The Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to strengthening the Coast Guard community and service by supporting members and families, announced recently that it had honored a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Houston on Friday at the Texas Salutes the Coast Guard event in Houston.
The annual event brings together Coast Guard leaders, industry executives, congressional and government officials, and Coast Guard supporters for a night of patriotic fanfare.Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston command center watchstanders received notification at 12:51 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2022, that the Pride Wisconsin, a mobile offshore drilling unit, was on fire in Texas' Sabine Pass, with nine people aboard. The Coast Guard watch standers immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast to alert nearby vessels and dispatched a response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Sabine Pass, as well as a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Houston, to assist.With the rig’s deck too high for a surface evacuation, the helicopter crew lowered a rescue swimmer to the rig and began hoisting the crewmembers. Despite the fire and smoke, the crew safely hoisted all nine crewmembers and transported them to a nearby rig which was accessible by land. This allowed the survivors to be evaluated by emergency medical services personnel ashore.The vice commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Steven Poulin; commander of Coast Guard Atlantic Area, Vice Adm. Kevin Lunday; Eighth Coast Guard District Commander Rear Adm. Richard Timme; and Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Commander, Capt. Jason Smith, attended along with other Coast Guard personnel.Major sponsors of the Coast Guard Foundation Texas Salutes the Coast Guard event, now in its seventh year, included Cheniere Energy, ConocoPhillips, Kirby Corp., Marathon Petroleum, Chevron Corp., and SeaRiver Maritime.
The foundation is also grateful for the generosity of all sponsors and attendees who helped raise more than $763,000 for foundation programs that support the Coast Guard, its members, and their families.
