Posted on 06/24/2004 9:28:43 PM PDT by 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
R 231450Z JUN 04 ZUI ASN-A00175000398 ZYB
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//G-C//
TO ALCOAST
BT
UNCLAS //N16790//
ALCOAST 312/04
COMDTNOTE 16790
SUBJ: SIXTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD AUXILIARY
1. JUNE 23, 2004 MARKS THE SIXTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE COAST GUARD AUXILIARY.
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK AND CONGRATULATE AMERICAS PREMIER VOLUNTEER LIFESAVERS
FOR THEIR UNWAVERING AROUND-THE-CLOCK SUPPORT OF COAST GUARD MISSIONS. 2. DURING THE PAST FEW YEARS, OUR COAST GUARD AUXILIARY HAS CONSISTENTLY AND SIGNIFICANTLY GROWN IN SIZE AND RESPONSIBILITY.
COAST GUARD AUXILIARY FORCES NOW INCLUDE
NEARLY 36,000 MEMBERS, MORE THAN 5,000 SURFACE VESSELS,
AND NEARLY 300 AIRCRAFT.
THIS IMPRESSIVE ARRAY SUPPORTS COAST GUARD RESOURCES ACROSS THE BOARD -
ON THE WATER, IN THE AIR AND IN EVER-EXPANDING BACK-FILL CAPACITIES AT SHORE UNITS. THEY ARE OUR RECREATIONAL BOATING SAFETY EXPERTS. THROUGH STEADFAST COMMITMENT TO THE PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION BOAT SMART AND BY PARTNERING WITH STATES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, AUXILIARISTS HAVE MADE THE MARITIME ENVIRONMENT SAFER FOR OUR NATIONS 75 MILLION RECREATIONAL BOATERS. WE OWE A TREMENDOUS DEBT OF GRATITUDE FOR THE DEDICATION AND DEVOTION TO DUTY DISPLAYED BY OUR AUXILIARISTS EVERY DAY, YEAR AFTER YEAR.
3. THROUGH "OPERATION PATRIOT READINESS", OUR AUXILIARY IS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASING ITS CAPACITY TO SUPPORT COAST GUARD UNITS AND SEVERAL NEW MARITIME DOMAIN AWARENESS INITIATIVES, INCLUDING THE AMERICAS WATERWAY WATCH PROGRAM. AUXILIARISTS ARE TEACHING TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICAS RECREATIONAL BOATERS HOW TO PROPERLY IDENTIFY AND REPORT SUSPICIOUS MARITIME ACTIVITY FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR NATIONS SAFETY AND SECURITY. THEY ARE AN EFFECTIVE VOLUNTEER FORCE MULTIPLIER THAT IS BEING INCORPORATED INTO THE COAST GUARD'S PORTS, WATERWAYS AND COASTAL SECURITY MISSION. AUXILIARISTS ARE ALSO ANSWERING OUR CALLS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT BY HELPING IN ALL COAST GUARD VENUES RANGING FROM MEDICAL CLINICS TO COAST GUARD TRAINING CENTER CLASSROOMS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER SERVICES ABOARD DEPLOYED CUTTERS.
4. THEIR SELFLESSNESS AND CONCERN FOR OUR COLLECTIVE WELFARE EXTEND WELL BEYOND MEASURES OF TIME AND EFFORT. THEY ARE CARING AND SUPPORTIVE COAST GUARD FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAVE ANNUALLY INCREASED THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO COAST GUARD MUTUAL ASSISTANCE, OPENED THEIR HOMES TO US ON COUNTLESS OCCASIONS, AND INSTILLED US WITH AN UNSHAKABLE SPIRIT OF SERVICE.
5. OUR AUXILIARISTS HAVE AGAIN PROVEN TO BE MOST TRUSTED, VALUABLE AND RESPECTED SHIPMATES. PLEASE JOIN ME IN CONGRATULATING THEM FOR THEIR EXCEPTIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS THIS PAST YEAR AND FOR THEIR MANY YEARS OF PROUD SERVICE.
I ENCOURAGE ALL COAST GUARD UNITS TO CELEBRATE WITH THEIR LOCAL FLOTILLAS AND RECOGNIZE OUR VOLUNTEERS FOR ALL THEY DO TO SUPPORT THE NATION.
