What:

Special dedication ceremony for United States Coast Guard Forever Stamp. The event is free and open to the public.

Who:

Captain Timothy Wendt of the U.S. Coast Guard
Acting Memphis Postmaster Stephen Cole

When:

9:45 a.m. Friday, August 28, 2015

Where:

USCG Command Building, 2 A.W. Willis Ave., Memphis, TN 38105

Background:

The Postal Service celebrates the 225th anniversary of the Coast Guard and raises awareness of its role in protecting the security of the nation and advancing vital maritime interests by dedicating the United States Coast Guard Forever stamp. The stamp depicts the cutter Eagle, a three-masted sailing ship often called “America’s Tall Ship,” and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter, the standard rescue aircraft of the Coast Guard.

During an average day, U.S. Coast Guard personnel assist more than 300 people in distress, save more than $2 million in property, board 90 large vessels for port safety checks, conduct 120 law enforcement boardings and investigate more than a dozen marine accidents.

U.S. COAST GUARD HISTORY
The U.S. Coast Guard traces its history to August 1790 and a law signed by President George Washington. The law provided for a fleet of 10 vessels, or “revenue cutters,” to aid in collecting duties on goods imported into the United States. This fleet guarded the Atlantic coast and thwarted smugglers and pirates trying to evade tariffs. It was the genesis of what became the Revenue Cutter Service, forerunner of today’s Coast Guard.

The U.S. Coast Guard received its current name in 1915, under President Woodrow Wilson. The Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service, which had been established as a separate agency in 1878, were combined into one organization. The 1915 legislation also made explicit that the Coast Guard was “a part of the military forces of the United States” and would “operate as a part of the Navy... in time of war or when the President shall so direct.”

NATION’S LIFEGUARD
The search-and-rescue mission of the Coast Guard is perhaps the mission most familiar to the public today. The helicopter became a valuable aid in the cause soon after its introduction in the 1940s. In 1955, Coast Guard helicopters rescued scores of Connecticut residents from floodwaters caused by two late-summer hurricanes, and on Christmas Eve of that year a single helicopter rescued 138 victims of a massive flood in northern California. Not long after these dramatic incidents, helicopters joined cutters as icons of the Coast Guard.

HURRICANE KATRINA
One of the largest response-and-rescue efforts in the history of the Coast Guard took place in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast. As the city of New Orleans was deluged by 20-foot high flood-waters, tens of thousands of residents were left clinging to rooftops or huddling in attics. Some 5,000 personnel rushed to the scene, and a large percentage of the Coast Guard helicopter fleet deployed. The effort was complicated by the challenges of urban search and rescue, including downed wires that posed a hazard to helicopter rotor blades. Some rescue swimmers had to borrow fire axes to cut through rooftops to reach people trapped in their attics. At one point, Coast Guard personnel were rescuing 750 people an hour by boat and 100 people an hour by air. The final tally of persons rescued and evacuated from rooftops, flooded homes, and stricken hospitals exceeded 33,000. The Coast Guard’s incredible response to Katrina was a testament