AND YET THEY WENT
A Tribute To The men and Women of the Quillayute River Station
By Dennis L. Noble
A permanent part of our Coast Guard Lore..............
On the night of 11-12
February 1997, I saw a group of ordinary men and women, who for a
few hours during the height of a howling gale and mountainous
seas, rise above the occasion. Those in the higher echelons of
the U.S. Coast Guard's command structure will no doubt point out
training prevailed. In a measure, this is correct. This small
group of people, however, went above and beyond this simple view.
I hope in the press of your daily lives you will take a few
minutes to remember what happen in the early morning hours of 12
February 1997 along the northwest coast of Washington State. I
would like, as a remembrance of that day, to try with my
inadequate words to tell you some of the things I observed. This
has nothing to do with who was right or wrong, it is what I
observed in those predawn hours. My thoughts on the ultimate
reason for the incident will appear in print elsewhere.
BM2 David A. Bosley, MK3 Matthew E. Schlimme, SN Clinton P.
Miniken, and SA Benjamin F. Wingo left the safety of a protected
harbor to go to the assistance of two people they did not know.
They did this in the teeth of a storm and in conditions many on
shore describe as terrible.
Yet they went!
With their shipmates in possible danger, BM1 Jon Placido and his
crew of three without hesitation set out into the same tempest.
They knew full well they could meet the same fate as their
shipmates.
Yet they went!
I will always carry with me the sight of Petty Officer Placido's
motor lifeboat leaving the harbor, searchlight probing the
darkness: sweeping back and forth across an angry sea. Probing.
Probing the angry seas for obstacles. Then the turn to transit
the bar. A very small, white boat rising. Rising. Rising, until I
thought it would stand on it's stern. Almost lost in white water--Then
the plunge downward.
Yet they went!
I saw injured crewmen being supported by those fighting their own
grief. I saw people begin to cry, and immediately someone
supported them. I saw people fighting back their tears, but
continuing to work. I saw a small group of U.S. Coast Guard men
and women who cared, suffered, and mourned the loss of their
shipmates.
Yet they went!
For well over a century the small boat community of the U.S.
Coast Guard has rammed very small boats into high, raging seas
for a single purpose: so that others might live. Everyone in the
small boat community understands; no one really recognizes their
sacrifices. David, Matthew, Clinton, and Benjamin knew no one
would recognize what they were attempting to accomplish.
Yet they went!
I know of no higher calling in life than what BM2 David A. Bosley,
MK3 Matthew E. Schlimme, SN Clinton P. Miniken, and SA Benjamin F.
Wingo attempted.
In years to come, when someone asks me what I consider my
greatest honors in life, I will unhesitatingly say I had two
honors. First, I knew BM2 David A. Bosley, MK3 Matthew E.
Schlimme and SN Clinton P. Miniken.
Secondly, I had the honor, and privilege, of knowing the men and
women of the Quillayute River U.S. Coast Guard Station. They
represent everything that is good about the U.S. Coast Guard.
The men and women of the Quillayute River Station, and myself, do
not need a reminder that two years ago a tragedy overtook us; we
remember it all the time.
In the course of your lives take some time to reflect upon the
nature of your business upon the sea and the many U.S. Coast
Guard people who have made the ultimate sacrifice so that others
might live.
Thank you for allowing someone from the Old Guard to put these
few inadequate words on your forum.
- Dennis L. Noble, MSTCS, USCG (Retired)
Note - Senior Chief Noble submitted this story at my request. It originally was posted in the Scuttlebutt Section of Fred' Place a few years ago. This story belongs with our permanent Coast Guard lore - Jack