8/31 HURRICANE

After spending 21 years in the Coast Guard (I retired in 2003) it’s kinda strange to be watching a hurricane and its aftermath on television without actually being involved. Somehow, it just doesn’t seem right.

In September of 1985, I was stationed in New Jersey when Hurricane Gloria hit. Prior to hurricane Katrina, Gloria was the 13th costliest and the 16th most intense hurricane when it made landfall:







In August of 1992 I was in New Orleans when Hurricane Andrew came through:

In 1999 I was in Corpus Christi when Hurricane Bret, a category-4 hurricane with 145mph winds passed just south of the city:

I was in Corpus Christi when the South Texas floods of 1998 hit. What a mess:






I was involved in disaster preparation and relief operations for all of those storms, as were my fellow coastguardsmen.

It just doesn’t seem right to be sitting here doing nothing. Yeah, yeah. I know. I can help by donating food, money, etc. But it just isn’t the same.

At the risk of sounding corny, I’d like to say that I can’t recall ever being so proud of having served with the Coast Guard, the smallest of our nation’s five (yes, five) armed services, as I am now watching those men and women work their asses off.

Here are a few pictures of Coast Guard hurricane Katrina relief operations I grabbed off the internet. Let the copyright fags come get me if they so desire:






























There are plenty more, but I need to go eat.

Cj