NAV EX 3rd QTR. 2017 NavEx 3rd Qtr 2017 - FINAL Draft | Page 17

AF
Well what happened on this was Bernie Webber got called back to our
station one time, and an admiral or a captain called him. And (the person
on the phone) said: Bernie, you did a great job on this rescue, and we’re
going to give you the highest award we can give you. We’re going to give
you the Coast Guard Gold Lifesaving Medal. So Bernie Webber says: Well,
what about my crew? They were in as much danger as I was, and we were
four guys who were in that boat. And they said well, we’ll give them the
silver lifesaving medal. And Bernie Webber says: I don’t want the gold then.
They were in as much danger as I was. If they don’t (get) the gold I won’t
take the gold. The captain says. Oh, all right, we will give them all the gold
lifesaving medal. So I got a gold lifesaving medal. And all the other guys did
too. They’re all dead now so I am really the only one left from that. I was
nineteen. No, I was twenty years old the others are all twenty one, twenty
two, twenty three, something like that. I think Bernie was, I thought Bernie
was 23, but later I read he might have been 29, but I am not sure. You know.
It was a night to remember. It was great.
This brings to an end Fitzgerald’s interview.
Masthead
EDITORIAL STAFF
Bret Fendt
Editor
Roger Bazeley
Assistant Editor
H William Smith
Assistant Editor
Zacary E. Wilson
Assistant Editor
Curtis Pratt
Layout Editor
Review Team
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Mary Patton
CONTRIBUTORS
Epilog
The film, released in January 2016, was highly anticipated in Coast Guard
and Auxiliary circles. A number of connections were made to the events
that took place on that stormy night in 1952 and the present as the story
was translated on to the silver screen. The film, like most historical films,
was made more theatrical by additions to the script that deviated from the
actual events. But, most of the plot embellishments involved elements of the
story that took place on shore. The details of the rescue itself, as portrayed
in the film, conform closely to the accounts of the event that are now a part
of Coast Guard history.
So, why did Fitzgerald and his shipmates continue on to the Pendleton when
they would have been certainly within their rights to return to Chatham
Station with an already damaged motor lifeboat? And, why did they take
on the added risk of putting all 32 Pendleton crewmen on a boat that was
designed to carry half that many?
While those, and other, questions are not easily answered, some inkling of
what drove four young Coasties to go above and beyond the call of duty can
be found in Fitzgerald’s story.
The leadership of Bernie Webber, and Fitzgerald’s trust in that leadership, is
evident throughout the interview and the supporting materials considered
for this series. Webber’s leadership on the night of the rescue and in making
sure that each of his shipmates was honored with the Gold Lifesaving Medal
offers a great example of adherence to core Coast Guard values.
The pure excitement of being a part of something important, despite the
risks involved, is evident in Fitzgerald’s account of how he and the rest of the
OR express
Navigator Express
Continued on Page 18
Sankey Blanton
District Five Southern
Robert A. Fabich Sr.
District Seven
Ralph Fairbanks
District Nine Western
Joseph Giannattasio
District Five Northern
Michael Heid
District Eight Eastern Region
Patrick Hickey
District Eight Western Rivers
Doug Kroll
District Thirteen
Darin D. Lenz
District Eleven Northern
Lauren Steenson
NATIONAL STAFF
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Director of Public Affairs
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Division Chief, Publications
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Coast Guard Auxiliary
Association, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
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