July 28 is the Anniversary of the Greatest Coast Guard Rescue in History
July 28 is the anniversary of the Coast Guard Overland Expedition of 1898 and the subject of a new book, "Rescue at the Top of the World." In this rescue, three sailors traveled over 1,500 miles across the Arctic ice by dogsled to save 300 men from certain death from exposure and starvation.
(PRWEB) July 21, 2005 -- Washington DC, 1897 –President McKinley was frantic.
He just received word that the entire American whaling fleet was trapped in pack
ice near the Arctic Circle. This disaster represented a national crisis of epic
proportions.
McKinley summed L.J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury.
Gage’s department contained the Revenue Cutter Service, later called the US
Coast Guard, which was responsible for patrolling the 25,000 square miles of the
newly acquired Alaskan Territory. Together, they created a fantastic plan where
the Cutter Service would land three sailors 1,500 miles to the south and attempt
to drive a herd of reindeer to the stranded men. Their journey, estimated to
take up to six months, was the only conceivable way to bring food to the
icebound men.
Unaware that a rescue team was being formed, the
shipwrecked men escaped their vessels, now crushed by ice, and slowly made their
way to a tiny whaling station at Point Barrow, Alaska. But the station lacked
the food and facilities to feed the men and they slowly began to suffer from
malnutrition and frostbite before finally falling into general
lawlessness.
True to the plan, three sailors, Lt. David Jarvis, Lt.
Ellsowrth Bertholf and Ship's Doctor S.J. Call, landed 1,500 miles to the south
to begin their northward trek only to fell prey to frigid temperatures and
marauding animals. Just as the rescue party was near total expiration, they
encountered two missionaries and eight Eskimo teenagers that volunteered to help
drive reindeer the remaining distance to the Arctic Circle. After four months of
impossible conditions including collapsing ice and devastating blizzards, the
rescue party finally arrived to find the remaining men who they kept alive until
the Coast Guard broke through the ice to reach the group on July 28, 1898.
This event was generally lost to history until a researcher, Shawn
Shallow, found the daily journals of the rescuers which were submitted to
congress. These century old diaries were then combined with other period
documents to meticulously recreate the event in a recently released book, Rescue
at the Top of the World. Because it's accurately dramatized for today's
adventure readers, it’s receiving critical acclaim from reviewers and
adventurers alike. To order the book, go to any book retailer including
Books-A-Million, Barnes and Nobles, or contact the publisher directly, Paradise
Cay. In another week, the Coast Guard will celebrate it’s own birthday, August
4, 1790. What better way to commemorate the event than to review their greatest
rescue.
A press kit with book and photos is available by calling
205-682-8400.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb263663.htm