6. INTERNET RELEASE AUTHORIZED.
7. ADM T.H. COLLINS, COMMANDANT, SENDS. BT
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Join the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Age 17 and up (No upper age limit)
You needn't own a boat or even be an experienced boater
Boating And Non-Boating Programs
Below is a brief but comprehensive listing of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's many missions.
Be A Better Boater
CLICK ON THE GRAPHICS BELOW
TO CONTACT THE COAST GUARD AUXILIARY
"We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail..." President George W. Bush |
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The two anchors crossed represent cooperation and strength
Silver and Gold stars represent the Auxiliary and Coast Guard members
Two red vertical bars represent the blood shed on the 11th of September, 2001
The eagle, superimposed upon the red bars,
represents our renewed strength and vigilance to
never tire, never falter, never fail.
Waterway Watch is the initial and primary Coast Guard Auxiliary program launched as a component of Operation Patriot Readiness,
and is a major part of the Coast Guard's maritime security initiative.
Waterway Watch promotes public awareness and involvement in Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)
and Maritime Homeland Security (MHLS) activities.
Waterway Watch involves all Auxiliarists, both those performing direct operational missions
and those involved in Recreational Safe Boating operational support activities.
Thanks for the ping! This is for the Coast Guard Anniversary!
Price of Freedom
Original | 05/10/2004 | Chris Davis
Posted on 05/10/2004 7:53:09 PM PDT by writer33
Freedom isnt cheap. Its the most expensive asset in America. Without freedom, all other assets would become negligible. If we take a look at a balance sheet, freedom would be listed as a Long Term Asset, the kind of asset that takes years and years to pay off.
Who pays it off? The United States Armed Forces. The men and women in the military make that payment on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. Over the years, those sacrifices made have been an installment to freedom. Each deployment and death have made life in America all the more perfect. Those in uniform have provided us with a balance sheet of long term assets like no other country in the world.
We have become a superpower through the use of our U.S. Armed Forces. Each entity of those forces-Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard-provide us with ample protection against enemies, foreign and domestic. Their blood has allowed the pursuit of excellence, in business, in politics, and around the world.
The freedom to make those daily choices in our lives is provided by strangers at home and in far and distant lands. Every stranger stood at a podium and took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Within the Constitution lie our inherent daily freedoms and rights. The rights the media loves to wave their flag at.
The media loves to tout their freedom of speech. Oh, yes, their freedom of speech, the First Amendment to the Constitution. The one they cherish so closely. The one they champion vigorously, even if it means putting our soldiers in harms way. No matter what it takes, the story must go forth, in accordance with the U.S. Constitution. That is their belief. That is their sentiment. It is those principles that drive them, day after day, without any regard for those that bear the responsibility for allowing that very freedom.
Liberalism and the liberal media have done more to endanger our soldiers lives than any war. Over the last ten years-Bosnia, Kosovo, and Mogadishu-are examples of bright, shining liberal causes, placing our troops in danger. All of these deployments were to foreign countries on liberal humanitarian missions. These causes were pushed heavily by the U.S. and World media. President Bill Clinton, the most liberal President since Jimmy Carter, governed all of these exercises after The Big Media insisted we intervene for the cause of humanity.
Recently, with the release of pictures from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the liberal media has chastised Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, President Bush, and our soldiers. Quickly, they chant fond remembrances of John Kerrys testimony and atrocities of Vietnam.
Single-handedly, they make the likeness to the murder of innocent women and children, as testified by John Kerry in 1971. In their push to blame the sons and daughters of America, they point out the First Amendment to the Constitution. They identify their freedom of speech as their cause. The right of the American people to know. They press the story, harder and harder, making it seem as if it broke only a few short days ago. In truth, the story has been circulating since January, when the silence in the media could be compared to a small town library on Sunday afternoon.
They sit on their lofty chairs, as if they were kings, pointing their fingers at a few bad apples, and stating, See this is what are military does. They are to blame for everything wrong in Iraq. We told you so. In their haste, they scold the personnel responsible for giving them an opportunity to sit on their thrones.
With a few exceptions-Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Free Republic, etc
-they jeer at them in their hypocrisy. There are few media personnel and liberals today that can really appreciate the plights of our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, and mothers and fathers. In their heyday, they spit upon my fathers generation. Now, they attempt to spit upon mine. I will not bow my head in shame.
