So Others May Live: Coast Guard's Rescue Swimmers: Saving Lives, Defying Death - Softcover

Laguardia-Kotite, Martha; Ridge, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1599211599 ISBN 13: 9781599211596

Publisher: The Lyons Press, 2008

Synopsis

So Others May Live is the untold story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s quiet but resolute rescue swimmers. From deep ocean caves on the Oregon coast to the panicked and chaotic streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, here are their stunningly heroic stories. In startlingly clear and exceptional writing, Martha LaGuardia-Kotite tells twelve heroic stories of the greatest maritime rescues attempted since the program began in 1985. These feats, told through the eyes of the heroes, reveal an understanding of how and why the rescuer, with flight crew assistance, risks his or her own life to reach out to save a stranger. Covering diverse environments―oceans, hurricanes, oil rigs, caves, sinking vessels, floods, and even Niagara Falls―So Others May Live is truly a can’t-put-it-down collection.

About this title

About the Author

Martha J. LaGuardia-Kotite is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a writer with hundreds of magazines articles to her credit. This is her first book. She lives in Niceville, Florida.

From the Back Cover

Fourteen true, amazing, and inspiring stories of some of the bravest men and women you'll ever meet So Others May Live is the untold story of the U.S. Coast Guard's quiet but resolute rescue swimmers. From deep ocean caves on the Oregon coast to the panicked and chaotic streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, here are their stunningly heroic stories--some of the greatest maritime rescues attempted since the program was started in 1985. These feats, told through the eyes of the heroes, reveal an understanding of how and why the rescuer, with flight crew assistance, risks his or her own life to reach out to save a stranger. Covering diverse environments--oceans, hurricanes, oil rigs, caves, sinking vessels, floods, and even Niagara Falls--this is truly a can't-put-it-down collection.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The helicopter crew made a daring and unprecedented decision. Knowing that Heaton must be stuck, out of sight and reach, they decided to do the only thing they could do. Fly into the cave. ?We realized that either the swimmer had to leave the victim or we had to enter the cave . . . or they both would die,” said Burris.

Gibbons meticulously maneuvered the helicopter inside.Wyatt watched the rotors and judged how far they were from the cave walls on the right. Burris watched the left.

?Gibbons had the entire body of the helicopter inside the cave with the exception of the left side of the rotor head,” recalled Wyatt. Now, close to thirty feet inside the cave, the flight mechanic quickly dropped the rescue basket. ?I used the waves entering the cave to carry the basket to him as I let out slack in the hoist cable,” said Wyatt.

Heaton grabbed it.

From Chapter 5: ?To Almost Die”

Edition details

• Publisher: The Lyons Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1599211599
• ISBN 13: 9781599211596
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272