By James D. “Keeper James” Charlet
“Varied are the duties a U. S. Coast Guardsman has to perform. Today he assists in the rescue of the crew of a stranded ship; tomorrow he seizes a load of smuggled liquor; the next day he aids a motorist who has become stalled in the sand. Capt. B. R. Balance, of Cape Hatteras Coast Guard station, Wednesday deserted his mission of saving life on the sea and performed a rescue on land.”
This was published by a newspaper on November 22, 1929, as the opening paragraph (The Independent). It is an excellent and correct summary of then – and not much has changed today. Instead of seizing smuggled liquor, now it is illegal drugs. And the missions now include even more: The eleven Coast Guard Missions for which they are responsible include Marine safety, search and rescue, aids to navigation, living marine resources (fisheries law enforcement), marine environmental protection, and ice operations. Homeland security missions include: Ports, waterways, and coastal security (PWCS); drug interdiction; migrant interdiction; defense readiness; and other law enforcement.
Here is a copy of the actual 1929 article. On November 22 of this year, this will be the 95th anniversary of this heroic act at our Outer Banks’ Cape Hatteras by a family name still very much alive and still serving our community.