My cover photo is the USCGC Mellon WHEC 717. I served on board from October 1973 to October 1975. I made Chief Petty Officer while aboard the Mellon. I was the Independent Duty Medical Corpsman. (Medical care for the crew and anyone we rescued) At that time the Mellon was a state of the art warship. She was home ported at Sand Island Coast Guard Base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her patrol area was the entire Pacific as needed and the Bering Sea. During my time we patrolled the waters around the Hawaiian Islands, made month long November Patrols half way between Hawaii and the Mainland, participated in search and rescue missions and made 67 day Alaska Patrols. While I was aboard we made three November patrols, three Alaska Patrols and participated in several SAR Cases, including one major SAR Case when an Italian Super Tanker exploded and sank about 900 miles northeast of Honolulu. I received the Coast Guard Achievement Medal for my part in that rescue. Ports of call during my tour were Port Angeles, Washington, Vancouver British Columbia in Canada, Juneau, Alaska and Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. We sailed the Gulf of Alaska, the entire Aleutian chain and the Bering Sea to the Arctic Circle. While in the Bering Sea we frequently stopped at St Paul Island to get off the ship for awhile, drink a beer and play softball with the Natives there. Most of the time I was on the Mallon we were underway. My kid called me Bye-bye ship instead of Dada when he was learning to talk. The Mellon was the last and at 378’ the largest of the four ships that I served in during my nearly 30 year career in the U.S. Coast Guard. :-)
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 14:27:13 +0000
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