboard; two for the coast of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, one for Long Island Sound, one for New York, one for the Bay of Delaware, two for the Chesapeake and neighboring waters, and one each for North Carolinas, South Carolina and Georgia. Congress appropriated $23,327.50 to support the 10 equipped cutters, with 10 masters, 30 mates, 40 mariners, and 20 boys. The Coast Guard received its present name through an act of Congress signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on Jan. 28, 1915 that merged the Revenue Cutter Service with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, and provided the nation with a single maritime service dedicated to saving life at sea and enforcing the nation’s maritime laws. The Coast Guard began to maintain the country’s maritime aids to navigation, including operating the nation’s lighthouses, when President Franklin Roosevelt announced plans to transfer the U.S. Lighthouse Service to the Coast Guard in May 1939. Congress approved the plan effective July 1, 1939. On July 16, 1946, Congress permanently transferred the Department of Commerce Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation to the Coast Guard, thereby placing merchant marine licensing and merchant vessel safety under Coast Guard regulation. After 177 years in the Treasury Department, the Coast Guard was transferred to the newly formed Department of Transportation effective April 1, 1967. As a result of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the Coast Guard was transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security effective March 1, 2002. Coast Guard Day is primarily an internal activity for active duty and reserve Coast Guardsmen, civilian employees, retirees, auxiliarists, and dependents, but it does have a significant share of interest outside the service.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 18:54:16 +0000
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