Hero of the Week 44

Welcome back viewers!

This week's hero is...

Douglas Munro

Douglas Munro was born on October 11, 1919 in Vancouver, Canada. His family later moved to Washington State. After he graduated from high school, Douglas attended a year of college before choosing to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard. Although he expected to protect America's shores, little did he know that the Coast Guard would be called to duty in a way he never could have expected.

When World War II began, Douglas Munro was one of many people who answered the call to duty. Although the US Coast Guard was used to protecting American shorelines, they quickly found themselves playing a major combat role in the American war effort in the Pacific. Their mission was to pilot small boats (called a Higgins Boat) carrying marines from ships to their landing zones on an enemy beach. They were also supposed to evacuate wounded marines and sailors. This usually had to be done while under heavy enemy fire. Their actions would make a key difference in the pivotal campaign on Guadalcanal.

On September 27, 1942, Signalman First Class Douglas Munro was part of a number of Coast Guardsman that were transporting around 500 marines to a beachhead on Guadalcanal called, Point Cruz. Their mission was to establish a patrol base in order to attack and drive the Japanese west of a key river (Matanikau River) on the island. Just minutes after the marines left the beach, they were ambushed by a large Japanese force. It became clear that the marines would all be killed unless someone came to their rescue. Munro was the first to volunteer.

Munro quickly led five Higgins boats to the beach in order to pick up the marines that were retreating from the jungle. As they got to the beach, the rescue boats began to receive heavy fire from the Japanese. In an act of complete courage, Munro placed his boat directly in the line of fire (in the river just beyond the beach) in order to draw enemy fire away from the other boats that were rescuing the marines. By doing this, he had also made it so that the Japanese would have to pass his boat in order to attack the others on the beach evacuating the marines. 

Since there were so many of them to evacuate and only five boats (including Munro's), multiple trips had to be made. Getting the wounded on board also made the evacuation painfully slow. Munro's boat received murderous fire from the Japanese guns in the jungle. It was not long before Douglas Munro was struck. However, he (along with his close friend, Raymond Evans) continued to fire back at the enemy using his boat's machine gun. After he was hit a second time, he did not get up. Luckily, all the surviving marines had been safely evacuated from Point Cruz. Munro's crew then quickly turned their boat around and headed away from the beach. As he was lying in his boat, Douglas Munro asked Evans, "Did they get off?". Those were his last words. 

Signalman First Class Douglas Munro died just minutes after his Higgins boat had pulled away from Point Cruz. He was 22 years old. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart. He was the first member of the U.S. Coast Guard to receive the highest award in the American military. As of today, he remains the only serviceman of the Coast Guard to receive it. His friend, Chief Signalman Raymond Evans, received the Navy Cross.

When it comes to combat in World War II and the many conflicts that followed, the actions of the U.S. Coast Guard are have not been largely acknowledged. Instead those who serve in the Coast Guard are mostly remembered for rescuing people along the American coastline. Many people have forgotten that the Coast Guard is a vital importance to the American military and have played several key roles in combat. Douglas Munro was one of these courageous individuals. He risked his life and made the ultimate sacrifice to save his comrades. As a direct result of his actions, more than 500 marines were successfully rescued from the ambush at Point Cruz. He is definitely someone to be held in high regard.

http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2012/09/the-legacy-of-signalman-1st-class-douglas-munro/

http://www.dodlive.mil/2017/08/06/only-coast-guard-medal-of-honor-recipient-saved-500-marines/

https://veteransfuneralcare.com/blog/the-story-of-douglas-munro-the-only-member-of-the-coast-guard-to-receive-the-medal-of-honor

http://www.uscglightshipsailors.org/mil_stories/CMH/

Hero of the Week 43

Welcome back viewers!

This week we will honor a team of heroes.

They are...

The crew of the Pea Island Life-Saving Station!

The Pea Island Life-Saving Station was located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In the year 1880, it became the first and only lifesaving station to be operated by an African-American crew. The person chosen to be the keeper of the station was a former slave named, Richard Etheridge. And he and his crew would take part in a daring rescue that would make them heroes.

Etheridge had served in a colored unit in the Civil War. Upon his discharge from the military he joined the Life-Saving service. His skill as a surf man led to his assignment to the station on Pea Island. Due to his skin color, no white men agreed to work with Etheridge at the station (they felt that working under a former slave was too degrading). Therefore, his entire crew would be made up of African-American men. They were: Benjamin Bowser, Lewis Wescott, Dorman Pugh, Theodore Meekins, Stanley Wise, and William Irving. Although Etheridge and his crew frequently faced racism from the very same people that they were protecting, they continued to operate the lighthouse. Their defining moment would come on October 11, 1896.

On that day, a violent storm blew in along the eastern coast of the North Carolina. It was not long before the men on Pea Island noticed a distress flare. They then spotted a three-masted schooner (E.S. Newman) that had run aground about two miles offshore. Etheridge quickly prepared his crew for a rescue of the Newman's passengers and crew. They then launched a surfboat and paddled through the rough sea to the stricken schooner. Once they were there, they found they could not reach the vessel since it was not on dry land. Etheridge realized that there was no room for failure. He made the decision to tie his surfmen together and connected them to the shore by a long rope. The surf men then fought their way through the breaking waves as they went from the schooner to dry land at least ten times. They did this until all of the passengers and crew of the E.S. Newman had been safely evacuated from their ship. 

Despite their heroism, Richard Etheridge and his brave crew of surf men were never officially recognized for their actions. Never the less, the men remained dedicated to their duties at the Life-Saving Station on Pea Island. Richard Etheridge eventually died May 8, 1900 after serving twenty years at Pea Island. He was 58 years old. The station on Pea Island was decommissioned in 1947. For the next whole century, the brave rescue of the E.S. Newman by the men of Pea Island nearly faded into obscurity. It was not until 1996 (on the 100th anniversary of the rescue) that the United States Coast Guard finally recognized them. Richard Etheridge and his six crew members were all posthumously awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal.

Like many heroes before and after, the crew of the Pea Island Station went unrecognized for their heroism and service to our nation. To me the represent some of the best and most remarkable unsung heroes in American history. They lived in a country that did not see them as equal and found it in themselves to risk their lives to save others. It is because of people like them, that many others are alive today. They definitely deserve to always be remembered.

https://www.nps.gov/stateoftheparks/caha/culturalresources/lifesavingstation.cfm

https://blackthen.com/pea-island-life-saving-station-first-all-black-crew-in-the-country/

http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2010/10/coast-guard-heroes-richard-etheridge/