All I can tell you is this. I am 51. When I was 5 it was the Coast Guard that came to my rescue when a cabin curser got stuck on a sand bar in the Mississippi 25 miles north of Memphis. That may not sound like not much in 2007. But imagin the rescue operation needed in 1960.

I had an old Navy pilot friend tell me once "A Coast Guard pilot will put a fixed wing down, hold it, and take off in waters where no Navy pilot would even fly over." another comment "In the Coast Guard, the rules say you must go out on a rescue. They don't say you have to come back." These are no strike against the Navy, they just are ment to show the Coast Guards dedication to Life saving & protecting our coastal waters.