They scream their vitriol, attempting to once again relive the Vietnam War, and forgetting that Mogadishu harmed the reputation of the U.S. Military far more than these pictures in Iraq. Liberals, and the media elite, seem to become absent-minded in their rage. They seem to misplace the demoralizing stain Mogadishu left on are Armed Forces and Special Forces. The U.S. Special Forces, among the best to serve in our military, were handcuffed like prisoners going to trial in Mogadishu. President Bill Clinton branded our military as cowards that cut and run, making it near impossible to earn the fear and respect of terrorists.
Now, as we approach Armed Forces Day, a new president sits in office. President George W. Bush, a fine example of moral integrity, leads our troops in Iraq. Today, he roots out terrorism, as if it were termites invading the foundation of American homes. He sends our men and women into battle on a cause for freedom, liberating the Iraqi people from dictatorship and establishing a democracy. He apologizes for the actions of a few, but keeps his faith in our military.
Never have I felt more patriotic than on this day. Never have I been reminded of what it meant to have served this fine country. This America, the beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. And never have I been so lucky to have those individuals make sacrifices for the price of freedom.
There hasnt been a president, like George W. Bush, since President Ronald Reagan brought us from our liberal slumber. He (Reagan) made us feel patriotic again. He made us proud to brandish the title, American. President Reagan brought excellence to business, to culture, and to our spirituality as Americans. He made us whole again. President George W. Bush follows that same legacy. He took a broken country away from President Bill Clinton and is attempting to piece it together.
President George Bush has taken a once defeated military and made them confident and strong again. He has made the price of freedom all the more worth it in the 21st Century. Today, I am a prouder American, a thriving American, and a more patriotic American than five years ago.
Despite the claims of the liberal media, I am thankful for the sons and daughters, brothers and sister, and mothers and fathers serving in our military. I am forever grateful of their sacrifices for the price of freedom. Despite a few bad apples from Abu Ghraib prison, I remain filled with honor. I have served with some of the finest individuals Ill ever know, those that knew the price of freedom.
Beautiful Tribute to our Armed Forces!
Thank You
A Vessel Safety Check is a courtesy examination of your boat (Vessel) to verify the presence and condition of certain Safety Equipment required by State and the Federal regulations. The Vessel Examiner is a trained specialist and is a member of the United States Power Squadrons or the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. They will also make certain recommendations and discuss certain safety issues that will make you a safer boater.
This is not boarding or a law enforcement issue. No citations will be given as a result of this encounter. We will supply you with a copy of our evaluation so that you may follow some of the suggestions given. Vessels that pass will be able to display our distinctive VSC decal. This does not exempt you from law enforcement boarding, but you can be prepared to make this a positive encounter.
To request a free recreational vessel check
Click Here.
Congrats and Thanks, 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub
Thank You
Thank you Tonk and all USCG Auxiliary members for your untiring service.
Auxiliarists honor our Country with an unselfish devotion to duty, and continue to earn the respect of their Coastie peers.
USCGA Communications Watch standers free up a Boarding Team Member (BTM) for a Homeland Security Patrol (HSP).
USCGA Courtesy Marine Inspectors and USCGA Safe Boating Course Instructors continue to save lives, by reducing our search and rescue workload. This leaves more underway time available for a HSP.
Other USCGA members might come in and serve a meal for the crew, which again may free up a BTM for another HSP. Let me tell you, a home cooked meal following a long work day seems heaven sent.
The USCGA is an awesome work force multiplier. Bravo Zulu USCGA.
OLA
BTTT!!!!!!!
Thank you for ALL you do and Happy Anniversary to the Coast Guard Auxiliary !!
God Bless all in the service of our country.
Hugs!!
*TT*, Beth & Nana
Thanks to you and all the men and women of the Coast Guard auxilliary for continuing and excellent service to our country!
sneakers
Thank you Tonk,
Thank you all,
for the honorable service of 65 years.
Like the birthday of the Marine corps,
Cocktails severed at 6:30
Dinner at 8:00 (p.m. of course).
Attire required.
nanna says; "OK, so the farmer goes, howdee! And...."
Sabatain says; "The cowboy goes, yeehah!."
LouLou Belle says; "The marines goes, urrrah!"
Marine mom/wife nanna of6
Semper Fi
Thank you, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary!
~ ~
Thank You , Tonk! Congratulations and Happy 65th birthday to the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Thank you for serving our country.
Happy Anniversary USCGA!
Great post! Thank you for your ongoing effort to promote this great organization.
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