Honoring the Service Branches: Coast Guard Preview

Tour Overview

This tour contains three types of stops: HONOR stops mark the gravesites of specific individuals. REMEMBER stops commemorate events, ideas, or groups of people. EXPLORE stops invite you to discover what this history means to you.

Introduction

The United States Coast Guard is one of the oldest military services and the United States’ first maritime service. Today, it combines the duties of what were originally three different services: the Revenue Cutter Service, the Life Saving Service and the Lighthouse Service.In 1790, the United States’ first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, proposed a civilian revenue marine service. This seafaring service would be responsible for enforcing navigation and customs laws, collecting tariffs and inspecting ships. On August 4, 1790, Congress approved the plan. The new service, then known as the system of cutters, Revenue Service, or Revenue-Marine, was placed under the control of the Treasury Department. It was not until 1863 that the service was named the Revenue Cutter Service.Between 1790 and 1798, the civilian revenue cutters were the only armed ships guarding the nation’s coasts and maritime interests. Needing naval war ships, Congress authorized the system of cutters to defend American coasts and ships. It also established the U.S. Navy and directed the Revenue Cutter Service to transfer from the Treasury Department to the Navy Department during times of war.

1

Captain Commandant Ellsworth Bertholf

Bertholf helped establish the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915 by merging the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life Saving Service. First officer of both the Revenue Cutter Service and the Coast Guard to achieve flag officer rank. Honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for his service as part of the Alaska Overland Expedition.

2

Chief Boatswain's Mate Victor Victorovich Utgoff

Utgoff was the Russian Navy's first wartime pilot in World War I, and awarded several military decorations for his wartime service. He allowed Igor Sikorsky to build and test his first airplane on Utgoff's farm in 1923.

3

Admiral Russell Randolf Waesche

As commandant, Waesche oversaw the Coast Guard's transition from a peacetime organization of 15,000 to a wartime force of 170,000 during World War II.

4

Captain William J. Kossler

Kossler pioneered the Coast Guard's use of helicopters to rescue sailors at sea. He established the Helicopter Flight School at the Coast Guard Air Station in Brookleyn, New York.

5

Elizebeth Smith Friedman

Friedman has been called "America's first female cryptanalyst." During the Prohibition era, she decoded messages sent by smugglers. Between 1927 and 1930, she is estimated to have solved over 12,000 messages in hundreds of different code systems. During World War II, she led the civilian team that broke codes generated by the German Enigma machine.

Cryptology

Elizebeth Smith Friedman and her husband William Friedman pioneered the field of cryptology in the first half of the 20th century. They developed techniques of codebreaking that are still used today.

6

Coast Guard Memorial

Two tragic episodes in U.S. Coast Guard history, both of which occurred during World War I, prompted the construction of this memorial.

7

Rear Admiral Frederick C. Billard

Oversaw the expansion of the Coast Guard in the 1920s in response to the Coast Guard's responsibility to patrol waters during Prohibition. Served three terms as Coast Guard commandant.

8

Commander Elmer Fowler Stone

Stone was the Coast Guard aviator and he helped lay the foundations of Coast Guard aviation. Piloted the first successful transatlantic flight in May 1919.

9

Lieutenant Jack Columbus Rittichier

While serving as a helicopter rescue pilot in Vietnam, Rittichier demonstrated a fearless determination to save lives at the risk of his own. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, the Purple Heart, and more for his sacrifice.

10

Captain Francis Van Boskerck

Francis Van Boskerck wrote the words and music for the Coast Guard’s “Semper Paratus” marching song.

Play

Explore: Semper Paratus

Where did the motto Semper Paratus (Always Ready) come from?There is a lot of speculation, but no one actually knows!

11

Vice Admiral James A. Hirschfield

Awarded the Navy Cross during World War II for his "extraordinary heroism."

12

Commander Beatrice V. Ball

Ball served as part of the first SPAR company in 1942. She was promoted to the rank of commander in 1956.

SPAR

Soon after the United States entered World War II in December 1941, every military branch created all-female non-combat units in order to free men to fight. More than 350,000 women served during the war, both at home and abroad. The United States Coast Guard Women’s Reserve adopted the nickname SPAR based on the Coast Guard motto, “Semper Paratus” (Always Ready). Most SPARs performed clerical work or operated telephones and radios. However, SPARs also performed some specialized duties. They served as pharmacists' mates, parachute riggers, boatswain's mates, radio technicians and much more. Some even served on the top-secret LORAN, or long-range navigation, project in Chatham, Massachusetts.

13

USS Serpens Memorial

The destruction of the USS Serpens during World War II is the largest single disaster in the history of the United States Coast Guard.

14

Captain Bobby C. Wilks

Wilks served as the Coast Guard's first African American aviator. He was also the first African American in the Coast Guard to attain the rank of captain.

15

Commander Stewart Ross Graham

Graham developed many of the life-saving techniques that the helicopter is known for today. He was the Coast Guard’s second helicopter pilot and the first to fly a helicopter off a ship.

16

Lighthouse Keeper Ida Lewis

Saved the lives of at least 18 men and women as the Lime Rock lighthouse keeper. Awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1881 for rescuing two soldiers who had fallen through thin ice.

Explore: Lighthouse Keepers

Being a lighthouse keeper was hard work. Most lighthouse keepers worked close to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and could never take a vacation. Some keepers worked alone, but many recruited family members to help lighten their load.Because family members often assisted with keeper duties, women commonly inherited the position of keeper after their husband or father died. Lighthouse keeper was one of the only U.S. government jobs available to women in the 19th century.African American men and women assisted lighthouse keepers as enslaved workers or paid servants; some even unofficially served in the place of the appointed keeper. After the end of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the Lighthouse Service began officially appointing African Americans to Southern light stations. The Lighthouse Service appointed the first African American lighthouse keeper, Robert Darnell, to the Lower Cedar Point Lighthouse in Maryland in 1870. By the late 1870s, some lighthouses were manned by all-Black staffs.

Conclusion

You've reached the end of the U.S. Coast Guard Walking Tour. We hope you enjoyed your time exploring the cemetery and learning about the lives of these groundbreaking service members!You can explore additional content and resources on the Arlington National Cemetery Education Program website, or find more tours through Arlington National Cemetery's STQRY.