Homer, Alaska - News - Coast Guard auxiliarists get medal for bravery 09/17/08

Story last updated at 11:06 PM on Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Coast Guard auxiliarists get medal for bravery

BY MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
STAFF WRITER

Three Alaska and one Canadian Coast Guard auxiliarists receive silver medals from the Association for Rescue at Sea next week for their role in saving 13 mariners from a sinking charter boat in April 2007. In a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, the auxiliarists will receive recognition for their prompt action in saving the 11 passengers and two crew of the Halibut Endeavor.

Photo by McKibben Jackinsky

The Coast Guard Auxiliarists who rescued the passengers and crew of the charter vessel Endeavor pose at the Homer Harbor in April 2007. From left to right are Coast Guard Auxiliarists Ray Miller of of Fairbanks; Shane Taylor of Anchorage; Mike Cupit, a Canadian Auxiliarist from Vancouver, B.C.; and Rich Liebe of Anchorage. The four men were named as 2007 Silver Medal recipients from the Association for Rescue at Sea.

Honored are U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarists Ray Miller of Fairbanks, Shane Taylor and Rich Liebe, both of Anchorage, and Mike Cupit, a Canadian auxiliarist from Vancouver, B.C. The auxiliarists had been on a training exercise on April 25, 2007, on the Homer U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's 27-foot SAFE boat when Capt. Weldon Chivers of the Halibut Endeavor made a mayday call that his 36-foot boat was taking on water about five miles off Seldovia.

Running at full throttle, it took 20 minutes for the SAFE boat to reach the Halibut Endeavor. The auxiliarists arrived just before the boat rolled onto its side and sank. The fishermen had been delicately balancing on the shifting boat in an attempt to keep it from capsizing.

"When I saw the stern awash, I opened the door and screamed at the top of my lungs, 'Everybody's coming off now,'" Taylor told the Homer News in April 2007.

All 11 passengers got on board the SAFE boat before the charter boat rolled. Chivers and his first mate clung to the side of the boat and also were picked up by the rescuers. Two Good Samaritan boats also arrived to assist, as did the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Roanoke Island. The crew and passengers of the Halibut Endeavor were returned back to Homer by the Roanoke.

The Association for Rescue at Sea each year honors Coast Guardsmen and Coast Guard auxiliarists for extraordinary rescue at sea. In 2006, it honored the entire Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary for its efforts in saving victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The gold medal is given to Coast Guard members and the silver medal to auxiliarists.

This year's gold medal also went to an Alaskan, Petty Officer Wil Milam of Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak. Milam, an aviation survival technician, was honored for helping to rescue three fishermen from the F/V Illusion near Dutch Harbor on Feb. 10, 2007.

AFRAS was founded in 1976 to address the needs of rescue organizations around the world to raise funds, exchange information and provide co-operation.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.

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