DATE: Wednesday, August 20, 1997            TAG: 9708190023

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Opinion 

SOURCE: BY CYNTHIA GRAY BARBER 

                                            LENGTH:   48 lines

3 GENERATIONS OF COAST GUARD PRIDE

I was visiting my family in Elizabeth City, N.C., recently when I happened to read a letter to the editor (Aug. 4). The writer, Amy Thompson, proposed disbanding the Coast Guard and indicated that merchant mariners were ill-treated by ``overzealous, gun-toting Coast Guard cowboys.'' Well, I was appalled.

My deceased grandfather served 25 years on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Throughout the 1920s, `30s and early `40s, he served as officer in charge of lifeboat stations from Ocracoke, Pea Island and Hatteras Inlet to Kill Devil Hills and Portsmouth Island. He risked his own life to save these same merchant mariners (and others) who Ms. Thompson feels are treated badly by the U.S. Coast Guard.

My father followed his lead and is currently a 100 percent disabled veteran. His health deteriorated after service in the Korean War; in foreign lands - Okinawa, Korea and Labrador; in far-off U.S. ports - Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and in the continental United States.

I would be sufficiently proud if only my grandfather and father were former members of this service. However, my husband has proudly served in the Coast Guard for the past 14 years. He serves as crew chief/mechanic/hoist operator on the HH60-Jayhawk helicopter. He has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for a rescue off the coast of Bermuda. Every six weeks he is deployed to the Caribbean to counter the surge of illegal drugs that are constantly smuggled into the United States each year.

Yes, these Guardsmen are trained in shotguns and small arms. Yes, they are armed when they board vessels at sea. However, they are sorely outmatched in firepower when you realize that those who will risk transporting drugs are heavily armed.

So the next time anyone considers disbanding this valiant service dedicated to saving lives and preventing drugs and illegal aliens from entering our shores, consider how much just three men have given to their country - much less the countless hundreds of thousands who have served faithfully for the past 207 years.

The next time a vessel is in distress, you can believe that those aboard will tell you that the sweetest sounds they want to hear are the beating of the rotorhead above and the sound of a Coast Guard cutter assisting.

Disband the U.S. Coast Guard? Let the statistics of rescues speak for themselves. MEMO: Cynthia Gray Barber lives in Clearwater, Fla.

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