Guarding Us Still

We watched The Guardian last night on the big screen and as much as I really hate that crap of sergent raising up the boy and making him into a man, ala An Officer and a Gentleman, I really liked this movie.

My Grandpa Roy was a lifer in the Coast Guard. As a surfman and then a boatswain mate first class he battled the water his whole life. He knew how to come into any of the harbors up and down the Oregon and Washington coast by the whistles and bells of the bouy and by the stars. Many a captain stepped off the helm to let Roy Woods bring that ship in.

To see the waves that those small boats battle to save lives chills me to the bone. All of us children were taught to swim at a very young age. Coasties swim, a swabby don't know how. My father was Navy. Hahaha! It was probably 15 years before the two of them grew to like one another. By the time my parents' divorced the bond had grown to love. My dad still doesn't know how to swim, all of us kids could swim across the Walluski and when the tide was going out that was a mean feat. We all have a healthy respect for the rivers and especially the mouth of Columbia and the sea. One of my dearest friends lies at the bottom of river, somewhere. Hey, Brian, here's to you!

My cousin, Jimmy, and cousin-in-law, EJ, spent eight hours in the Bering Sea, waiting for the coast guard to find them when their fishing vessel went down. Shouldn't have ever gone out, except for the owner's greed. For years afterwards they couldn't even sit in a tub of bathwater without sweat dripping off of them in memory of that time. My grandfather would talk for hours to them about that awful night, hoping to pull them out of their day/night terrors.

He was a talker, my grandfather! The stories he would tell. He ran bootleg in Aberdeen back in the 20s. His father died when he was nine and he was raised by a bunch of older brothers who showed him the side of their hand, when they had time. So, he was on his on as often as not and he could make a lot of money runnng booze through the redlight district. Police never bothered the 12 year old boy, who was so small he looked like he was eight. Grandma would get so angry at him for telling us those stories. "Watch it, buster," she would warn, "you'll get yourself into a heap of trouble for what you were up to!" She didn't believe the statute of limitations ever ran out, and they both were afraid the retirement money would disappear. Made more money after they retired then they ever did while working. He retired when he was 68, mandatory. He died when he was 96! He always chuckled that "they" didn't know what they had gotten themselves into giving him lifetime retirement with insurance! Grandma had 12 heart pacemakers put in!

He deserved the money and the benies. After taking the helm so many times to guide the ships into a safe harbor, after receiving the Gold Lifesaving Medal, he retired from the CG as a cheif, giving him a few extra dollars in the pay envelope. Yet, a few years later when he retired a second time from the Astoria School District (as head custodian of the new Junior High School) that designation was stripped from him when the title was reclassified for those who had captained a 52' boat or larger, only. Grandpa said the CG knew what it was doing and a patriot didn't fight something like that. What was a few extra hundred? How he got the rebels for grandchildren, I'll never understand!

In this town it is good to know the signs of a coastie. Your friend/family member might be dating one, or maybe your loved one's thinking of joining? Have fun with this.